Oh lookie here, the Motley Fool is at least equally against both satellite radio stocks when it comes to investing in 2007, also giving XM Satellite Radio the label of The Worst Stock for 2007 (and yes kids, I did miss this article an hour ago).

Of particular focus on Fool's article is XM's ever decreasing equity value. Their thought is that the drop in shareholder value can only make sense if XM were to dominate the market - like eBay or Amazon. They just don't see that happening with big players like terrestrial radio or Apple in place.

The Fool also calls into question XM's prediction of reaching 20 million subscribers by 2010 - they don't see that happening either. It's on this point I vehemently disagree. We have yet to reach the full potential of the OEM channel, and while the conversion rate is going to go down, the exposure if going to increase. Still, a lot could change in 3 years (just look at satrad retail marketshare).

Joan Lordi Amble, Executive Vice President and Corporate Comptroller for American Express, has joined XM Satellite Radio's board of directors.

Ms. Amble brings considerable financial expertise and insight to the board as she is responsible for all controllership finance functions across the four major divisions of American Express.

Prior to joining American Express, Joan Lordi Amble served as COO and CFO of GE Capital Markets,  overseeing securitizations, debt placements and syndication, as well as structured equity transactions for General Electric Company business.

Ms. Amble also served as vice president and controller for GE Capital, and as Chief Financial Officer for GE Commercial Real Estate. Prior to GE, she worked for Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and Ernst & Young.

She obtained her undergraduate degree in Accounting from Penn State and attended graduate school at UCLA.

NPD Group's November sales data continue to show - once again - a consecutive decline in satellite radio retail demand relative to last year.

For the fourth month in a row, year-over-year retail sales are on the decline - August: -3%; September: -12%; October: -25%; and now for November: unit sales are down 45%.

The Quick Glance:

• Sirius November 2006 Retail Sales:
  Down 45% YoY
• XM November 2006 Retail Sales:
  Down 45% YoY

Marketshare:

• Sirius Nov '06 Retail Marketshare: 59%
• XM Nov '06 Retail Marketshare: 41%

While it's interesting that both Sirius and XM are down 45% from the same period last year, Sirius' retail marketshare jumped up from 56% in October to an impressive 59% in November. A clear indication that Sirius is handling the retail sector much better than XM is (regardless of the fact that NPD doesn't register all retail activity).

Anyone want to make some bets for December? 

Speaking at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference on Wednesday, XM Satellite Radio's Chairman of the Board, Gary Parsons, said that the shift to an OEM driven model occured "faster than expected" this year.

Back in May, XM cited an "overall softness in retail" - something that we apparently have been seeing industry-wide when compared year-over-year. Still, Parson said that XM is "not going to chase the retail market" for growth at any cost.

He mentioned that while GM has increased OEM penetration to 1.8 Million vehicles for 2007, GM will actually represent a lower percentage of XM-installed vehicles in 2007. This is because their other OEM partners are stepping up production at an even faster rate than GM is.

When asked whether XM will going into the Telematics market considering their relatively recent foray into Navigation and Weather systems, Gary Parsons said that he "would not go into specifics" over future Telematic services. He did point out that GM has OnStar which currently is the largest player in Telematics, but that it was "no mistake" that Honda and Acura were the first to offer XM NavTraffic.

When asked what keeps him up at night, Parsons responded that the retail softness is "concerning" but in his opinion could be "largely cyclical" in nature. There's still a market for retail, and will always be a market in retail.