Macau Gambling Stocks Are Latest China Play.

Reports that global investors are placing a big bet on Chinese gambling. Reference to the fact that shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates a lucrative casino in China's Macau territory, have soared 64% on the New York Stock Exchange since the company's initial public stock offering in December 2004; Suggestion by analysts that it is only a matter of time until Macau surpasses Las Vegas as the world's largest and most profitable gambling and convention center; Focus of money managers on two Chinese companies with the most direct exposure to Macau's gambling, hotels, transportation and tourists: Shun Tak Holdings and Melco International Development.