Once thought impervious to economic downturn, the Las Vegas gaming and hospitality industry is now finding itself forced to offer some very attractive deals to get customers to come stay and play.

For example, a recent LA Times article points out that, one of my favorite places to stay in Vegas, the MGM Grand, is now offering $300 maximum fly-back vouchers to guests in effort to get them to come back again soon. As gas prices and airfares continue to soar, this old, but attractive marketing scheme is seeing a resurgence. But how much is it costing the city’s already struggling resort/casinos?

As I’ve mentioned in previous editions, organizations including Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) continue to struggle as the number of conventions and overall visitors dips thanks to a struggling U.S. economy. This dynamic gives birth to a situation in which many leading Casinos are struggling to fill rooms. Smith Travel reported that June hotel occupancy fell 4.8 percent in Las Vegas, as avg. daily room rates rose from $101.81 to $104.99.

One company I’ve come across recently that is equipped with solutions capable of filling the gap at Vegas casinos left by a battered economy is Las Vegas Reservations Corp. (OTCPK:LVCC). A few years into its existence the company’s key competitive differentiator is quite intriguing, their patented “rate reducer” technology allows the consumer to book travel and then have their account credited if the room rate drops between the time of purchase and scheduled arrival.

I actually called on a number of leading Vegas reservation companies and inquired about their policies for crediting the accounts of customers in the instance that room rates drop subsequent to their purchase. I was laughed off of the phone on most occasions. Furthermore, I’ve been in discussions with management at LVCC in effort to stir something up with the company in regards to a future IR contract. Who knows? In any event, one of my favorite tourist destinations is looking for new ideas to remain profitable and the boys at LVCC appear to have one.

Record gasoline prices are driving the ongoing transformation of the U.S. automotive industry. As consumers trade in gas guzzling SUVs for economy cars, many are also taking things a step further and adopting energy efficient motor scooters as their primary mode of transport.

According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, U.S. scooter sales rose 65.7 percent in the first half of 2008.

While a gasoline fueled scooter holding just one gallon can reportedly travel 70-90 miles without a refill, next-generation electric scooters and currently available electric motor bikes such as those offered by Electric Moto Corporation (OTCPK: EMOT) can travel about 100 miles at 55 MPH on just $.75 worth of electricity versus the $10 of gasoline that would be required to power an economy car.

As we’ve mentioned before, EMOT is Founded by the principal designer of the world record holder for the most number of miles completed by an electric car (the GM battery-swap proof of concept car) EMOT is a rapidly emerging developer of low environmental impact, lithium-ion battery powered motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).

In a 9/17/07 Forbes article, writer Patrick Cooke had this to say about EMOT’s Blade XTZ model:”. . . An astonishingly quick, battery-powered motorbike called the Blade XTZ that equals or outperforms every gas-powered bike in its weight class (200cc–250cc). Best of all, it does so without making a sound”. . . “No high-pitched engine whine, no choking blue smoke, no teeth-grinding vibration. And at 178 pounds, it’s 25 to 50 pounds lighter and creates more torque (250 pounds) than most of its competition.”

According to a June report issued by The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the price war has begun in the Semiconductor space. Currently, solid (EIA expects a 6.3% CAGR between 2008-2011) global demand is being driven by stellar sales in a number of categories including:

Flat panel television (29% growth expected in 2008)

Cellular Phones – (12% expected growth in ‘08 to 1.3 billion units)

Personal computers –(10% expected growth to 300 million units in ‘08)

Digital Cameras – (11% growth expected in ’08)

Another key growth driver is the Solar Cell market.In 2007, global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells increased by a 51 per cent to 3,733 MW.

As competent suppliers including Tyco strive for profitability in the semicon businesses solutions such as those offered by LGYH which help reduce costs should be in greater demand. Due to this fact, we feel that Legacy Holdings represents a very timely play on the massive, yet increasingly price point competitive semiconductor industry.

Legacy Holdings Inc. (OTCPK: LGYH) is out with major news this morning regarding a second product installation with global powerhouse Tyco International, Ltd.

With publicly stated plans to take a piece of a $7 billion addressable market and soon become the leading U.S. wet process supplier by 2011, a re-order from such a prestigious partner is a very positive sign that things are progressing nicely for LGYH.

Powerful Dynamic Building at LGYH

Currently, a powerful dynamic is building at Legacy between the performance of the stock and the operational success of management.

As evidenced by the graphic to the right, LGYH has performed amazingly in the market over the past three months. Shares closed up just over 18% today at $.58. This marks a 480% run-up since the stock hit its 52-week low of $.10 on 5/30. Shorter term, in addition to share price trending upwards more than 100% over the past month, total volume is up nearly 20% since 6/23.

If the company can follow up today’s Tyco announcement with more positive news on additional sales and orders, we could surely see a subsequent increase back up into the stock’s 52-week high range well over $1.00. To be quite honest, judging by the recent trading activity in the stock, news that the company has strengthened its partnership with Tyco by shipping a second unit may do the trick itself.

For those of you largely unfamiliar with the company, Legacy was founded way back in 1989 by four Texas Instruments engineers.

Currently the only semiconductor equipment company to ever receive the prestigious U.S. EPA Green Chemistry Award (1997), Legacy is an emerging provider of cleaning equipment and process technology to the semiconductor and related industries such as Solar Cells, Flat Panel Displays, and Light Emitting Diodes. In a nutshell, the company’s solutions help adopters across a multitude of industries save time and money while becoming more environmentally efficient. Legacy’s patented technology helps adopters slash production costs by eliminating the use of toxic (sometimes referred to as piranha) solutions and reducing the overall usage of water in the cleaning process.

Legacy’s technology demonstrates a significant value proposition for the $7 billion per year silicon wafer cleaning industry in 4 key ways: (1) Improving wafer processing time by 200%; (2) enhancing oxide removal control by 92%; (3) decreasing costs by 22% by reducing the amount of consumable materials used in wafer cleaning; and (4) reducing particles left on the wafer after cleaning by 76%.

Tyco a Perfect Match for Legacy

By aligning itself with leading global electronics manufacturers such as Tyco, Legacy gains access to a substantially larger pool of resources than otherwise possible.

With more than $19B in annual sales, Tyco employs more than 120,000 workers and invests billions in R&D each year. On a side note, the company has a pretty well-documented reputation of “paying for innovation” and purchasing smaller partners, sometimes for a premium.

Simply put, Tyco’s decision to align itself with Legacy speaks volumes for the company’s credibility and also the depth and breadth of its core technology. This fact alone should have investors optimistic regarding what the future holds. With billions of R&D dollars and executives in every corner of the globe, I’d guess if there was a better green silicon wafer cleaning solution out there, Tyco probably would have discovered it by now.

In my opinion, the only thing separating Legacy Holdings from greatness is capital. Partnerships with industry behemoths such as Tyco should help the cause immensely.

A route from San Francisco to Los Angeles was added to the existing route planned from Sacramento all the way down to San Diego. The route would ferry passengers from San Fran to L.A. in less than 2 hours and 40 minutes using the Pacheco Pass.

The idea behind the California High-Speed Rail Authority is to increase mobility between the major cities while decreasing the air pollution and green house gas emissions that cause global warming. The route will cover a total of 800 miles of track and the trains will operate at speeds of 220 mph. The system is predicted to carry over 100 million passengers a year by 2030.

The route planned though the Pacheco Pass reduces the amount of impact on the environment and eliminates the need for another bridge, tunnel or crossing through the San Francisco Bay.

There is a proposition on the ballot this November, Prop 1, to give a $9.95 billion dollar bond to the California High-Speed Rail Authority to construct the train system and make improvements to existing public transport. The mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, states that “energy efficient high-speed trains are essential for the economic future of the Bay Area as well as the future of the state in terms of our competitiveness.” He believes there is no time like the present to get started on new and innovative ideas involving energy and transportation.

Even in these trying economic times, Outcast Trader continues to conjure up a number of very profitable investment ideas. Over the past two months, (OTCBB: QMNM), (Nasdaq: SQNM) and (Nasdaq: QTWW), have all given subscribers something to cheer about.

After our alert a few weeks back, Quest Minerals and Mining Corp. (OTCBB: QMNM) gained 4431.25% on roughly 643,000,000 shares traded between 6/18 and 6/23. Shares hit a 52-week high of $.075, a MAJOR increase from a measely .0016 close just days before. Coal is becoming a very hot commodity today given the current global energy crisis and Quest is now producing it with plans to soon move its second mine into full swing.

As I mentioned previously, every $1,000 invested in QMNM at 6/18’s closing price of $.0016 would have made you nearly $43,000 in profits if you sold out around the high print of $.075. With all of the volume in the stock, I’m guessing many of you did. Subsequent to today’s production announcement, shares gained over 100% hitting an intra-day high of $.048 before closing up 42% at $.0339 on volume of 133,921,767. An interesting thing to note, today’s news did not hit the wire until roughly 2:30 EST. Only an hour and a half left in the trading day. From that point, QMNM traded over 100,000,000 shares! Now that is impressive! Wednesday’s pullback could have created a very nice entry point for those willing to bet on another run-up. The horses are running and lately QMNM has been the track favorite.

Elemer Piror from Rodman & Renshaw saw his bullish $13.50 target get shattered over the past two weeks. In addition, Charles Butler at Lehman brothers upped his target a few weeks back to $12. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are good and both quite confident in the company’s test becoming the industry norm. Even Oppenheimer and Co. analyst Kevin DeGeeter’s expectation of 17.50; which seemed extremely high just a few weeks ago, could become laughable if wide scale test results match those of the 201 sample population.

TWW Has More Than Doubled Since Our First Mention

Since we first brought you Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: QTWW) on May 11th at a price of $1.28, the stock more than doubled and now trades at $2.47, $.48 off of its 52-Week high of $2.98 hit on 6/9. The company is building a diverse portfolio of alternative energy businesses with a strong focus on the hydrogen and solar industries. Don’t forget, shares were trading at their 52-week low of $.37 on 1/18 and have appreciated more than 700%.

As business picks up, I suggest watching this one closely. As I have stated previously, this is one of the best small-cap growth stories I have come across this year. QTWW just goes to show that the proverbial “5-bagger” is quite possible in the penny stock world. You just have to know where to look.

So, there you have it. Three big winners in less than two months. For tomorrow, I suggest watching QMNM very closely. As I mentioned before, word of the company producing coal could fuel another major run-up in the stock. Until next time, folks.

After months of anticipation, Quest Minerals & Mining Corp. (OTC BB:QMNM.OB – News) (Frankfurt:QMNB.F – News), finally delivered today with news that its Pond Creek Location is now producing coal.

For those of you that have been hiding under a rock lately, QMNM shares recently gained more than 4,000% , moving from $.0016 to a high of $.0725 before settling back into the $.02 – $.03 while the market anxiously awaited news of production.

The time has come today. Shares are already trending up on high volume since the announcement which was issued less than one hour ago. We will bring you much more in-depth coverage of Quest’s milestone development in very short order. But, judging by the way the stock ran just a few weeks back, prior to one piece of coal being produced, I URGE YOU ALL TO CONTEMPLATE GAINING AN OWNERSHIP POSITION IN THE STOCK RIGHT NOW!