RadioShack (NYSE:RSH) is exploring strategic alternatives including a possible sale of the company that could fetch more than $3 billion, the New York Post reported, citing sources. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) appears to be leading the "very, very early" sale process, the Post said, with one possibility being a merger with Best Buy (NYSE:BBY). Shares rose 1.8% before the bell. –Daily Finance
Wells Fargo, UBS AG, Morgan Stanley and more than a dozen other financial institutions lost a bid to dismiss legal claims accusing them of conspiring to rig bids for municipal derivatives. Banks, brokers and dealers are accused in the lawsuit of conspiring with one another to not compete and to rig bids for municipal derivatives sold to issuers of municipal bonds. The defendants allegedly allocated customers among themselves and fixed and stabilized prices, including the interest rates paid to issuers. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) didn’t seek dismissal of the lawsuit, Marrero said in his ruling. The bank in 2007 received amnesty from the U.S. Justice Department for its cooperation in a federal probe. –Bloomberg
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) strategy update seeks to close the valuation gap with its peers. The company will sell assets, cut spending and buy back at least $5 billion of its shares, equivalent to 6.4% of its market capitalization. It is a rational strategy. With almost half its capital employed exposed to the especially weak refining and North American natural-gas sectors, restructuring is mandatory. Sweetened payouts will hopefully keep shareholders happy in the meantime and alleviate fears of cash being used for acquisitions. –The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in six years during the final three months of 2009, fueled by a huge inventory adjustment, strong business investments and modest consumer spending, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. U.S. real gross domestic product increased at a 5.6% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, revised down from the 5.9% pace reported a month ago. The government provides three estimates of economic growth, each reflecting more complete information than the last. In the past year, real GDP has risen 0.1%. For all of 2009, GDP fell 2.4%. -MarketWatch
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