Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Reports out today indicate the government will direct about half of the 19 banks undergoing “stress tests” to boost their capital reserves, a move that officials hope will quell fears about the solvency of the financial sector.

Regulators reportedly plan to brief the nation's largest banks today on the final results, with a public announcement scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The “stress tests” are meant to determine whether the banks in question have sufficient reserves to weather the recession.

Preliminary results are said to show that firms including Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and several regional banks may be required to take remedial action.

Wall Street retreats

Stocks slumped today as investors slammed on the brakes after pushing the major gauges to multi-month highs in the previous session.

Stocks rallied Monday on bets that the economy is closer to stabilizing. The Nasdaq ended at a 6-month high and the Dow and S&P 500 ended at nearly 4-month highs.

Swiss bank’s outlook cloudy

Also on Wall Street’s radar today… Swiss banking giant UBS, one of the hardest-hit banks in the global financial crisis, confirmed that it posted a net loss for the first quarter, illustrating that it continues to struggle with write-downs even as rivals show signs of business picking up.

UBS said its net loss for the three months was $1.75 billion, and cautioned that it may have to raise credit provisioning in coming quarters. The bank announced last month it would cut nearly 9,000 jobs.

Bernanke says recovery will begin this year

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says that the economy is stabilizing and will begin to rebound later this year, but the recovery will be slow and cautious.

At a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Bernanke said consumer sentiment, the housing market and spending have begun to show signs of life.

But he expects the economy will continue to shed jobs and credit will remain tight for some time. He said the recent frugality trend will continue due to deflated household wealth, and business spending will be slow to bounce back as well.

Bernanke also fielded questions from lawmakers on the bank “stress tests,” Bank of America's controversial purchase of Merrill Lynch last year and whether the huge increase in the Fed's balance sheet will create an untenable situation by the end of the year.

Deal on 'cash for clunkers' bill

The Obama administration has signaled its support for a congressional effort that aims to boost the troubled car industry by subsidizing new cars sales for consumers who scrap old ones.

Congressional Democrats, emerging from a meeting at the White House today, say they’ve struck a deal on a bill to establish a one-year program to encourage the purchase of 1 million new cars and trucks that get better gas mileage.

Under the so-called “cash-for-clunkers” legislation, consumers with old, gas guzzlers could get $3,500 or $4,500 in government vouchers to use toward the purchase of new cars that get gas mileage than exceeds the old car's by four miles per gallon.

Chrysler sets new incentives

Finally, with bankruptcy threatening to further weigh down the carmaker's sales, Chrysler is expected to announce a new incentive program today.

Chrysler's "Employee Pricing Plus Plus," program ended just days after the carmaker declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That program combined cash rebates with price reductions and cut-rate financing for qualified customers.

The new sales program is expected to rely heavily on giving dealers cash incentives, which means that customers will see big price reductions at the dealership, said Jessica Caldwell, an industry analyst with the automotive Website Edmunds.com.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Stocks on Wall Street opened modestly higher today, extending yesterday’s massive rally. But will we see the first back-to-back gains in more than a month?

On Tuesday, stocks surged after a Citigroup memo said the battered bank was profitable in January and February, and amid talk that the government may reinstate a restriction on short-selling - a Depression-era rule aimed at preventing a massive plunge in a stock price caused by a wave of selling.

The Dow rallied 379 points - the biggest gain of 2009 - one day after finishing at a 12-year low.

An update today on what many consider to be the single-most important effort underway to heal the financial sector.

The Obama Administration will soon unveil details of its plan for dealing with the toxic assets that lie at the heart of the financial crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday.

Geithner predicted that the plan, which calls for low-interest government financing to help private investors buy up the bad assets held by banks, would succeed. But he said it would take time to end the financial crisis.

"It's going to take a lot to work through this… we start with - just a deep mess," Geithner said on “The Charlie Rose Show.” “And it is our obligation to clean it up and to fix it,” he said.

A massive spending bill that funds the U.S. government for the rest of the budget year passed the Senate on Tuesday despite complaints about nearly $8 billion in what critics called "pork-barrel" projects.

Senators voted 62-35 to cut off debate on the $410 billion measure and passed it on a voice vote immediately afterward.

The omnibus spending bill includes more than 8,000 congressional "earmarks," which total almost $8 billion. The earmarks have caused critics to question President Barack Obama's pledge to end wasteful spending, but White House officials say the bill is a holdover from the previous Congress and the Bush administration.

Earmarks make an easy target for politicians, but they may not be as big a problem as you think. Check out CNNMoney.com’s “Earmarks: Myth and Reality”

Alleged swindler Bernard Madoff will plead guilty later this week to 11 counts, including money laundering, perjury and fraud that could bring a sentence of 150 years in prison.

Prosecutors stressed that there had been no plea deal and that Madoff, 70, will have to forfeit any proceeds he accrued from the crimes he is accused of committing.

As unemployment soared in January, four states' jobless rates climbed higher than 10%, according to federal data released today.

Michigan tops the list at 11.6%, followed by South Carolina at 10.4%, Rhode Island at 10.3% and California at 10.1%.

Mortgage applications are up for the first time in three weeks as near record-low interest rates spurred demand for home refinancing and purchase loans.

The jump in demand came several weeks after the unveiling of the strongest government action yet to aid homeowners since the housing market's meltdown began and may help gauge what is in store this spring, the peak home-buying season.

Gas prices dropped 3-tenths of a cent overnight to $1.938 a gallon. 11 states have regular unleaded gas prices of $2 and higher. 39 states and the District of Columbia have regular unleaded gas prices below $2. The highest gas prices are in Alaska ($2.519). The cheapest gas prices are in Wyoming ($1.738)

Finally, getting time off from work is usually considered a good thing - but not when it's unpaid and unexpected.

As companies strive to avoid layoffs, unpaid furloughs have become the cost-cutting strategy du jour. The money-saving method requires workers to take days off without pay, and can last anywhere from a few days to more than a year.

Eleven percent of businesses surveyed have already instituted mandatory furlough programs and another 6% plan to in the next 12 months, according to a recent study by consulting firm Watson Wyatt. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of temporarily laid-off workers hit a 25-year as of December.

Police say thieves are drilling holes in cars to steal gasoline straight from the tank. WSBT's Dustin Grove reports.

Bloggers,

It was only a matter of time…

With oil at record high’s and gas prices hitting $4 a gallon, people have taken to drilling for oil… from other people’s tanks.

That’s right; while the price at the pump has already forced some people to curtail their summer plans and stay home… others are looking to their own backyards, to steal gas.

Gasoline prices surged just before Memorial Day weekend and on Monday hit a new record national average $3.937 for a gallon of regular, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service

As the price of gas rises, more people are stealing from stations and siphoning. CNN's Kathleen Koch reports.

Although tank puncturing isn’t on the radar of many law enforcement organizations, ‘AAA Mid-Atlantic’ issued a press release last month that cited a case in April in Bethesda, Md., involving a thief who broke the fuel line underneath a car and sapped five gallons of gas… Montgomery County police said a bus in the same parking lot had 30 gallons of diesel stolen.

Suggestions from AAA? 

• Park your vehicle in a garage, attended parking lot or in a lighted area.
• Vary your parking routine.
• Check the fuel gauge when returning to vehicle to make sure gas hasn't been stolen.

These are crimes of opportunity," said AAA spokeswoman Catherine Rossi. "Right now, some people think that stealing gas is a way to get rich quick. It becomes a question of whether you're leaving yourself open to the possibility that someone can get to your car without being seen."

The cost of replacing a metal tank on passenger vehicles is between $300 and $400, and the plastic tank common on newer vehicles would be at least $500.

Take a look at these reports from all across the country: From 'Tank puncturing' to gasoline 'drive offs,' where people fill up... and drive off without paying