[danimalchil]

This was on theflyonthewall.com this morning:

Research in Motion September call volume and volatility elevated.
Research in Motion September 23 and 25 calls are active on 32K calls (7K puts) following speculation Carl Icahn will take a position. October and November call option implied volatility of 69 is above its 26-week average of 53 according to Track Data. Elevated call volume suggests traders positioning for upside price movement.

You definitely want Carl Icahn as an activist shareholder. He has a way of getting **** done.

The stock is up 7% on this news.

[reden82734]

Rumor is Carl had bought shares and preparing to disclose his RIMM position...Let the action begin! Motoral Mobility part 2?

[tumer]

What things done he's all about making a profit what ever ot takes whethers its by braking the company up or selling it. He only cares about the stock price I hope this is not true because if it is rim will eventually turn into soothing else this will turn into Motorola for sure first break it up then get it taken over

[q649]

The stock is up 7% on this news.

The stock is not up 7% on this news. Stock is up, as all most/all others, on belief that Greece will be bailed out.

[katiepea]

Shares of Research in Motion � which if the tech sector were Highlights Magazine, would be the Goofus to Apple�s Gallant � are up more than 6% today on a heavily circulated market rumor that a unicorn is riding to its rescue.

The unicorn is named Unicarl Unicahn, and his approach to save RIM is being reported widely by blogs and Twitter, so it must be true.

Research in Motion shares are rising despite the latest in a series of blistering analyst notes about the company, this one from Northern Securities analyst Sameet Kanade, who today �formalizes� a series of trading calls into an official recommendation on the stock: Sell:

Which is not to say there�s not some potential upside, but it mainly involves the company getting taken over, maybe by some other magic unicorn:

[Buzz_Dengue]

What can Carl Icahn do on Phillip Street to affect change, and who would listen?

[danimalchil]

The stock is not up 7% on this news. Stock is up, as all most/all others, on belief that Greece will be bailed out.

What? There is ZERO chance that RIM is up 7% on the Greek bailout news. It's a short squeeze and you know it.

[danimalchil]

Everyone doesn't need to get all up in a bunch about this. It's a RUMOR... could be completely false. Just wanted to spread the word. That is all.

[danimalchil]

Yet another personal attack having nothing to do with the topic you started. How was I negative?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

You're right. My bad. I must be crazy then.

[lnichols]

If you are tired of reading the same things from the same people then add the user to your ignore list and then you will only see their comments in quotes. I have no idea what was said to start this because of this great feature.

[glassofpinot]

Here is what CNBC "Squawk on the Street" reported earlier today...

RIMM stock price was moving up unusually better than peeres or comparables. "Unconfirmed rumors" have Icahn taking a stake. (He or anyone would have to publicly report any stake bigger than 5% (?) per stock exchange rules.)

IMO: Some of this sounds like former Icahn attempts, except the challenge here is that a big chunk of RIMM's $12 billion market cap is owned by the co-CEO's, making is a bit tougher to influence. If you do not know Icahn or his methods, google him and 5 minutes of reading will give you a full dose. He makes money placing bets and winning more than he loses - usually involving pressure on boards, CEO's and other shareholders.

All of this is made possible by (1) low share price and (2) high cash flow plus other lesser factors.

[trsbbs]

Here it comes Jim and Mike....maybe..

Markets, right now, are up 2.79%.
RIMM at 14:23 is up 6.46%

Someone is liking this.

Tim

[trsbbs]

Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) shares are in the hot seat today, as investors flock to the shares following rumors that investor Carl Icahn has taken a stake in the company. However, as Eric Savitz reported earlier, “there is no actual evidence that Icahn has any interest in the company, at least not so far.”

But overzealous bulls never let a lack of evidence stand in their way, and RIMM has soared more than 5% higher as a result. Technically, the stock is closing in on potential technical resistance in the $24-$24.50 region. This area is home to RIMM’s 10-day moving average and also marks the stock’s high during its Sept. 16 bear-gap lower.

Options traders appear undaunted, however, as more than 80,000 calls have changed hands on RIMM so far today. By comparison, a mere 26,200 puts have crossed the tape, resulting in a single-session put/call volume ratio of roughly 0.33.

The most active option on the session is RIMM’s weekly September 30 24 strike, where 3,060 calls have traded on open interest of 2,610 contracts. Running a distance second in RIMM’s October 25 call, which sports volume of 1,507 contracts on open interest of 7,391.

Options traders may have an opportunity if no statement from Icahn emerges. According to data from WhatsTrading.com, implied volatility on RIMM options has spiked 10% to 71, creating an opportunity (albeit a risky one) to sell option premium. If today’s rumors fail to pan out, option implieds may well fall back to earth, meaning that any options sold today could be repurchased for considerably less once RIMM retraces its speculation-inspired gains.

Research In Motion Call Speculation Popular on Icahn Rumor - Forbes

[Jake2826]

If true, this rumor would be bad for Blackberry fans. This guy loves selling off companies' assets and breaking companies up.

[tumer]

This guy os a companies worst nightmare and santa clause to shareholders not good at all for the people who just love the products

[danimalchil]

I think that the B.O.D. have been puppets to Jim and Mike. Carl just may be the guy to light a spark under their butts.

[Neely2005]

What things done he's all about making a profit what ever ot takes whethers its by braking the company up or selling it. He only cares about the stock price I hope this is not true because if it is rim will eventually turn into soothing else this will turn into Motorola for sure first break it up then get it taken over

Yeah it's probably not a good thing if he's involved.

[the_sleuth]

Carl Icahn track record is mixed. He did well with Motorola but he had a loss on Yahoo and HP. Also he walked away frustrated from Clorox.

It would be nice to see Carl, Jim B and Mike L in a good old fashion WWE cage match.

[tumer]

How could say he did good with motorola there owned by google now

[the_sleuth]

Google purchase of Motorola is not finalized. Icahn is a long time investor in Motorola. Rumor is he made over $1.34 billion on Motorola.

Google-Motorola: Carl Icahn Looks Brilliant - Deal Journal - WSJ

How could say he did good with motorola there owned by google now

[Exiled Bulldawg]

The current RIM management has not been "blindsided by iPhone." They willfully ignored the device for THREE years. Three years they could have fixed the areas where RIM wasn't competitive. But, Lazaridis and Ballsillie never recognized what the iPhone is: a paradigm shift.

RIM sees the Berry as a messaging device. Apple sees the iPhone/iPad as handheld computers. Major difference.

Fundamentally, there isn't much of a difference between a Blackberry Tour and a Bold 9650. The screens look the same and the capability isn't that different. The current Berries even lack WiFi hotspot capability. All other phones have that capability, so it isn't the carriers crippling the devices, it's RIM not adding the functionality. The browser still sucks. Look at an iPhone 3g and an iPhone 4. Major differences.

Let's not forget the iPad vs Playbook. The Playbook may have been more technically adept, but it isn't selling as well? Why not? Look at what Crackberrians are saying. They WANT to like the device, but they have issues. iPhone users seem to want to buy the iPad. That's what keeps a company alive.

Failure to quickly evolve is a death sentence for a technology company. RIM should have added an S to it's initials: standing for SLOW. Research in SLOW Motion. That's

[lotuslanderz]

The current RIM management has not been "blindsided by iPhone." They willfully ignored the device for THREE years. Three years they could have fixed the areas where RIM wasn't competitive. But, Lazaridis and Ballsillie never recognized what the iPhone is: a paradigm shift.

RIM sees the Berry as a messaging device. Apple sees the iPhone/iPad as handheld computers. Major difference.

Fundamentally, there isn't much of a difference between a Blackberry Tour and a Bold 9650. The screens look the same and the capability isn't that different. The current Berries even lack WiFi hotspot capability. All other phones have that capability, so it isn't the carriers crippling the devices, it's RIM not adding the functionality. The browser still sucks. Look at an iPhone 3g and an iPhone 4. Major differences.

Let's not forget the iPad vs Playbook. The Playbook may have been more technically adept, but it isn't selling as well? Why not? Look at what Crackberrians are saying. They WANT to like the device, but they have issues. iPhone users seem to want to buy the iPad. That's what keeps a company alive.

Failure to quickly evolve is a death sentence for a technology company. RIM should have added an S to it's initials: standing for SLOW. Research in SLOW Motion. That's

I think that's coming in a software update:
Bell to release the BlackBerry Torch 9860 August 22nd | MobileSyrup.com

[trsbbs]

At a minimum Mike and Jims days as Co-Chairman of the board may be coming to an end.
Perhaps even seeing the Co-CEO thing being altered. (it's about time)
Would both or one leave due to this?

We could also see the company sold and/or some licensing of items.

Worst case is RIM is broken up and sold for parts. (I don't want to see that happen)

This has been a long time coming, if it happens. These two have been sleeping at the wheel for the past 3 - 4 years. Some folks do not understand this. Any tech company that fails to respond to the changing market for that long is just asking for it.

In short, Jim and Mike could be getting what they deserve after sitting and doing nothing for
the almost the past half decade.

Some say leave Jim/Mike alone, look what they are doing now.
This is sort of like saying good job commander for mounting that counter attack after the enemy has been pounding on us for four years..DOH!

Tim

[danimalchil]

There too many instances where Jim and Mike dropped the ball... it's hard to think of them all. Here are a few off the top of my head:

1. No response to the Iphone. The Storm was a disaster.
2. Jim spending too much time trying to buy a hockey team.
3. Using too many resources going global and not innovating, although this may be a benefit in the long run.
4. Half baked Playbook which has now taken the sheen off of QNX.
5. Bold 99xx late launch - 1 year too late.
6. Torch 1 having inferior specs and AT&T exclusivity in the US.
7. Inferior apps selection.

Did I miss anything?

[louzer]

There too many instances where Jim and Mike dropped the ball... it's hard to think of them all. Here are a few off the top of my head:

1. No response to the Iphone. The Storm was a disaster.

The Storm was a disaster but was a response. They tried (and failed) to differentiate themselves in the touchscreen market with their own style of touchscreen that did not gain wide acceptance.

2. Jim spending too much time trying to buy a hockey team.

This is based on media coverage. Do you really think that Jim is the only CEO who has spent time chasing personal investments? Does anyone here really know what goes in at the detail level with any CEOs whether on an upswing or down?

3. Using too many resources going global and not innovating, although this may be a benefit in the long run.

It's the global market that's been generating sales the past few quarters that have prevented serious downturns in sellthrough statistics. Plus, they now have a established a global presense. Plus, their global vision is what produced the 'problems' in UAE and India with regard to security being too tight. You can't buy better marketing for a security-based device than that.

4. Half baked Playbook which has now taken the sheen off of QNX.

Beating a dead horse. There was a decision to get this thing out to market around the same time as the iPad 2. By getting it out when they did, there were some who decided in favor of the Playbook over the iPad who might otherwise today own an iPad 2. If they waited until this fall to release, everyone would be complaining that RIM can't release a product. Frankly, I prefer having the device since last April and watching it grow as opposed to giving up on it ever being released.

5. Bold 99xx late launch - 1 year too late.

Granted. But sometimes, better late than never. I've been trying to find a Bold 9930 for 3 weeks now, but it's sold out. Sellthrough is better on this device than anticipated.

6. Torch 1 having inferior specs and AT&T exclusivity in the US.

No matter how you slice it, the Torch 1 is a niche device like the Style 9670. AT&T had the Torch, Verizon had the Storm, and Sprint eventually had the Style. But all 3 had the Bold which is their flagship.

7. Inferior apps selection.

This is more a function of other companies deciding to invest in development on RIM's platform along with the actual capabilities of the devices themselves. The missing apps fall into three categories:
1. Apps that require functionality beyond BB OS 6 and/or hardware specs.
2. Apps that are tied closely to native environments and are therefore very expensive to port - let alone port to essentially 3 environments - OS 5.0 - 6, OS 7, and Tablet OS.
3. Apps that smaller companies develop/deploy for specific environments.
4. Apps by companies who choose not to negotiate with RIM or might be asking for too much money from RIM to enter into an agreement.

Either way, it is acknowledged that RIM is still the most profitable environment for developers to develop for so it's not like it's not worth it to create apps for RIM.

Your item 7 could more appropriately be:
Fragmentation of the OS environments requiring different development tools. This is true of any platform in transition. Honeycomb apps are just starting to trickle in and, in my opinion, there are only a few there that impress me.

Ignoring the iPhone was a misstep but not necessarily a mistake. If anything, RIM seems to be consistent. Underpowered hardware meant devices with greater battery life. Messaging and security are what identify RIM in the marketplace and they are still very strong in this arena.

Transitions are not easy. Development is far more complex than many people realize. What might seem like easy fixes and enhancements can, if not executed correctly, cripple a device. Mike and Jim tred a fine line with regard to to world calling for their heads and trying to maintain a straight line to their vision.

With the prospect of hostile purchase with intent to disrupt/dismantle along with an uphill battle to regain favor in the minds of investors, I'm hoping that the grand vision is consistent with the small victories that we're seeing very recently. The Playbook is going to get better very soon (although I'm loving it right now). The 99xx phones are being received well. Who knows what QNX will become? Whatever the answers are, I'm rooting for RIM to get it right and succeed. If not, then competition among the major players is reduced and motivation for innovation decreases.
Did I miss anything?[/QUOTE]