By Tom Bradley

We need your help Aretha! It seems that the little Canadian technology company that could, Research in Motion, has trouble getting respect.

This is hardly a statistically robust analysis, but it has been evident to me for years that RIM and its hugely successful Blackberry are rarely given their full due by the non-Canadian press. While I’m not a regular reader of the Wall Street Journal publications anymore (it’s the Financial Times for this guy), it has always struck me that the Journal was quick to point out the Blackberry’s flaws and keen to promote anything new from pretenders like Palm.

I was reminded of that by a recent article entitled ‘CrackedBerry’ in Barrons, a WSJ publication, which sounded warning sirens about the Blackberry’s market position. But what prompted me to post on this was an article about smart phones in The Economist (June 13th issue). The piece talked about Nokia, the new Palm phone and the iPhone, but there was no mention…not a word…of the world leader, Research in Motion.

I find this lack of recognition frustrating as a proud Canadian and Blackberry user, but as an investor, I don’t mind at all. Investing is all about expectations and I always prefer to buy a stock where the outlook is subdued.

Our clients own Research in Motion in the Steadyhand Equity Fund.