RIM Is No Carl Icahn Target (EP, RIMM, YHOO)

Carl Icahn was on CNBC this afternoon talking up his position gains from the El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP).  The CNBC team asked him point blank if Icahn was targeting or if he had taken a position in Research-in-Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM).

Icahn responded that these rumors get out there and often have no merit.  That was not a firm denial, but his firm denial came when he said that RIM is not on his radar and does not fit the mold of his targets.

Research in Motion shares were already lower on offering free apps and free support to those who were affected adversely by the severe Blackberry service outages of the prior week.  Now things are worse if Icahn is not going to be bullying the RIM board of directors to get things turned around.

RIM shares are down 5.7% at $22.60 but trading volume actually looks a bit unimpressive today.

Could RIM ever get to become a Carl Icahn activist target?  Probably, if the price ever becomes cheap enough.  RIM still has a market capitalization of close to $12 billion even after today’s drop in the share price.  If RIM does not become a target it could be because Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) proved to be such a painful experience.

JON C. OGG