When the New York authorities decided to put the symbol of the New York Stock Exchange up for sale, everyone thought that it would be a straight forward enough affair. The deal was quite simple: get a mega company to buy the splendid sculpture "Charging Bull” by Arturo Di Modica, which rests a few yards away from that bastion of capitalism Wall Street, have the company's name elegantly appointed next to the work of art, and then donate it to the city where it would be pastured for ever on its home at Bowling Green.

Then, right out of the blue, from the online sector came the Casino Fortune bid at US$5,000,000, and ruffled the feathers of more than one of the local grandees. Rather desperate news is coming out of the centre of the world's financial empire, in an attempt to downplay the efforts of Casino Fortune. Of course, the powers-that-be would have loved Bill Gates making a decent bid, or even the likes of Rupert Murdoch to plonk his brand on the 7,000lbs symbol.

Well, the bid has been made and, although the NY authorities can veto the bid, Casino Fortune's money is as good as anyone's. No matter what New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has to say, there is little that he can do this time to upset the online business. Up to now, the NY lawyer has been a pain in the proverbial ass to anyone connected with the online casino business, following briefs from Washington, and although this administration is going out of its way to try to upset the online sector, more than two million fellow Americans subscribe to the Casino Fortune brand.

Reports that the bid was a publicity stunt caused Dennis Rose of Casino Fortune to declare that although they welcomed any publicity, as there is a cynical attitude to the online sector, their offer to buy the sculpture was genuine. What the American administration must do is look into the possibility of coming to terms with the fact that online gaming is here to stay, and quit their unnecessary bullish attitude to the industry. Gestures like those of Casino Fortune are no idle boasts, but real marketing exercises to put the industry where it belongs, right in the centre of the financial world. No bull!

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