Mr. Ruisanchez joined Bear Stearns' investment banking department in 1997 as an associate in the firm's Los Angeles office and moved to New York in 1999. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Mr. Ruisanchez was a financial analyst for Aetna Health Plans in Northern California. Mr. Ruisanchez holds a master's degree in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where he focused on finance and international business, as well as a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Connecticut School of Business.

"We're pleased to have someone of Carlos' background and experience joining Pinnacle's management team," said Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Carlos brings a wealth of gaming and finance experience to the company, which will be extremely helpful as we focus on the company's operations and create value for our shareholders."

In connection with his appointment, Mr. Ruisanchez was awarded options to purchase 200,000 shares of Pinnacle's common stock as an inducement for employment. In accordance with Rule 303A.08 of the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual, the awards were granted without stockholder approval and were granted outside of Pinnacle's 2005 Equity Incentive and Performance Plan, as amended. The options vest in four equal annual installments beginning on August 1, 2009 and the options expire on August 1, 2018. The exercise price of the options is $11.35 per share, which was the closing price of Pinnacle's common stock on August 1, 2008, the date of the grant to Mr. Ruisanchez.

About Pinnacle Entertainment

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Argentina and The Bahamas, and has significant insurance claims related to a hurricane-damaged hotel and casino complex previously operated in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Company opened Lumiere Place, a $507 million casino hotels complex in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, in December 2007. Pinnacle also has a second casino development project under construction in the St. Louis area, which opening is dependent upon final approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Pinnacle is currently developing a second casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to be called Sugarcane Bay; is developing a casino resort in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and has submitted a proposal for a casino resort in Kansas City, Kansas, subject to various approvals. Additionally, Pinnacle owns a casino site at the heart of the famed Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on which it plans to build a major new casino resort.

     FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
     At the Company - (702) 784-7777:

     Dan Lee - Chairman & CEO
     Steve Capp - CFO
     Chris Plant or Lewis Fanger - Investor Relations

SOURCE Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.

http://www.pnkinc.com

-- The number of bank failures would surge and credit conditions would further tighten, as banks struggle to conserve their capital in a market where they could no longer raise capital with the sale of their mortgages.

-- Pension funds for public workers would suffer heavy losses, as they invested heavily in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack debt thinking it was almost as safe as treasuries.

-- The dollar would depreciate and push oil prices even higher, as foreign governments also invested heavily in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, thinking it was similar in risk to the treasury market.

For these reasons, the "too big to fail" argument will carry the day, and we already see action by the Congress and the Treasury to step in and rescue the two mortgage giants. Unfortunately, though, the measures now moving through Congress are little more than a band-aid solution, and fail to address long-term issues in the secondary market for mortgages.

"One would hope that policymakers use the current crisis to avert a repeat in the future. We may not be that lucky. Congress is pushing to increase the regulation of financial markets without weighing the consequences of those regulations, and without forcing more accountability on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Indeed, the risk is that the government, and politics, will play too large instead of too small a role in financial markets as we struggle to deal with this crisis in an election year," concludes Laurenti.

The July issue of Themes on the Global Markets as well as archived issues can be found at http://www.mesirowfinancial.com.

Mesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1937, it is an independent employee-owned firm with $30 billion in assets under management and 1,100 employees in offices across the country. With expertise in Investment Management, Investment Services, Insurance Services, Investment Banking, Consulting and Real Estate, Mesirow Financial has consistently met the financial needs of institutions, public sector entities, corporations and individuals. For more information about Mesirow Financial, visit its Web site at http://www.mesirowfinancial.com.

SOURCE Mesirow Financial

http://www.mesirowfinancial.com

-- 5.72% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series F - $2.86 per share (equivalent to $0.715 per Depositary Share)

-- 5.49% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series G - $2.745 per share (equivalent to $0.68625 per Depositary Share)

All of the above dividends are payable on July 15, 2008, to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 30, 2008.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.6 trillion as of March 31, 2008 and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its JPMorgan and Chase brands. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

SOURCE: JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Investors:
Julia Bates, 212-270-7318
or
Media:
Joseph Evangelisti, 212-270-7438