Justice seen likely to OK Sirius' XM buyout

JUSTICE SEEN LIKELY TO OK SIRIUS' XM BUYOUT
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Another day, another guess on which way the federal review of the Sirius-XM merger will go. In this article, the Associated Press guesses that House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers' (D-MI) letter asking Attorney General Michael Mukasey to involve himself should not affect the outcome. Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analyst Blair Levin said that while the Department of Justice has struggled with the decision and the final outcome is a close call, he believes the department will give its blessing, leading to a green light from the Federal Communications Commission. While the legislators' skepticism may have affected investors' trading, Levin said the deal is still moving forward. "It's possible the Department of Justice will still try to block the deal and that there's been some sort of leak, but we don't believe the reported letter ... means there is a greater chance of DOJ opposition," Levin said in a client note, noting a decision could come any day. [Really, when's the last time the Administration listened to Congress, anyway?]
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/13/technology/bc.apfn.xmsatelliteradio.ap/i...