Sirius XM Stock Surges on Cash Flow News

Sirius XM stock is rising quickly on news that the merger has finally paid off and cash flow for the first time in 2009 is positive. In fact, really positive:

$100 Million Cash

What does this mean for Howard Stern's negotiations? A lot. First, Sirius clearly does have cash to pay him (this 100 million in positive cash flow is AFTER paying for Howard's show under his current expensive contract). Not only that, but Sirius XM is now in a position to offer Howard stock incentives, or other bonuses, other than quick cash, to stick with the company.

On his show, Howard recently floated the idea of appearing on Conan's Tonight show on one of the last few episodes. The publicity around that would be huge. But Howard dismissed it because he didn't want to fly to Los Angeles. Hidden message, imagine how much publicity Howard could generate for Sirius if he was motivated.

Will Sirius figure out a contract to motivate Howard to do another big publicity push? You can bet on it.