Sirius/XM (NASDAQ: SIRI)

While listening to the Howard Stern Show on Sirius/XM satellite radio. The CEO of Sirius/XM Mel Karmazin came in to discuss the XM-Sirius merger that almost didn’t happen. He spoke about how the FCC dragged it out too long. He believed that it wasn’t going happen until it actually was announced. He also stated that he thought the biggest thing behind the delay was Howard Stern himself. For those who are not aware of the history between Howard and the FCC, Stern has been under pressure from FCC for over 20 years because he has always pushed the envelope on comments made on his show.
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Mel continued by saying that it’s no longer if satellite radio will make money, it’s now how much will they make. The only company that has more subscribers than Sirius/XM is Comcast. The merger creates efficiency and now enables us to make money. Sirius/XM has deals with every major car company. There are measures being taken as we speak in regards to permitting subscribers of each company to be able to get the both company’s channels. With major league baseball, NFL, NBA, and NASCAR they will get more subscribers by the day. Combined they now have 18 million subscribers.
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The stock is down today to $1.59 in after market trading, but it won’t stay there for long. Sirius/XM has been losing money even up to their last earnings report. Give it some time before you get into this stock and watch what they’ll report the next quarter. I’ve traded Sirius stocks in the past, but got out shortly after the DOJ decision. After the next report I will look and get back in. I’ve been a subscriber of Sirius and I find it worth the $12.95 a month I pay just to not listen to commercials.

Tags: Stock investments

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XM-Sirius Merger

The XM – Sirius merger will go down in history as the most dragged-out, knuckle-scrapping, merger to ever exist. Why has it taken 17 months for the FCC to come to a decision? Who are they to include a “honey-do-list”. What concerns were involved with the Exxon-Mobil merger in the name of “public-interest”? How does that happen?
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Deborah Taylor Tate ruled in favor of the merger. making it a 3-2 decision in favor of the merger. Xm-Sirius can finally complete the merger and get down to business. Combine forces to offer better programming and equipment to their customers. Both companies have taken quite a beating trying to stay afloat during this period. Combined, the two have lost over $500 million dollar in one year. The FCC has added insult to injury by having XM-Sirius pay $19.7 million to the U.S. Treasury to seal the deal. Let’s not forget the three year price caps that were put in place. The Exxon-Mobil(1999) and the Texaco-Chevron(2001) mergers were never asked to do anything of the sort. Where was the “public interest” concerns during the those hearings? Wait, I forgot…there were no hearings.
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Anyway, as for XM-Sirius, I hope that they can make it though the storm. I’ve been a Sirius subscriber for two and a half years. If I decide that satellite radio is getting too expensive or I don’t like the programming any longer, I don’t have to pay for it. My life is not affected to the extent of not being able to pay my other bills. If I want to drive my car, I have no choice but to pay whatever the price of gas is on that day. It’s a shame what the FCC has done in this situation.
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When the merger was first announced, I bought some shares of Sirius. I played the dips and made money in 2007. In the beginning of 2008 I was down untill the Department of Justice approved the merger. I sold everything and I glad I did. Some people weren’t so lucky they took the ride down and have been stuck there.

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5 Tips For Staying Afloat In The Stock Market

There are some things that need to be considered when investing in the stock market. Before you go ahead and invest your money in investments, even good ones like GE stocks or some Monsanto stock, you need to know the basics. I’ve listed 5 of the things that I learned over the years, that I feel are quite important.

1. Emotions – Letting your emotions get involved while trading stocks will most likely have you make mistakes. Having your emotions take control will lead to certain financial death. Point blank.

2. Avoid listening to “great stock tips” – If anyone wants to give you a stock tip, you need to ask yourself why he/she would be giving you that advice. Trust you own homework, not someone else’s. If they had inside information about a particular stock they would be breaking the law in giving it to you or anyone else.

3.Due Diligence – Also known as DD’s. You must do your homework and research each company that you invest in. Typically you should put about an hour each week for each of your stocks.

4. Buy Incrementally When you first buy into the stock, you need to know how much of a percentage of your portfolio you will allocate to that stock. Only purchase 1/2 of your position at first. Wait for a pull-back to buy the rest, but only buy 1/4 position at one time. The reason for that is that if the stock pulls back any more you can buy the next piece at an even cheaper price.

5. Exit Strategy Just like in case of a fire, you need to have a plan. If you do your homework and keep an eye on the companies that you invest in, you’ll be aware of when the fundamentals change and the company is not as sound as it used to be. When you get into a stock, you need to make a decision of how long you’re willing to wait for your gains or how much you’re willing to lose before you cut you loses. That also includes you knowing when a stock has reached it top before a big pull-back.

By following these 5 simple rules, you will always come out ahead of the markets. Each one of them is as important as the other, so don’t think that you can skip one or two of them. It doesn’t work that way.

Happy Trading.

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