The gaming sector was back in the headlines this morning, as Las Vegas Sands (LVS: sentiment, chart, options) proudly announced that that it has "sufficient liquidity and capital resources to both fund its ongoing operations and to execute its updated development plan." The company cited its recent efforts to raise $2.1 billion in capital for the added liquidity. The shares were last seen higher by nearly 3% heading into the close.

The picture isn't quite as rosy at MGM Mirage (MGM: sentiment, chart, options). This afternoon, MGM announced that it is actively exploring the sale of "non-core assets" to improve liquidity. Jim Murren, MGM's president and COO, said that the firm has already sold 1 of its planes and has put 2 more up for sale. Murren also noted that the company is looking to get rid of some of its undeveloped land on the Las Vegas Strip and elsewhere. "We have an awful lot of land on the Strip, in the county and in the state," he said. "Land prices may be down but in many cases they are still far above what we have on our books." Through the sale of these assets, Murren estimated the company could raise about $300 million.

In late trading, MGM was off about 0.6%, with the shares hovering just above long-term support at the 10 level. This area has buoyed the stock since late October, and a breach of this support could send the stock on another downleg. Sentiment toward the equity is heavily bearish, with the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 2.13 falling in the 86th percentile of its annual range, while 11 of the 16 analysts following MGM rate it a "hold" or worse.

Returning to LVS, despite the stock's strength today, the shares have more risk from an unwinding of heavy investor optimism. The equity's SOIR of 0.57 rests at an annual low, indicating that options traders have not been more bullish toward the shares at any point during the past year. With technical resistance looming overhead in the form of LVS's 10-day and 20-day moving averages, a rejection here could send these option bulls scrambling for the exits.