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A lot of things happened this week.
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BlackBerry (BBRY 0.01%) reportedly wants to take the easy way out. Shares of the company behind the fading smartphone platform moved higher on Friday after sources told Reuters that BlackBerry's board is weighing the decision to go private.
The allure of attempting a turnaround without having to please the market every three months is a reasonable strategy. There's also value in the different parts of BlackBerry's business, and that kind of carving-out process is less messy if it's done behind the scenes.
Wanting to go private and actually achieving the transaction are two entirely different things. We've seen proposed privatization efforts come undone. Shareholders can object. Financing can be hard to secure.
The bad news is that BlackBerry's going to have to spend money to make money. Its share of the smartphone market is shrinking, and the ballyhooed BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system upgrade wasn't enough to woo potential smartphone buyers. Being public provides easier access to raising capital, and BlackBerry can't afford too many more miscues.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
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