I think what you mean to ask is what is the better bet. The stock market is like horse racing, it only gives the illusion that one can “know” what one is doing.
But as to what is the better bet, I guess it depends on how you look at it. Slot machines usually pay out at 99%. A pretty good expected return for gambling. But then you have to pay 15 – 35 % income tax on that.
The stocks on the other hand, you get to call it Capital Gains and skip the tax. (does it still work that way?) So if you don’t lose your shirt, you get to keep some.
But about that shirt, heavy debt load requires growth. Something casinos are not likely to see in the next few years. I would avoid stock in any casino heavily indebted. (that’s all of them, right?)
It’s hard to know which is riskier. Many stocks are still overvalued and will go to zero, mostly finance companies. These can produce sudden, complete losses. On the other hand, slot machines produce slow, steady losses, most of the time. Both are very risky, right now.
Trump was poorly managed … by Trump ! Casino stocks will probably continue to outperform the markets.
Trump Resorts filed for bankruptcy back in Nov ‘04 – financial woes for this company is nothing new at all.
I’m from the industry and trust me, the larger gaming companies piled on debt over the last 10 years in efforts to either become #1 or stay #1, and this was done while business was good. They called themselves brilliant industry leaders – what they did was leave no margin for error, in the event that the economy faltered in anyway. And that is proving to be catastrophic for them….