General Motors recently showed reporters and select members of the public what it plans to build over the next two years.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Home prices rose in August and also suffered a smaller-than-expected annual drop, according to a report issued today.

Prices in the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price index of 20 cities rose a non-seasonally adjusted 1.2% in August. That’s the fourth consecutive monthly increase and followed a 1.6% gain in July.

And while prices were down more than 11% versus August 2008, that drop was less severe than expected.

On a city-by-city basis, Minneapolis had the biggest increase, with home prices rising 3.2% from July to August.

Home prices in California have recovered from depressed levels in recent months as well, with prices rising 2.8% in San Francisco during August, 2.5% in San Diego prices and 1.8% in Los Angeles.

But prices continued to slide in areas that have been hit hard by foreclosures. Prices dropped 0.5% in Cleveland and 0.3% in Las Vegas.

Key consumer confidence reading at 26-year low

On the other side of the coin, consumer confidence continued to slip in October, with a closely-watched gauge of the current economic situation falling to a 26-year low.

The Conference Board, a New York-based research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 47.7 in October from an upwardly revised 53.4 in September.

Economists were expecting the index to post a slight increase.

And the component of the index that evaluates consumers' judgment of their present situation dipped to 20.7 in October, the lowest since the 17.5 measured in February 1983.

Consumer confidence is closely watched by Wall Street as consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity in the U.S.

Here come the “smart” meters

Some 18 million “smart” meters are set to make their way into American homes as part of the economic stimulus plan focusing on energy efficiency, Energy Dept. officials said today.

The meters, which are designed to communicate more effectively with utilities and appliances and help consumers manage their electricity more efficiently, are being distributed by utilities around the country with partial funding from the federal government that was allocated under the stimulus plan.

The 18 million meters represent roughly 13% of all electricity meters nationwide. Ultimately, the White House hopes to distribute 40 million “smart” meters over the next few years.

The smart meters are part of a wider government effort to upgrade the nation's aging utility grid. The government announced $3.4 billion in funding Tuesday to help move the country toward a so-called smart grid. Utilities are putting in another $4.7 billion in matching funds.

According to the White House, these investments could reduce U.S. electricity use by 4% a year.

Former GM plant set to make electric cars

Electric carmaker Fisker Automotive says it’s buying an old General Motors plant in Wilmington, DE and plans on making up to 100,000 vehicles a year at the recently shuttered facility.

Until July, the plant had employed over 1,000 workers making Pontiac, Saturn and Opel sports cars for General Motors. GM closed the facility as part of its corporate restructuring.

Fisker says its new plant will employ 2,000 factory workers and support another 3,000 vendor jobs by 2014. Production is set to begin in 2012.

IRS to rich tax cheats: Be afraid

The Internal Revenue Service detailed plans this week to weed out wealthy, international tax cheats with renewed urgency.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said the agency recently formed the “Global High Wealth Industry Task Force” to target investors with assets “in the neighborhood of $30 million.”

Shulman, as he addressed members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Washington, DC, said that a more “holistic” approach was necessary to find international tax cheats, given the growth in Americans investing overseas and the broad and complicated nature of modern financing.

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