text: On a consolidated basis, the most important factors and trends contributing to our 
  operating performance over the last three years have been: 
  
  • The war with Iraq and the outbreak of SARS in Asia, both of which negatively 
  impacted leisure travel and our high-end gaming business in late 2002 and 
  early 2003; 
  
  • The new labor contract covering our Las Vegas Strip employees since mid-2002, 
  which calls for significant annual wage and benefits increases through 2007; 
  • The current economic recovery in the United States, which began to impact our 
  operations in the latter half of 2003 and continued to positively affect our results 
  in 2004. 