Ford, Nissan and electric car start-up Tesla Motors will be the first companies to benefit from a new government program geared toward helping automakers produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

More government money is flowing into the auto industry.

It’s all part of a $25 billion loan program that Congress created to help automakers retool their factories to build cars that are at least 25% more fuel-efficient than vehicles made in 2005.

Ford, Nissan and electric car start-up Tesla Motors will be the first beneficiaries of that program. Ford is getting nearly $5.9 billion. Nissan will receive $1.6 billion and Tesla will receive $465 million. More than 100 auto and auto parts makers have applied to the program.

Ford says it will use some of the money to refit some of its truck and SUV plants for small-car production in North America. The company also has plans to build new flex-fuel vehicles and a variety of electric models.

Home sales rise, but prices plummet

Sales of previously-owned homes rose 2.4% last month as increasingly affordable home prices and a first-time tax credit attracted hesitant buyers.

And distressed property sales have pushed prices lower, year over year. The median price for an existing home last month was $173,000, down nearly 17% from $207,900 in May 2008.

$6 billion available to buy foreclosed homes

So with home prices at their most affordable in many years, that’s opened up homeownership to many who had been locked out during the housing boom. And now, the federal government is launching a plan to hook up buyers of repossessed properties with very attractive terms.

The feds made nearly $6 billion available for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which intends to combat blight by reducing the number of foreclosed homes on the market.

The money, which has only started to flow during the past few weeks despite much of it being authorized last summer, will go to state and local housing authorities and non-profit organizations involved in providing housing for middle- and low-income families.

Gas price shift into reverse

Gas prices decreased by 7-tenths of a cent overnight to $2.68. That’s the second straight day of declines.

The average price of a gallon of gas is down $1.431 or 34.7% from the record high price of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, 2008.

The highest gas prices are in Hawaii ($3.078) and California ($3.025). The cheapest gas prices are in Missouri ($2.500).

Survey sees thaw in hiring freezes

The job market, still the worst in decades, may become a tad less chilly in the months ahead as a majority of employers now think the economy is inching towards a recovery.

A survey released Monday by consulting firm Watson Wyatt, found that 62% of employers are planning to reverse hiring freezes over the next 12 months. It also showed that 69% of companies in the survey plan to eliminate salary freezes.

Mars, Venus and investments

A new study from Fidelity Investments found that a majority of couples disagree about a major component of their retirement planning, such as the age at which they plan to retire, whether they'll work in retirement or where they'll live after they retire.

Among the key findings:

-Less than half of couples make decisions jointly regarding the day-to-day financial decisions of the household such as budgeting and bill payment.

-Only 38% of couples jointly discuss investment decisions for retirement savings.

-And 60% don't agree on their respective retirement ages.

The one area where couples generally agree is that the biggest concern in retirement is health care expenses.