The correct answer is      (B.)  Gambling/Hotel Casinos

During this five-year time period, the gambling sector delivered sensational annual returns of +30.6% per year -- more than double the return of the S&P 500. Meanwhile, many individual gaming stocks skyrocketed, helping investors pocket impressive gains in a very short period of time.

The average player in the industry saw its stock jump a total of +193%, and the following companies did even better...

So, are the cards about to turn, or will this winning streak continue?

According to Paul Tracy, editor of StreetAuthority's premium Market Advisor newsletter, the gambling industry is likely to extend its recent run in the coming years. However, the biggest gains won't be made by companies that concentrate on the Las Vegas market. Instead, they'll come from companies that operate on a tiny strip of land in Asia, just 37 miles southwest of Hong Kong.

The world's most popular casinos are located along this peninsula, which is less than 11 square miles in size. A total of 24 casinos featuring nearly 2,800 gaming tables hosted around 22 million visitors last year. Combined, those players generated more than $6.9 billion in gaming-related revenues. In these tightly crowded casinos, gamers regularly wait for more than an hour for a seat at the blackjack or baccarat tables. Once there, these eager gamblers routinely play all through the night. 

We're not talking about Las Vegas or Atlantic City. When gaming started on this small peninsula back in 1850, Las Vegas was still a tiny outpost in the Nevada desert and Atlantic City a sleepy seaside town on the Jersey shore. 

Instead we're talking about Macau, a small former Portuguese colony that was handed back to Chinese control in 1999. In 2006, Macau overtook the Vegas Strip to become the world's largest gaming market -- the famous Vegas Strip generated roughly $6.6 billion in revenue last year, about $300 million less than Macau. Early estimates suggest that Macau's gaming revenues could surge to as high as $8 billion this year. The average card table in Macau generates nearly six times as much revenue as a similar table on the famed Vegas Strip. 

The catalysts for all this growth: rising wealth in China and several new upscale casino developments. Thanks to rapid economic growth and a rising middle class, more consumers in gambling-hungry China can now afford to visit casinos and leave some of their disposable income behind. And since 2.2 billion people live within a short five hour flight of Macau (compared to just 410 million in the same radius of Vegas), Macau has a huge pool of potential gamers to draw upon. 

Which casino companies are best positioned to profit from booming growth in Macau?

In a recent issue of his Market Advisor newsletter, editor Paul Tracy highlighted two casino stocks that are poised to benefit the most from growth in Macau. These include a company that has locked up one of the peninsula's only foreign gambling licenses, as well as a major casino operator that is building the single largest property in Macau -- a giant complex that will feature a 3,000 suite hotel, two-dozen restaurants, and well over three million square feet of gaming, convention and retail space.

To learn the names of these companies, you'll need to subscribe to Paul Tracy's Market Advisor newsletter and read his April 2007 issue.  Visit this link to sign up now.