Another outage for BlackBerry users The second BlackBerry outage in less than a week disrupted service for millions of users on two continents Tuesday and Wednesday. Canada's Research in Motion Ltd. blamed a software upgrade for the problem, which it said was confined to North and South America. RIM said BlackBerry users couldn't send or get e-mails and instant messages but did not lose phone service. Many users also found the Internet inaccessible. Service appeared restored by Wednesday afternoon.

Citigroup pays back its bailout money Citigroup Inc. said Wednesday it has repaid the $20 billion in bailout money it received from the government. Citi said it funded the previously announced repayment with a recent stock offering that raised $20.5 billion. The offering included $17 billion in common shares and $3.5 billion in what are called tangible equity units, which can be converted into common stock at a later date. Citi said it also ended its $7.1 billion loss-sharing agreement with the government, which protected the company against defaults on some risky investments.

Ford, Chinese firm reach deal on Volvo sale Ford Motor Co. and the Chinese automaker, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said Wednesday that they had settled "all substantive" details on a sale of Volvo, clearing the way for Geely to buy Ford's Swedish unit. The automakers said that while final documentation and government approvals need to be completed, "Ford and Geely anticipate that a definitive sale agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2010, with closing of the sale likely to occur in the second quarter of 2010." The companies did not disclose a price. Ford paid $6 billion in 1999 to buy Volvo; Geely is expected to pay about $2 billion.

Mortgage execs' pay packages to be revealed Federal regulators plan to disclose Thursday that the top executives of government-controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each earned between $4 million and $6 million this year, two people briefed on the matter said. The people, who declined to be identified because the announcement was not yet public, said Wednesday that the pay packages were approved by the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie. A housing finance agency spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday night. Fannie and Freddie, which were seized by regulators in September 2008, have needed $111 billion in taxpayer aid to stay afloat. The pay packages for Fannie's CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Ed Haldeman are expected to be similar to each other and are to be paid in cash because the companies' shares are nearly worthless.

BofA sues mortgage insurer MGIC Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. Wednesday disclosed it was being sued by Bank of America's mortgage unit in a dispute over claims. The suit was filed Dec. 17, according to MGIC's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Regulators keeping closer eye on Google U.S. antitrust regulators are taking a closer look at Google Inc.'s proposed $750 million purchase of mobile phone marketer AdMob, the latest sign of greater government vigilance as Google tries to expand its advertising empire. The Federal Trade Commission sought more information about the deal this week, according to a Wednesday post on Google's blog.

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