relief program may be in some trouble of it's own...worries that the money hasn't been used to buy toxic assets from banks. and more than two hundred miles per gallon. that's the promise from g-m about its new electric car....just one of the new models g-m hopes will rebuild its business. plus, as kids head back to school, parents look for ways to save. where they're pinching their budgets getting kids ready for the classroom without breaking the bank.

ahead of hump days market action is one of those days where it's all about the federal reserve. no big surprise that the federal reserve is due to make its announcement regarding interest rates, rather the concern is about exactly what is its assessment of the economy. well tom, we'll also be watching earnings from the nation's major retailers over the next few days. we're talking macy's, wal-mart, coles, j.c. penney's. we certainly know that consumers, people for the most part are still reluctant to spend that extra cash and these earnings reports from retailers could give us a good glimpse into how consumers are holding up. and we see it early discounting already for the important back-to-school season as we look into the third and fourth quarter. all these retailers are already making plans about the holidays. and we'll have to hear exactly what they're expecting for the end of the year. the troubled asset relief program...otherwise known as "tarp"...is troubled itself, according to a congressional oversight panel. despite its name, none of the $700 billion allocated to it has been used to actually buy troubled assets from banks. withinstead, the money has been used to provide capital to banks in order to shore up their balance sheets while the banks continue to carry those toxic investments.

the panel is particularly worried about smaller banks and their exposure to commercial real estate loans as the august report from the tarp watchdog notes - quote - it is likely an overwhelming portion of the troubled assets from last october remain on bank balance sheets today. and later in the report, tom, the oversight panel calls those same assets a "substanial danger to the financial system." beej, it has been 10 months since congress okayed the tarp program, ultimately agreeing to spend just under $700 billion. and here's the accounting so far....the treasury department has used just over $370 billion of taxpayers tarp money to make investments of various kinds, from buying preferred stock in banks, targeted investments in citi, a-i-g, chrysler and general motors. this does include the tarp money banks like goldman sachs and others have paid back...as well as money for mortgage modifications. what's remaining in the kitty is a little under $329 billion dollars. some of this has already been earmarked for the public private investment

program, designed to use tarp money to attract private investors to buy some of the toxic assets from banks but that initiative has yet to start...and the panel is unconvinced it will help. and not all on the agree. texas republican jeb hensarling worries that recommendations such as more stress testing, more monitoring and more disclosure could require more of taxpayers money. the new gm is breaking ranks... and going on the offensive... unveiling its new product line up for the next 2 years.... something that usually doesn't happen well before the auto shows... it's gm's first announcement since restructuring... as the company tries to get people excited about its cars.. and industry experts say this time gm just may be abl to accomplish that. "the volt is becoming very real

very fast." focusing on small cars.. cross overs... and fuel efficiency... is the new game plan for general motors... this week - gm touted 6 new models... that are on sale now.. or will be by the end of the year... they inclue: the buick lacrosse sedan... cadillac srx... and sts wagon...chevy camero.. chevy equinox and gmc terrain. from now until 2011 - gm will have a *total of 25 new car models... including 5 from cadillac... 10 from buick and gmc... and 10 from chevy... industry insiders say this new lineup has a good chance of convincing people to buy gm. once all old gm cars off lots.. new cars replace them.. consumers will see them as a new gm the new gm is also trying to drum up lots of hype for the chevy volt... scheduled to go on sale to the public in late 2010... with a mileage rating that no other car can claim

today. "under federal testing proceedure, city fuel economy in a volt we expect at 230 miles per gallon and composite with city and highway it will be triple digit - over 100" the chevy volt can travel up to 40 miles on a single battery charge without using gasoline.... after that.. the gas engine kicks in for an additional 300 mile range. but there are some who are skeptical of the epa's new testing standard for plug in electric cars... this number.. 230 mpg number.. we don't know how they're devising it.. and how long cycle of testing is.. 40 miles on charge only depending on how long they're testing it.. it can sway ratings and how it comes up with number.. we just don't know and gm has *not said exactly how large the gas tank for the chevy volt will be... that can make a big difference when calculating the mileage.. on a side note... you may have noticed there was no mention of new trucks from general motors... that's because gm is

not revamping its truck line up until the year 2014... deciding to focus only on cars and crossovers for now. well ahead of the federal reserve of course is the big question on interest rates and the fed's own assessment of the economy. george tkaczuk along with us from rmb over at the cme group. george's nice to see you again. or so what you make here is the market sold off about one per cent on tuesday. pretty decent volume ahead of the fed. yeah that's a little unsettling. it's the first time, well not the first time, another day of high volume selling so it's kind of making it a second days so its not that kind of comforting if you're bullish on the market. but of course ahead of the fed meeting everyone is trying to position themselves not to too long or too short. there's a slight fear as to what the fed is going to say and do they know something more of the reports that we've been getting.

where is the surprise live with the federal reserve within fairly steady handed off in its assessment of the economy in previous announcements? yes it has been. they've been pretty good forecasting what they're going to do in the future. in the last fed meeting they pretty much made a sound like they were not going to do any quantitative easing. so everyone took it as that. but what happened last thursday evening is the bank of england announced that they're going to inject 50 more billion pounds in their system. that sort of sent the dollar higher, the pound down and made alittle unease. what do the fed's know that none of us knew. prior to that week on tuesday, england reported really good production numbers manufacturing numbers. so that was a little bit of shock to the market. so here everyone is thinking about our fed are they going to do the same thing for us. gorge technically do you think the the s&p can hold a thousand? i think it can. even actually alittle bit more bullish. once it clears this

area or around a thousand, 1010, it can go 1100. 1100? another 10 percent plus in this rally still left eh george? george tkaczuk along with us. he's with r m b over at the cme group. still to come the power of marketing...how some companies are using the tool to help boost business. but first....where parents are looking to save this back to school season....that's coming up after the break.

it's a big week for retailers and their investors. over the next two days, stores like wal- mart, kohl's and j-c penneys will report second quarter earnings, we'll see the july retail sales figures and we're in the thick of back to school season, second only in importance to the holidays for retailers. and they're even more important this year as stores have been discounting early and consumers have been more frugal. stacy debroff runs momcentral.com. cadenzas the welcome to the program hell are parents responding to this day job

market because of back-to-school spending? dark but we as parents are finding that we really need to set budgets with the national retail federation showing that we are going to spend five and $600 for each of our kids we are faced the challenge of regaining our kids in conversation about what it means to have trade offs. looking for deals and sitting down separating the pain that they need from the things that they tell us that they simply can't live without. we are seeing that overall spending expectations down better than 7 percent compared to what we spend per kid a year ago where are these budget cuts coming in terms of how we are looking to save money? i did that parents are first looking at generics. and also taking advantage of retail deals. for example i went shopping to buy back to school with my kids and we started with the basics and we were at staples and we found

bills from a penny to $8 so with kids know the bidding get their filler paper or notebooks basics like pencils and pens then you get into much more complicated discussions when you start looking at graphing check the leaders. laptops. have you don't turn your back every tell because the next thing you know the cart is filled with. laptops it's interesting you mentioned electronics as well as the supplies. we look at the national retail federation figures we are scrimping on everything went cones to the basics and let's face it companies are not one make a lot of profit selling pencils for a penny ahead instead we have been increasing will we're spending on electronics. we are both and i think that one of the things of the weekly specials the retailers are trying to help to trade off is the discounting of basics again some of the things we are looking at for example as kids and her high school is expected that they have access to a computer at home. after you find yourself how are you going to rearrange computers a laptop and desktop define yourself as soon as kids are entering the more sophisticated calculators the flesh tried to bring those word

documents to and from school and as parents we have been about what the trade-offs are. he is our been challenged to think about what it is that they really need my daughter was trying to convince me that a 52 pack of chart sharpies was critical to our getting a's in school. what's wrong with that? i thought really. but you find yourself point out to kill small differences for example often kids go from killer and flash and they don't look at how things are constructed with a of a get blinders that are more started it will last a whole year in hopes to invite us to have a really substantial conversation with him is whether we are looking at bryansk were looking at some of the more high tech items as kids get older and engage them in thinking about how we are spending money and how we are saving money in the process. i remember that my preschooler to have a crustacean of how many shades of red you need in the color box. the number of states responding more than before trying to encourage consumer spending in real savings with the sale tax holiday weekend compared to other weekends? i think that is definitely savings

when items they you are paying high sales tax and helps to think ahead. what school supplies the need expensive for some of the bigger ticket items will: does your kids month notice sales tax is not of the weekend and we can make a difference if you concentrate your shopping especially when focusing on those things that are high-tech items. savings of in were from 3 04% oppressive 10%. we appreciate it she runs mom central. c o m. online items after the show - head to our website to see how the government's cash for clunkers program is impacting the used car market... and why those prices could go even higher. and , is the worst of the

financial crisis behind us? two market pros tells when we can expect things to return to normal. plus....how the recession may be tarnishing the price of metals...you can find those stories and more on our website at first businessx.com. and straight ahead on the show.... how effective marketing can translate into big money for companies...and what companies are doing it? that's coming up after the break

the revival of the u-s auto industry may have as much to do with messages and marketing as it does with the machines themselves. scott davis is a senior partner at branding and marketing firm prophet and author of "the shift." high welcome to the showed thanks for having me. is that corporate approach to marketing and shipped to and from our ties and

petition to a deeper growth present to protect what is the u.s. auto industry looking to do push toward the u.s. auto industry has a antar opportunity to reconnect for picasso us. in and of again those ford is relevancy pricks believe the customer needs that are unaffected today so i did we have a chance in the u.s. to reach out to customers and find out what's missing from their allies in how the attack those he talks and talk to them away that's important to customers from the top of perspective. kuwait has cost us have been told to wait valued and discounting and savings than his name used all has to recession change marketing decision to? heighth are old- line tafts i think the we could start as a close behind if the much more of a piano orientation marketers have to add flights operated pumpers time and some our readers are trapped in what i will call it a role because agency in the logo of the hackers are thinking like operators said they about the plo can devote their plan numbers you're trying to drop those marketing idea to a patan in light for what is the gun to add to which corporations bottom line vs. friend of awareness high as 84 of a product or both types thanks. the days of tracking studies aha their research reports a reward those are gone. because awareness is just one to be no small part of the story i need to understand consideration. a preference and i need to figure on how close the sale. give us ideas if difficult scenarios if

in this type of environmental personal savings has been increasing and consumer coffins as band decrease in consumer spending under pressure so what companies are doing this? at the company is starting an auto industry i think sunday and for has stuck in ice accord and have really spoke to the consumer head and heart of a last month to month that the built-in a platform for how automotive refractors have to talk to consumers going forward. they are setting up a baseline run by you and a half to over the liberal front of benefits that customers are looking for in the driving experience. and i think that goes into other sectors of preventive services peace of mind we need to figure out how to recapture that. was your sense of financial-services. obviously it has been financially better and dismal down but the image has been more than bruce. mortally wounded in some cases right? how do these big banks have these big firms prepare themselves? if not only themselves but the entire industry. at the financial-services has done a terrible job of training itself. i could we hear all the studies and we hear about the bonuses hate and we don't hear about the good that wall street doesn't of

financing it provides to help small businesses grow to help consumers reached their dreams and i think we need to flip the story shifts the story and have it be more externally focused about the benefits that wall street provides. her you're in a unique position in the shift talks about shifting marketing from a traditional ad buying scenario one is going to be fueling growth in years to come koppell have your hands and a lot of different industries doing this consultant what is your sense of overall economy? it's been rough as you can imagine prom the from past year i'm sensing from our clients which we aren't reaching the bottom and i can give you a couple and adults around it about travel freezes and i use and on-site consulting firms in and seize the bins are banned to some degree we are starting to see request for proposals a repetition and repairing and how we build a brand in sectors like forma like cp g like the entrance car starting to see the willingness to tell a

different story. and willingness to invest a little bit maybe at this point. i believe so. scott davis and susan and the name of the book is the shift. the nation's major retailers get ready to issue their own report cards, their earning results this week. we'll look at the charts coming up in chart talk next.

will if you wanna look into the pulse of consumers, there's no better place than to look at the nation's retailers. and many of the big ones are coming up with second quarter earnings results this week. some of those that still have yet to show any big upside on the bottom line, still showing some upside nicely on the charts lately. take a look at macy's. the department store has been struggling but if you take a look at the stock price here it's breaking out over $14 on some nice volume and now perhaps that area becoming some technical support. compare that to wal-mart which continues to be range bound around $50 a share. it as a barometer for overall spending doesn't look too exciting. very surprising what's going on with wal-mart and then you compare it to the other stocks, the retail stocks. look at kohl's. upwards at $50 a share and you take a look at the one-year chart. this this is at 52 week highs. you can't say that about a lot of stocks. also strong performance from j.c. penney. up 67% since

january alone and that is a huge performance when you compare to the s&p 500. you wouldn't know that consumers are penny pinching by looking at some of these retailing stocks. we want to hear from you comments at the firstbusinessx.com. of course the inbox is open 24/7. we'll see you online and back here again next time. thanks for watching everybody.