Tack a holiday-shortened trading week with a slow period on the corporate quarterly front, and you've got an earnings calendar that is pretty dry this week. Yes, you do have some interesting names like Comverse Technology (NASDAQ:CMVT) and FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) set to report.
Tomorrow will also produce an earnings report from grocer Albertson's (NYSE:ABS) that may bear watching. Supermarket chains have been in a funk lately, as they try to battle warehouse clubs and discount department-store chains for market share.
On what is likely to be a more upbeat note, Mandalay Resort Group (NYSE:MBG) will be announcing its fiscal first-quarter results this week.
Despite a nervous economy -- or, quite possibly, as a result of that nervous economy -- casino operators have been thriving. Last month, Harrah's Entertainment (NYSE:HET) posted record results and expectations run high for Mandalay.
As casinos take advantage of a mainstream audience by offering premium entertainment and new games that favor the operator even more, the sector's profits have been booming.
So, with analysts expecting Mandalay to post nearly $75 million in profits this quarter -- far more than the company earned in all of fiscal 2002 -- it's just another sign of the gaming industry's lucrative times.
Investors who have chosen to side with the house and buy into the sector have fared well. Mandalay's stock has almost doubled over the past year. Luck may be a lady on most nights, but solid fundamentals leave little to chance.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz may live dangerously, but that doesn't mean that he will hit on 20 in blackjack. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story.
