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Stock Ideas Investors Daily Edge Satellite Radio… XM and Sirius have way more listeners than Rush
Stock Ideas Investors Daily Edge Satellite Radio… XM and Sirius have way more listeners than Rush 
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Hello readers, It looks like we’ve got a great chance to pull a quick 30 to 40 percent gains out of ICP Solar Technologies (ICPR). After a nice string of winners, (AAAE coverage initiated at $1.15 traded as high as $2 and SSEY coverage initiated at around $1 traded as high as $1.95) we’re ready jump back in the market and bag our next elephant. |
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| Satellite Radio… XM and Sirius have way more listeners than Rush |
| Tuesday, 19 August 2008 | ||||||||
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A few weeks ago, I was a musketeer. And just when I thought the name calling was over, I find out that I’m also a ‘Boy Genius’. What am I Jimmy Neutron now? For those that don’t have kids (or whose kids are too old), Jimmy Neutron is a famous Nickelodeon cartoon character. And by the time this one became popular, I was well over watching cartoons on Nickelodeon. I was more into Ren and Stimpy and Catdog, personally. But if you must call me a ‘Boy Genius’ then feel free. There are far worse names. For fairness though, you should see exactly what Thomas F. said in his e-mail. Mind you, he wrote it after Andrew Gordon wrote an article talking about dying industries. Here’s what he said… Andrew, who listens to radio anymore? You may inform the boy genius that 20 million listeners tune in regularly to Rush, and his audience and profits are equaled by very few in any other media. Also, I am 65 years old and do very well trading on line. It is true that I only offer personal anecdotal evidence, but the generalities made by Charles are also unfounded and pure b.s. Did I hit a nerve there, Thomas? I certainly didn’t mean to offend, but I was taken aback by what you called “unfounded and pure B.S.”. You are right –a lot of people still listen to terrestrial radio. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a dying medium of communication. If you don’t believe me, maybe you should see what some other reputable sources all say about terrestrial radio… Terrestrial radio's still a dying joke -CNet The commercial radio industry is dying -Telegraph.co.uk So it’s not just me saying this ‘unfounded and pure B.S.’
In fact, I think the market believes it too. According to BusinessWeek… Rush Limbaugh may still mint millions, but a private equity firm that ran stock analyses of key publicly traded media companies in the past five years found that the worst-performing sector was radio, which managed the neat feat of underperforming newspaper companies. I guess this ‘unfounded and pure B.S.’ is spreading into the numbers too. But seriously, I do listen to the radio from time to time. But it’s only when there isn’t much on SIRIUS Radio … or when I don’t have my CD’s in the car. And even when I do listen to the radio, I always happen to catch it on commercials. I swear there’s some conspiracy going on, because when one station has a commercial, I find the next station has one too. Sometimes I go through four stations, all with commercials. How annoying! Is it any wonder that people are using their iPods, MP3 players, and Satellite radio to listen to music? Speaking of Satellite Radio… XM and Sirius have way more listeners than Rush – 18.5 million subscribers compared to about 14 million for Mr. Limbaugh. Oh, and each of these subscribers pays about $12.95 for their content. Let’s see: $12.95 a month, 12 months a year, times 18.5 million subscribers comes out to… $2.87 billion a year in subscriber revenues. Let’s say some people are paying less (there are yearly discounts and such), so that means satellite radio is making over $2 billion a year. I don’t think Rush can hold a candle to that. And this doesn’t even include the money Satellite radio makes in advertising (yes, there are ads on the Howard Stern show). In all fairness, I can’t take away from Rush’s incredible success. He recently became even more ridiculously paid than Howard Stern, a feat in and of itself. And he’s done much for the business itself. My hat is off to him, whether I agree with him or not. But trying to choose the one, big star of terrestrial radio and using it as a case for terrestrial radio is a little skewed, don’t you think? Since I’m on a roll talking about ‘unfounded and pure B.S.’, I might as well talk a little bit about last Wednesdays Brief on the Trade Deficit. The Trade Deficit is Bad… But it Gives a Clear Signal In that brief, I talked about how the trade deficit shrinking actually signals an economic recession. One of our sharp readers, Robert R., rightfully pointed out… Thanks for your short piece on the shrinking trade deficit. Not to split hairs, though, I believe that you're mixing up cause and effect by saying that expectations of economic slowdown come after the trade deficit starts to shrink. That kind of thinking might lead to a conclusion that trade deficits are intrinsically good, which may not be correct. I think this was my fault… I may not have been clear with what I meant in the brief itself. Robert you’re right on the mark regarding a trade deficit being a bad thing. What I meant to do in this brief was simply point out that you can use the trade deficit as an indicator of future economic activity. It just so happens that when the trade deficit is expanding, consumers are buying and economic activity is growing. I didn’t mean to imply that the trade deficit in and of itself was a good thing that caused growth. I hope this clears up the misunderstanding. With that said, I’d love to leave you with a comment from Doug K. in England… The last time I drove in the States was a trip in 2007 from Detroit right up into the Upper Peninsula and back in a hired Ford something – a pretty basic hire car model. It was awful – no acceleration, cornered like jelly on springs and basic features. I didn’t have the air conditioner on and we got 25 mpg on a good day. The equivalent Ford Focus here at the time had better acceleration and features and consumption levels at about 40 mpg. As an environmentalist, the financial problems of your big three car manufacturers do not sadden me – instead I feel a rather nasty self-righteous smugness. ANYTHING that reduces GWG emissions is to be welcomed. Now that’s the way to think, Doug! Stay free, Charles P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's article, send an e-mail to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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