The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) announced today, that Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) will be added to the NASDAQ Q-50 Index, following the results of its quarterly re-ranking. Sirius XM Radio’s addition to the Index will become effective with the market open on Monday, March 22, 2010. The Index is designed to track the performance of the 50 securities that are next in line to replace the securities currently included in the NASDAQ-100 Index.

The index has no minimum bid requirement. Qualification is based on market capitalization. The top 50 securities not currently in the NASDAQ-100 Index are selected for inclusion in the Index. The data used in the ranking includes end of January, April, July and October market data and are updated for total shares outstanding submitted.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must meet the existing NASDAQ-100 Index eligibility criteria, stated as follows:

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By Brandon Matthews

There have been a few statements recently in Satellite Radio circles that have peaked my interest. The first came during Sirius XM Radio’s (Nasdaq:SIRI) fourth quarter earnings call held two weeks ago, in which Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin informed analysts that the used car market will be the new retail market going forward.

Still another tidbit of information came again from Karmazin in a letter published last week, which includes a statement that there will be 90 million Satellite Radio equipped vehicles on the road by 2015. The last came from BGB Securities Analyst, Murray Arenson, whom just this week highlighted the importance of Sirius XM’s potential in the used car market. The analyst stated that there are only 27 million vehicles factory installed with Satellite Radio on the road today.

Even if you are not smarter than a fifth grader, these are pretty easy numbers to work with. There will be over 60 million more potential subscribers on the road in five years than there are today. When we consider that Sirius XM has 19 million subscribers today out of 27 million, which equates to approximately 2/3 of the current market, we can forecast a five year subscriber goal of about 60 million. This may seem a bit outlandish to some, when considering that it has taken over seven years to reach under 20 million, while witnessing a slowdown in subscriber growth. Am I nuts? Perhaps. READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

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By Brandon Matthews

As we recently speculated, Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today that it will call $500 million of its 9 5/8% notes due 2013. The company intends to offer $550 million of Senior Notes due 2015 and will use the net proceeds to redeem all of the Company’s 9 5/8% Senior Notes due 2013. The interest rate is not yet known, but is expected to be lower given recent improvements to Sirius XM’s credit ratings by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. This will have a positive effect on cash flow as well.

The $1.8 billion 2013 debt tower included three bond issues; $500 million in Sirius 9 5/8% Senior Notes, $526 million in XM 11.25% Senior Secured Notes and $778.5 million in XM 13% Senior Notes. The 2013 tower was a major source of concern for many analysts and credit agencies. By taking the first step to create a more manageable long term debt picture, Sirius XM will remove any doubt about its future viability. READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

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By David “Newman” Phillips

As stated on this weeks Satwaves Radio Show, I stated that I would publish my official response to the FCC regarding the Sirius XM (SIRI) vs WCS Coalition proposals. If anyone does not know what I am talking about, feel free to head over to the FCC website and look at what is going on, and then read my cowriter Brandon Matthew’s posts from this week. Anyone who is a serious investor in Sirius XM, or even a devoted fan to the service, needs to take note of what is going on and make sure you get your voice heard. Quite literally, this is something that has the potential to be devastating to Sirius XM. Below is my official letter that I have submitted to the FCC. I hearby give everyone the permission to copy and paste this letter as THEIR official response to the FCC (obviously you would want to change the name at the end!).

Letter after the jump…

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By Brandon Matthews

The anticipated recovery in the automotive sector may be underway. This is imperative for Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq:SIRI), as worries over the projected Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) halted an exceptional run last month over concerns of weakness in the sector. Most analyst projections assume a SAAR rate of between 10-11 million units.

Edmunds.com is reporting that the first eight days of March have brought with it a surprising rise in the SAAR rate of U.S. auto sales. Last months 10.3 million rate is now being dwarfed by a spike to 12.5 million units, primarily resulting from incentives offered by GM and Toyota (NYSE:TM). This is the highest reported level since September of 2008, excluding the cash for clunkers program during August of last year.

Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell expects that the rate will cool down to approximately 11.3 million by the end of March. This represents a one million unit increase from February. With an average penetration rate of nearly 50%, and a take rate of nearly 50%, this represents nearly 250,000 new Sirius XM subscribers in 2010 than the February numbers would have indicated.

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