The Traderszone Network

Wireless company Sprint Corp (S.N) would operate as many as 1,750 of those stores under an agreement with Standard General, Sprint said separately. RadioShack’s bankruptcy, which has been expected for months, follows 11 consecutive unprofitable quarters as the company has failed to transform itself into a destination for mobile phone buyers. RadioShack said in a statement that the Standard General affiliate, called General Wireless, would acquire between 1,500 and 2,400 of its 4,100 stores.

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Asian shares edged higher on Friday and oil prices continued to rebound but investors remained wary ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for January later in the session. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.1 percent, on track for a weekly gain of more than 1 percent. “The main focus for the market is whether earnings bounce back as expected, after last month’s surprise drop,” said Ayako Sera, market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a January 14 spike in trading in BlackBerry Ltd options that took place hours before Reuters reported that Samsung Electronics Co was in talks to buy the Canadian smartphone maker, according to a person familiar with the investigation. One trade the SEC is looking at took place at 12:06 p.m. on that day, when there was a purchase of options with the rights to buy 200,000 shares of BlackBerry stock at a strike price of $10 a share, the person said.

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Crude oil prices rose as much as $1 on Friday, continuing a rebound from near six-year lows plumbed last week, but rising global inventories and steady OPEC supply will likely cap gains. Crude prices closed more than 4-percent higher on Thursday as conflict in producer Libya and an expected boost in oil demand following China’s central bank easing helped the market rebound. “There are signs of rejuvenation in short-term physical demand … although not sufficient to make a meaningful dent to the supply overhang,” National Australia Bank analyst Vyanne Lai said in a note.

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U.S. job growth likely remained firm in January, with a rebound in wages, supporting views that consumers will have enough muscle to carry the economy through tough times. “That would be seen as encouraging given everything that is going on in the rest of the world and would reinforce the notion that consumer spending will remain a key pillar of support for the U.S. economy,” said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York. The Labor Department will release its closely watched employment report at 8:30 a.m.

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Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) said on Thursday the social media company is signing up users as quickly as most of last year after a fourth-quarter slowdown, boosting its shares 11 percent. Twitter beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue targets in the fourth quarter. User growth weakened in the quarter, but picked up in the new year, Chief Executive Dick Costolo said in a statement. Twitter added 13 million to 16 million users in each of the first three quarters of 2014 and was on track to hit a similar number in the current quarter, it said.

Chairman Chung Mong-koo and son Chung Eui-sun had sought to sell 13 percent of the affiliate to comply with new antitrust rules.