lmaze's Comments

August Auto Sales Should Give a Sirius Boost to Subscriber Numbers

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:35:57 -0400

Siridoom: Get a life! The long term prospects for this company are outstanding, no concerns at all about de listing. Plenty of time to comply, recent Sand P upgrade suggest complance should come with this quarter's results and the economy is slowing improving,
all of which helps. Stop bashing, no one listens to you anyway.
For insight read what R A F writes and learn. He's the man!

What Will the Soon-to-Be-Released iPhone App Mean for Sirius XM Investors?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:13:52 -0400

Coolhead we are all at Satwaves.com Enjoy it tonight!

Are There Enough People Willing to Keep Paying for Sirius Content?

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:14:02 -0400

Gino: Good points in the article and an excellant analysis by RAF. I am holding my shares for at least five years and then we will see. I am always buying more when I can just to build a large portfolio if and when the company does the reverse split and the shares become that much more valuable.

I could never listen to regular radio again and I think that once Sirius shows a profit and they are very close even in these tough times they will further expand the content offerings, whether it will be additional music stations or in personality driven radio. I think its possible now for Sirius to sign regionally popular DJ's and to build a mini radio station around them and have them share in the advertising revenue generated from the partnership. The best example would be Mad Dog Radio where Chris Russo is building his own "station" within the Sirius sports genre.

I also think there will come a time when the networks will license their content to be broadcast over sat radio and its internet feed. Why shouldn't we be able to listen to David Letteman's show at night when we are driving home from a late night at the office? Sirius could sell commercials the same way a local affiliate sells its time. After all I find myself listening to CNN and Fox News in the car why not content from ABC?
I understand that the networks are in the radio business but just how well have they done in that business siince Howard left? They could use the extra income generated from such a business partnership.
We all know that regular free radio is a dying business, our Government and the uptight religious right killed it, a paying uncensured service is the only hope for people who truly believe in our first Amendment principles.

The Uncertain Future of Radio

Thu, 28 May 2009 07:39:38 -0400

Joel: Go to TSS Radio.com, or call them and order a Sirius Stiletto 2 with all the accessories. Its portable, WIFI capable and its a sat radio, with a great battery and good storage capabilities and it does everything your IPOD does, just better. It's all you will ever need. Why Sirius doesn't push its retail products is still something I can't figure out since this product is awesome!Once its activated you will NEVER listen to free radio again.

As to Clear Channel this company can't die soon enough, they have screwed everyone, including Howard Stern, Bubba the Love Sponge, Recording artists, the music industry and finally their own employees. Our government and the FCC, under both democrat and republican administrations gave them free reign to consolidate radio media and this bloated whale is the end result. I only feel sorry for their employees.

How Does Internet Radio Stack Up Against Satellite?

Mon, 25 May 2009 07:11:05 -0400

Play: I believe that in the merger agreement approved by the FCC Sirius and XM must maintain seperate platforms until 2015, at which point I believe the useful life of the old XM radios will be over and then they can fully combine their platforms into one true service. Thank our government for this nonsense.

That said, on a personal note I have Seven Sirius radios and now two XM radios with best of content. For the life of me I can't make sense of the channel lineup at XM! Its as if someone threw all the channels into a hat and picked a couple at a time and grouped them together. It just doesn't flow. Rock and soft rock are mixed together, between Channels 40 and 60 with no flow, and unless its preprogrammed its hard to reach back and get to the decades channels, Howard is thankfully at 100 and 101 but the rest of their talk channels are scattered up the dial, with sports in between. It makes nosense to me. Sirius has a flow that is nicer, from the decades channels up to the rock stations into other music venues right to Howard 100. I wish that XM could re arrange the line up to mirror Sirius and I would love to know why they didn't if they could. Anyone know?

'Free' Should Not Be a Sirius Business Model

Sat, 23 May 2009 08:26:18 -0400

TFW: I have stilettos, both the first and the second models. My stiletto1 is amazing and i take it everywhere, in fact I am listening to Bruce right now as I write this on the balcony of my home in Vermont looking at the slopes of Stratton Mountain.

It is durable and I take it with me as I run with my dog and I've dropped it many times and works with no problem. Sound quality is very good and it works great with the internet feed. I purchased the model 2 for a Christmas gift for my 18 year old and he no longer uses his IPOD since the Stiletto is better than the IPOD for downloading content.

As everyone knows from this and other blogs I have taken Sirius to task for the failure to promote and market this product which is truly amazing, especially to my sons generation who are as techno savy as it gets but I can't stop recommending the product and it has its own boombox and docking station.

I also recommend Tom Taylor and the boys and girls from his company TSS radio. Their customer service is outstanding and his is a guy that loves the product and supports Sirius and XM talent.
You can't go wrong with either calling them or checking out their website. I'm sorry I can't give you an opinion on the XM version of the stiletto because I'm a Sirius guy but I imagine they have a similar product, I think its called the XM3, but it would be on the TSS website.

I download and store my content then listen while I am snowboarding and battery life is very good which surprised me especially in the winter, can't say enough good things about it.

Have a nice weekend!

Someone Is Finally Listening to Sirius XM Shareholders

Wed, 20 May 2009 08:53:55 -0400

Sirihope: I am not a basher of this company, in fact my wife and I have slightly more than one million shares with a break even of around 50 cents, in fact I am one of the few people on SATWAVES and Siriusbuzz who believe in buying and holding, in fact my investment horizion is five years, and I truly believe that at the end of those five years I will have earned a better than 20 percent return on my investment per year for each of those five years. I love the product and have nine radios on our account. But I know this, I have built two successful businesses in my lifetime and am now working on a third and I could run the marketing department of this company in my sleep, and as a business professional who knows everything about this company I can tell you that there is so much SiriXM can do to improve its business and they could do it on the cheap. They are just not doing anything to generate excitement for their products.

And as for you 12345 I suggest you take a good look at the financials of this company before you make outrageous statements. I'm certain that as soon as Relmor2003 wakes up he will rip you apart. But for now might I suggest that you look at any of the commentary on the recently released 1st quarter results at either of the Sirius blog sites, if you truly are a Sirius shareholder and not some free radio sat radio basher.

Someone Is Finally Listening to Sirius XM Shareholders

Wed, 20 May 2009 07:28:54 -0400

The present Board of Sirius is to old and Mel is 65 they just don't have a handle on the rapidly changing media delievery systems. they think like radio guys and not technology guys, and honestly they just feel safe having Howard doing his thing.
True that the company is on its way to making a profit, but still their marketing is a disaster, they haven't truly gotten their arms around the internet applications of their product, they haven't considered doing apps for other wireless carriers, they don't announce anything, they don't promote their product, they don't appeal to young people, they are tied up with the OEM numbers. They should also be reaching out to microsoft, since Apple isn't the only company out there. It almost seems like a tired company, like we won the merger and cut costs and the bucks will flow in.
Thank God for Maffei and Malone. These guys really know what they are doing and they know how to make money in the modern media age. Everyone else on the Board seems to be out of touch with the digital world. If they were in touch with the modern high tech world Mel would be the CEO and they would have a President who would be on top of the digital applications of SiriusXM content and would supervise a kick ass marketing department of young kids who would spread the word on a daily basis. Yes we have the car business and I understand that times are tough there but penetration rates are up and the product does sell itself, churn is still stable considering the economy but there are so many other applications available to deliever Sirius content and the lack of imagination is what is killling the stock price. How pathetic is it that the company is valued by investors today at less then the value of the spectrum licenses it controls. Mel wake up! Clean house, don't you have your own money invested here? And if you don't want to be the bad guy, get someone who can come in and get rid of the dead wood and give this company a buzz and by the way here's a freebie from a longterm shareholder, get on the internet, you know that thing that's on the computer and read some of the postings at SATWAVES.com and Siriusbuzz.com. There are people on those websites who know more about your company than you do and they care and they post really good suggestions and ideas because they are passionate about our company and believe in the product. Oh and by the way their advice is free.

Fake Sirius News Report Outrages Investors

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:09:58 -0400

Sorry Brandon, You know I have respect for everything you do.

Fake Sirius News Report Outrages Investors

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:52:21 -0400

Mrcody: How many shares to you own? Those who post on Satwaves and Siriusbuzz know exactly how many shares I own and also know that I alone have advocated that we should buy and hold with a sixty month time horizon, as the best is yet to come for this stock. In fact I am one of the few who openly appluded the idea of a reverse split and welcomed the partnership with Malone.
Yes I understand that there is a difference between day traders and investors. Brandon may be a day trader but I am an investor and as such I know the future is bright for this company.I shouldn't have to recite them they should be known to you .Unfortunately this stock has been manipulated and the circustances merit an investigation, and I am hardly some conspiracy believer, I an a very prominate real estate attorney who deals with facts and numbers for a living and I am strictly conservative in investing and in my morals and political values, my weakness is that I love this company because I love the product, What Brandon has done is open peoples eye's to the manipulation that is going on here. Whether he sells or buys is not the issue, the issue is a level playing field, don't you get it?

Fake Sirius News Report Outrages Investors

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:46:44 -0400

Mrcody: Brandon Matthews is articulate and a consumate professional. He has spent years covering Sirius and his analysis has always been dead on. If he writes it you can believe it. With Brandon there are NO credibility issues.

The same can't be said for BusinessWeek which recycles the same negative stories about SiriusXM and other members of the NAB influenced media. The manipulation of this stock is now becomming common knowledge, thanks in part to people like Brandon Mathews who have the courage to expose it. Don't you realize that there should be a criminal investigation about the games that were played with this company and with the stock and its price.

Perhaps for justice we should forward our information to the attorney general of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo, if anyone has the courage and determination to expose the manipulation of this stock its him, I'm certain that once the New York Attorney Generals office starts its inquiry the manipulation will stop.

After all as an individual, these regulatory agencies work for us. They should be protecting us, the ordinary citizens whose children have all been affected by the nonsense that went on Wall Street which has nearly destroyed the future for our children. Violent price swings of a stock price such as what occured here, given the amount of shares short, merits a full blown investigation, dont you think??? Do you care?

6 Key Points from the Liberty / Sirius XM Deal - Merrill

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:59:11 -0500

Rel and Bdp I just glanced at your posts which went up just before mine. Tonight after work I will read them in depth and I will comment then but it looks like some amazing stuff. You guys are really good. Thanks to you both

6 Key Points from the Liberty / Sirius XM Deal - Merrill

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:49:05 -0500

Tyler: No one mentions that the remaining 2009 debt is controlled by institutions which have either stock ownership in Sirius or have a friendly relationship with Sirius. Further as the synergy's kick in it is still possible that the December 2008 converts will be exchanged for stock,and that would bring us to about 7.5 billion shares issued, I'm also counting in Malone. For the exact number I will defer to Cos but my point is that Sirius is clearly out of the woods with the Liberty investment.

In addition there will be some sort of business relationship with Malones company. How and what it will be isn't known yet but I can't help but think that we are in a win win situation going forward. Malone clearly sees the upside of the sat radio industry and he got 40% of this company for about the cost ONE new sat. Good Deal, you betcha!
Any subsequent business relationship that follows between Liberty and Sirius only will add to both bottom lines, giving Sirius something towards the bottom line that most of us didn't think about even one month ago when this all started. Good deal, you betcha!

To me this deal gives Sirius credibility within the techno world. To me it has always suffered because it just didn't seem to fit in with the tech stocks on the Nasdaq. I know everyone thought about a partnership with Apple or Microsoft but somehow that never worked out, maybe its because Sirius was always viewed as a radio company and that seemed like the technology of my generation and not the technology of Generation X or Y. In addition Sirius never really marketed itself well, tending to rely on the OEM side and not retail sales of its radios. I don't want to get started on the marketing of this company, as the guys on this site know, the marketing of this company I view as nothing short of disgraceful, and if I was the number 2 guy at Sirius, I would clean house and start over with some hungry kids who know how to promote. Anyway my point is now that Sirius isn't going anywhere and can concentrate on providing the best content over the air and over the net.Now it could seek a partnership with an Apple or a microsoft, both of which has seen their stock price slide into the toliet with the recession and maybe their products are getting a little long in the tooth or have completely saturated the market. I wouldn't be shocked if one of these two companies steps up and takes out the remaining debt, and takes a stake in Sirius. Either one wuld be getting in for cheap and there would be immediate synergys between the two companies.

So in the end where does that leave us, the individual investor? well for one thing its going to be a LONG climb out of the hole that we are in. Clearly the market makers are not going to do anything in the short term to help the share price, its probably because we have so many enemies. ( so does Dick Cheney, and nothing stops him maybe we should add this SOB to the Board, he knows how to make money) my take is that we continue to buy at this price, which five years from now will seem like a gift from the God's. Average down or buy in at these prices and hold on, we will have to suffer the reverse split, I think that's going to happen, my guess is that it will take place after the remaining debt due in 2009 is paid off. But by then we will stop hearing about how our shares have been diluted, well they have, we know it and lets move on. Hopefully we can R/S to the point where we can sell option calls on a regular basis, which is why I am buying at these prices and holding because once this company shows a profit we will see growth in the share price. Once we make a profit regardless of the amount, then we will see the growth we want in the share price. I think that the Street will look at our company differently then, giving value to our spectrum, and to our other assets, including the talent that we sign going forward. Overtime we will be the dominant audio delievery system and we will crush the NAB and mainstream radio but its going to be a long fight. We need to relax and give this investment the time it needs, thats all.

Finally, we must support our company. When ever possible give the gift of Sirius to your friends and to your family, its a bargain, I have nine radios between my wife and me and I'm going to buy a new stiletto tonight for my new secretary and I will prepay her subscription for one year

Sirius-XM: John Malone's 'Tony Soprano' Economics

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:15:25 -0500

Markam: As an Italian-American I'm not to cool with the "Tony Soprano" reference, lord knows every Italian-American has been trying to bury this image once and for all, it kind of reinforces the idea that we're still a bunch of gangsters.

That said you do raise one good point, what exactly was Ergens offer? Yes there were ego's involved and there is some issues that probably came up between Mel and Charles, but still Mel has some serious money of his own invested in this company, and I'm certain that he and Malone have a game plan that we will see evolve over time, now that the pressing needs of SiriusXM have been addressed.

Just as we are realizing synergys from the merger, there will be synergys generated from this "investment." Further after the second installment the remaining debt is in the hands of friendly lenders, UBS and JP MORGAN and as was stated yesterday in the Farber report, this refinance is almost a done deal for a couple of reasons, the lenders also own stock, its not a lot of money, Sirius despite the economy is still growing, and adding subscribers, and these lenders would have no objection to convert debt for stock, especially in view of our new best friend.

By the way shed no tears for Charley, today he is an even richer man, perhaps he will use some of his profits to take a chance on a "lottery ticket" like we all have.

Finally this transaction may kick off another round of investment in Sirius by companys who have the cash and are willing to invest in a technology that continues to evolve, and in a product that, bashers notwithstanding, kicks ass! You know that because the churn rate is stable and minimal. Perhaps now Microsoft or Apple will partner up because Sirius isn't going out of business and there is a significant time horizon before Sirius has to turn a profit, two years based on yesterday's deal, but Mel is not going to wait that long, I'd be willing to bet that 2009 despite all will result in a profit, maybe not a lot but it will be the start of something unstoppable, there is no one that can go back to free radio after listening to Sirius, regardless of your music taste.

All that said, while this company has haters everywhere, including the NAB< Congressional whores, (especially Congressman Markey of MASS, why don't you check out his bio and his bizarre introduction of a bill that would require Sirius to install a free HD radio in every one of its receivers, this of course would benefit "rural homeowners" whose radio options are limited) it will not die and now that we have Malone, Mel can concentrate on putting some nails into some other coffins.

So we will listen to all the bashers screaming about dilution, how Mel sold the company down the river, inaccurate reporting especially by Business Week who recycles old stories and continues to bash Sirius, the LA Times whose owners are invested in dying radio statiions, Market watch which is or was owned by CBS whose radio devision is at death's door, and which never planned for the departure of Howard Stern, who now will probably re-up because he can so much fun watching everyone else drop dead, Barrons who somehow never gets anything right, especially the myth that Sirius overpaid to get Howard, all of them will have to eat crow.

Buy and hold, especially for the long term, this is an American company which created a product that employs Americans that embraces everything that is good with our culture, music, talk and comedy, how disgusting that narrow minded individuals wanted to kill off an American company for their petty reasons, above all for greed, but free speach will always prevail.

In addition, Markham, take a look at some posts from Cos 1000, Rel and SL62, they have a handle on the company better than the company CFO. I admire them because they have a passion which is inspirational.

Sirius: A Deeper Look at the Liberty Deal

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:36:13 -0500

conorport, I agree the offer was a bold one. I think 4th quarter results are better than one would expect. A lot of XM subscribers added best of Sirius package and many paid in full for one year in advance, I know I did on my two company Envoys that have XM. There are also more car models with Sat radio then ever before, and what cars were sold, the majority come with Sat. Its becomming standard, Every Lincoln and Mercury at Straub Lincoln near where I live has Sirius installed in every new model and at Straub GMC every model has an XM radion . The upscale Yukon Denali model also has the XM traffic guidance system already installed and the service is included free of charge to the consumer for I think its three years. At Straub Buick and pontiac every model has an xm radio installed.

I also think you are on to something with your prior post I believe the XM sats will be redundant and I'm not sure but I think the next Sirius sat is a dual band (Cos, REl and Sl) do you all remember the disclosure of the 500 million credit line from Loral space systems inconnection with the next sat It might have alluded to its dual band capability? I believe that the next Sat will be state of the art and can transmit digital video as well as audio. Maybe you are right, what Malone wants is the XM sats which if so he got them for cheap, Maybe his company will lease space on these sats once the new Sirius sat arrives I believe next year since they will be redundant.

There's been so much today to digest and to think about. I increased my position by 100,000 shares today and put them away for the long term. As I said before, I am not a day trader and my time horizon is five years or more with this stock before I would ever consider selling any part of my portfolio.

I do believe that at some point before the end of the year we will see a reverse split if the stock price isn't one dollar. this notwithstanding the option activity that was disclosed in a prior post. However I don't fear this as I once did, its just that this company still has a lot of enemies, but we just picked up one hell of a friend,

I would like to thank Cos, Rel and Sl for some amazing posts and of late Asm6, Mogami and connorport, we truly have a wonderful group. I wish I wasn't so busy with two projects that I am involved in at work which are consuming my time and have limited my ability to respond to your posts but I do read every one of them.

"Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny."

Mel Karmazin Gives Away the Farm, Saves Job

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:30:27 -0500

Who are you?

Have you ever followed SiriusXM before today?

Intrinsic Value Investing: Recognizing Potentially Mispriced Stocks

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:47:42 -0500

Boys take a gander at the Barron's tech trader post. What a bunch of front runners

Intrinsic Value Investing: Recognizing Potentially Mispriced Stocks

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:50:20 -0500

Rel: I would bet that that 15% interest rate gets modified somwwhere down the road too, why would Malone hurt a company that he now has 40% of?

Mel really pulled it off, and I would bet he's not done, I hope that the 30 million for "general corporate purposes" is going to be used to sign radio talent, on a regional basis to develop and maintain subscribers. Remember Howard's original deal called for THREE channels not two, there are some very well known regional DJ's out of work because free radio is dead. Just some thoughts, remember Mel said on Kramer that if you bet against us you will pay...

I wish I could consult the marketers at Sirius, now I know the way Cos feels when he says he could advise the finance department at Sirius.

Intrinsic Value Investing: Recognizing Potentially Mispriced Stocks

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:33:16 -0500

Rel: I read the deal the same way too. I also believe you are right about the dilution, it is already priced in, now we can concentrate on Churn, 4th Q numbers and 1st quarter guidance, and I also believe that our numbers will meet or exceed estimates.

I wonder a little about the pricing of the preferred stock when they convert and do you think that they will R/S?

I also think that NAB influenced media will hammer away at the dilution issue in the coming hours and try to bash the deal to help out the shorts

Intrinsic Value Investing: Recognizing Potentially Mispriced Stocks

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:17:14 -0500

Cos, Sl and Rel just got back from my snowboarding adventure, looking over the events of the weekend it seems like you guys were very busy. Are any of you taking the wife out for a steak dinner tonight? I found out when my wife told me as I was trying to get some last minute rest before work today. My wife has NEVER waivered in her faith in Sirius and in Mel. She actually insisted that we buy more at seven cents last week and was really upset that our broker couldn't get in at 5 or so. So LMaze is in the doghouse over that one too. Anyway, I will read the Sec filing later, and will be sending F*** U's to Business Week and Market Watch, and I might cancel my WSJ subscription on principle too.

Seriously I'm very happy for each of you, especially Rel who if ever I had to be in a foxhole, I want you next to me.

LMAZE

Intrinsic Value Investing: Recognizing Potentially Mispriced Stocks

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:08:54 -0500

Boys: It's done, see the press release issued at 7:57 am. Will read it and start writing later, the best to the best always,
LMaze

Sirius Investors Still in the Dark as Takeover Speculation Continues

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:01:03 -0500

REl, SL, Cos, BDP: Imagine you are Ergen, assume that the deal with Malone is done, he's bringing Cash and he gets stock, does anyone really know how much of the Feb converts he holds? Lets say he holds the vast majority, do you take your cash and go OR to you roll the dice on the future and convert? If he has more senior debt does he convert after negotiation, does he wait for the 4th Q numbers and 1st Q guidance? What would you do? I'm going to the airport it will be a while before I see your reply's.

Sirius Investors Still in the Dark as Takeover Speculation Continues

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:36:40 -0500

Siri-hope: "why fear death, its the greatest adventure in life." Relax this will all end this Tuesday, one way or the other. Look no one really wants a bankruptcy, especially Mel. This would destroy his reputation and his ego, because he will forever be known as THE guy who ran Sirius into the toilet. Trust me every single person who posts here would never let Mel forget this debacle.

Common sense, don't you think Mel was aware that he would have to make payments on the "toxic" financing, that he would have to refinance the company THIS year, or take in a large investor who would keep him in charge and inject a large amount of cash into this company.

We all knew on this board that the above would certainly result in dilution and a drop in the stock price. But hey for the most part on a company such as this your time horizon must be five years or more before you see a profit, it's that speculative. Granted you could make money day trading, shorting or back when Sirius was a stand alone company selling calls, but for the most part, you invest only a little gambling money, you know the money that you would have spent at Harrah's but couldn't, because the weather down in South Jersey is crappyand you don't want to travel on the Garden State parkway

The rest of the time put your money into a diversified portfolio, and your house, maybe buy a rental property where you can collect some rents, maybe a tax deferred annunity if you live in a high tax state, you know keep it real.

I understand, I love this company because of its product and it irritates me that Management ran it like kids left alone in the candy store, and that includes Mel for all his famous cost cutting, because from the outside looking in, the marketing department of this company is and was disgraceful.

In all probability there will be a white knight whether its Malone or Ergen they will be issued stock and maybe they will inject some further cash into our company and once the near term debt issue is resolved, you will see the reverse split and a new direction for the company. And if I worked at the Oprah or Martha channels I would start packing because those channels are going out the door as either those two contracts get restructured or they will expire and not be renewed unless they are in an amount which reflect listenership to their channels.

So hang in there maybe you can make some money daytrading over the next few days, as for me I'm chilling. I'm going snowboarding for the long weekend.

Sirius Plays Dangerous Game at Investors' Expense

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:22:01 -0500

Rel: You are the man! just spent one hour or so reading your posts tonight with a double shot of Johnny Walker Blue, thinking about the events of the day and Sirius and where it all went wrong for us. However the last few posts perked my interest, because a few years ago, I purchased stock in Liberty Media and I was very impressed with Mr. Malone. He runs a very tight ship I didn't hang around too long I got out when I was up about 14%

To what extent has Liberty been buying shares or do you know if they are buying debt?

I missed the Howard sgment with Bob Kraft. Is it true he was touring Sirius with Mel?

I believe you were at your best today, someday if you are in Brooklyn, I'd love to buy you dinner.

Sirius Plays Dangerous Game at Investors' Expense

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:45:45 -0500

BDP: Check out Tyler's blog from earlier this morning. I'm going to work now and I will talk to you later. I've given lots of thought to your post and am now certain that there will be a deal to avoid a bankruptcy. Keep up the great work, and I can't wait to read what Cos has to say.

Sirius Plays Dangerous Game at Investors' Expense

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:32:36 -0500

Sl do you really think Mel would kill the company because he would be out of a job if Ergen takes control? Why not just pay the Feb converts off, buy some time and go to the shareholders to take out the rest of the debt due this year? Next year we could either refinance or maybe we will be able to build up enough cash to get rid of the last of the debt.

This is about ego's and greed...boy "isn't everything wonderful now."

Six Likely Takes on the Sirius Situation

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:23:06 -0500

Tyler, well done. As you know last night the posts were flying hot and heavy, considering the news. As for me, my emotions erupted because while Sirius is a very small part of my portfolio, i am very well diversified, and I concentrate on real estate, I loved this company. I had a great deal of respect for Mel, and have been a life long listener to Howard since he arrived at wNbc. In fact Howard is a genius, and his impact on our culture and on our generation has been so under estimated. One could argue that he is the greatest entertainer in American history, because of his long career, and his ability to keep us entertained every day but whether or not you agree with me, he is radio and when he goes away it will never be the same.

I invested in Sirius because I wanted my kids to be a part of the next great thing, uncensored radio, great content, and the potential of unregulated content distributed also via the internet. I understood the risk and never invested to make this a major part of my portfolio, although I have a significant amount of shares, most of which i acquired post merger so its not so bad, but I was there in the beginning, even before Mel who arrived with such a track record for success, and of course I was overjoyed when the merger was announced since the FCC should have never allowed two companies in the first place.

During the merger process, we all were exposed to how America works and boy did it leave a sour taste in my mouth. I ask everyone who posts here a simple question, do you have any respect for our regulators, let alone trust, and can you ever trust any politico ever again? And as if this wasn't enough, we are now seeing how Wall street really works, with their antics, and once again does any of you trust these cats with your fortune?

I grew up poor, and created a company and built it by being on time and on the money and I take care of my people, then I created a second busines and am doing exactly the same thing. My people come to work every day knowing they aren't going anywhere and I make sure that we invest in income producing property and other sure things like publicly traded LLC's and tax free bonds and I believe in diversification and most of all I try to guard against greed.

If what you say is true, that Sirius has around $400 million in the bank, then why not do something simple..... like pay your bills, retire the debt that is due in February, lets buy some time to May and lets sit down with the more senior lenders and either modify or extend the debt if refinancing is not available due to the economic climate, or go to the investors and say guys invest a little more and lets get rid of the debt and now we going to make some profit since our synergy's are kicking in and we got a service that people want and despite all we have a business that is GROWING, despite the economic conditions in our country. This company should be kicking A** Then Ergen goes away, he made his money and he's a happy camper, free to invest his profit in other stock or maybe on this seven cent lottery ticket

Maybe Ergen feels the same way we do. Maybe he believes that long term this company is the future in media but it was poorly managed especially XM which was a mess before the merger. Maybe just his presence and his reps on the Board would be enough to insure that this company would stop squandering money on big name talent that does not produce subscribers (remember Oprah, Martha, Bode Miller)or hold them either.

So I guess this is all about ego, Mel doesn't want to give up control, and we the shareholders are caught in the middle, and he wants to be the CEO so much that he would put the company in bankruptcy just because he wants to be the boss? Does this make good business sense to anyone? How many shareholders are subscribers and how many will cancel if we entered bankruptcy? I would on principle and I hope every investor shareholder would do the same. If Mel takes this company into bankruptcy because his ego is bruised, well then he was not the great leader we thought he was and its true he ran this company into the ground, but an awful lot of bigger players than us are going to get hurt by his actions, please not that despte the surge in short selling, since the merger, institutional ownership is up and retail ownership is down, and there are a lot of players that are going to get hurt and they will be asking a lot of questions , and Mel will be done his legacy tarnished forever.

My guess, is that over the long weekend these guys will make a deal, you know "a deal deal," maybe Ergen is a Republican. Maybe these two guys will put aside their greed for something far more precious... freedom of speech.

As for my boys here on the site, lets go buy some real estate, the prices are down, rates are low, there are plenty of opportunities out there and there really is money out there if you know where to look.

Does Ergen Have Enough Leverage to Play Out His Sirius Hand?

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:14:21 -0500

BDP I get it, I've also calmed down a little since I saw the press release. Lots of pent up emotion came out. I agree, the news that came out this evening was probably leaked by Sirius to force a more reasonable agreement with Ergan, look he's sitting on a great return for his investment however it plays out, but has anyone actually identified how much of the Feb converts he actually holds? What do you think will happen with the pricing on the bonds tomorrow?

Does Ergen Have Enough Leverage to Play Out His Sirius Hand?

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:35:45 -0500

BDP just read your post. you make a lot of sense, I seem to have been caught up in the emotion of the moment. Thanks. I follow your thoughts, except for your argument that Echostar would be the least desirable. I understand that if they give him shares we will be dilluted, but over time as the synergies from the merger kick in and the OEM market returns, perhaps this is the best option for us. Ergen wouldn't get enough shares to take control but I think that the stock price will slowly rise if Mel does a deal with him. Your thoughts are welcome

Does Ergen Have Enough Leverage to Play Out His Sirius Hand?

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:26:01 -0500

Cos, Sl and all thanks for everything. LMaze with his seven Sirius subscriptions as well as two XM subscriptions is done. Never in a million years did I think it would end this way. Mel could have initiated a shareholder refinance plan at the annual meeting and probably raised enough capital to pay off all the debt just from us, the slobs who supported and invested in Sirius

I've stayed off the Board for a while but have been reading everything each of you have written and your faith and love of this company comes out with every post. It's too bad that we got screwed by our own government, politicians who whore themselves out for practically nothing, the NAB, and most of all one bad management decision after another. Now its done, next week at this time we should all be reading the bankruptcy filing despite the fact that there is more than enough cash to pay what's left of the Feb converts. Why wouldn't Mel just pay this raider from echostar, if he truly owns the bulk of the Feb converts and then go to the shareholders for additional capital to take out the remaining debt? Instead we have a bankruptcy filing just as the synergies from the merger are kicking in, somehow it just doesn't seem right, that its going to end like this.

Once SiriusXM files I probably will cancel all my subscriptions I think it will be too painful to listen, though the Bankruptcy will also have the effect of voiding the contracts of the Sirius talent, I guess Howard will be done too. He will never go back to regular radio. If he does he will appear to be a whore just like everyone else associated with the demise of this company.

Maybe this is Mel's bluff to get some concessions from Charles Ergen, but would it really be so bad to have this guy from Echostar as a sigificant shareholder? Maybe he would shake up the Sirius Board and push to get rid of the dead wood.

I've had Echostar products at my home in Jersey for years and never had a problem with the company, and I go back to the days when I had the big dish on my roof and got all sorts of programs including the raw feeds to various events. So again would it be so bad to have this guy as an investor? Anything is better than this.

Anyway I wish everyone the best of luck and I hope we all meet again under better circumstances.