One of the most interesting aspects of the Las Vegas community according to historians is how the companies that have been in the area for a long time have the uncanny ability to turn what looks like certain defeat into certain victory. While MGM Mirage is nowhere in that category at the moment with their recent actions, it does show that they are starting to fire back against what has been a steady decline over the last few months.

With around $14 billion in debt, MGM Mirage is not a company that many have that much interest in when it comes to investment. In an effort to reduce the amount of debt that they owe, MGM Mirage has come up with two potential sources of income that might allow them to do just that. The first is a $2.5 billion investment from Kirk Kerkorian, a majority shareholder in MGM Mirage. The second is a $1.5 billion bond that has been secured against the collateral of the Bellagio and Mirage, two of the most important and best known casinos in Las Vegas. The Bellagio is of course famous as being the home of some of the world’s best cash game poker players and for that reason when the Bellagio is offered as collateral for securing income, people sit up and pay attention.

At the moment however, it appears as though Wall Street is not biting on the plans of the MGM Mirage Corporation. Kerkorian’s announcement, coupled with the release of new shares and the repurchasing of many others, actually resulted in MGM Mirage’s stock value plummeting when the initial announcement had been completed. The stock finished the May 13th trading day at $8.70 per share, which represented a decline of about 30% from where it was at the start of the day. How much of this is because of distaste with Kerkorian’s plan and how much of it is because of the general pessimism permeating Wall Street today is hard to say.

Only time will tell whether the traders on Wall Street eventually warm up to Kerkorian’s vision for the future of MGM Mirage.