A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece noting that Research In Motion (RIMM) put out a press release at 10:30PM in which they warned on their future earnings. Well, yesterday, they gave me fodder for another blog entry. This is the text of the RIMM release via PR Newswire: "WATERLOO, ONTARIO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/11/09 -- Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX: RIM) today provided an update on forecasted net subscriber account additions for the fiscal fourth quarter ending February 28, 2009. RIM now expects net subscriber account additions for Q4 to be over 20% higher than the 2.9 million net subscriber account additions forecasted by RIM on December 18, 2008. RIM had record levels of net subscriber account additions throughout the month of December and continued to see strong levels following the holiday buying season. The new BlackBerry® products that were launched in the fiscal third quarter continue to be well received in the market and post-holiday subscriber performance in both North America and international markets has exceeded RIM's earlier expectations. RIM expects net subscriber account additions in Q1 to reflect a more normalized average weekly run-rate as the first quarter will not include the type of holiday surge experienced in Q4. "RIM achieved a very strong start to the holiday buying season and the momentum carried on stronger than expected during the past seven weeks despite a seasonally slower timeframe and the challenging economic environment," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM. "We are pleased with our leadership and momentum in the market after shipping our 50 millionth BlackBerry smartphone in January and introducing a range of new products that are achieving exceptional early results and helping attract record levels of new customers to the BlackBerry platform." In addition, RIM is reaffirming its financial guidance for the fourth quarter and expects revenue for the quarter to be at or near the mid-point of the previously guided range. Gross margin and earnings per share for the quarter are expected to be at the low end of the previously guided ranges. A variety of factors, including product mix, lowered channel inventory levels and an increased ratio of new subscriber sales to upgrade and replacement sales, are contributing to the degree of outperformance in subscriber growth relative to revenue and earnings performance within the quarter. RIM expects to report actual Q4 net subscriber account additions and actual Q4 financial results, as well as provide guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, on April 2, 2009. The number of net subscriber account additions is a non-financial metric and is intended to highlight the change in RIM's subscriber base. The number of net subscriber account additions should not be relied upon as an indicator of RIM's financial performance. The number of net subscriber account additions does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to similar metrics presented by other companies." The headline here notes the additional subscriber growth. In the 2nd paragraph, there as a good quote from the CEO and the concept of added momentum was duly noted. Then there were these two sentences in the 3rd paragraph: âGross margin and earnings per share for the quarter are expected to be at the low end of the previously guided ranges. A variety of factors, including product mix, lowered channel inventory levels and an increased ratio of new subscriber sales to upgrade and replacement sales, are contributing to the degree of outperformance in subscriber growth relative to revenue and earnings performance within the quarter.â After all of the optimism was a very subtle but notable warning that earnings were going to come in lower than expectedâ¦followed by a note about subscriber growth outpacing earnings! Amazing. Now, I could easily turn this into a schpiel as to why RIMMâs PR entity makes them seem very squishy. However, I have but one point for day traders: whenever any company puts out a press release discussing parameters of growth or shrinkage of any kind (in this subscriber growth), read through the whole thing. Companies want to focus upon the positive obvious, but one must be diligent about reading the entire text of press releases that companies put out to get the whole (e.g. true) story. Markets slumped throughout the world overnight. Tokyo finished down 3% with Hong Kong and Taiwan down 2% or so. European bourses have followed suit with the indeces down 1% to 2% following reports in various major newspapers there that the banking crisis there is deeper than initially thought. State-side, futures are down as well. Look for a day similar to yesterday- rumor and politically drivenâ¦and very choppy at that. The bias off-hand seems to be to the downside, but as has been so often the case recently, watch the major banks and youâll have an idea of the direction of the broader market. Reiterating- Please understand that if the ideas do not get to the hoped for set-ups cited below, more often than not, one should not blindly trade the symbol next to said idea. If the whole story is not there - If something is good, assume either a short thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 based on direction of the market unless specifiedIf something is bad, assume either a buy thru unchanged or an A-B-A2 (preferably to the downside in a downside market and the upside in an upside market) based on direction of the market unless specified- Good- The following stocks have good news and/or a strong technical pattern XL- closed near a high after posting great earnings Tuesday afternoon DVA- closed near a high NFP- closed near a high CMG- solid earnings BWLD- handily thrashed earnings estimates AIPC- another restaurant company with good earnings WINN- beat earnings WFC, PNC- among bank stocks closing near their highs AU, NEM, AEM gold stocks notably strong yesterday; all of these closed near their highs SIGA- closed near a high MJN, FCX, STJ, VFC- all on âMad Moneyâ last night ALXN- good earnings KO- good earnings Bad-The following stocks have bad news and/or a weak technical pattern FBP- closed near a low ID- closed near a low; a break of Wed 6.06 low could be a notable short NTAP- poor earnings MAS- bad earnings and restructuring STR- terrible earnings ATVI- warned on next quarter LVS- poor earnings SQNM- missed earnings estimates GIL- suspending earnings guidance due to uncertainty about its business JASO- warned again TEX- terrible earnings LYV, TKTM- both closed near their lows as concerns over their planned merger grow HIG- president of company resigned; may be viewed as positive as rumors may circulate that the company becomes a takeover target now MAR- warned on outlook EDU- poor earnings LJPC- halting its phase III trial of its lead drug Earnings: THURS FEB 12 BEFORE AET ALXN BWA CLI ECL FCL IRC JAH KO LH LIFE LUFK MAR MFC MLM NRG NXY PCH PDS PGN PTEN RTP SCG TDC VIA/B VTR WMI THURS FEB 12 AFTER CAKE CEPH COG DCT ECA ENH EQ GDI MFE PNRA SHO THRX VCLK VR Good luck today. Erik R. Kolodny