The Treasury secretary has just $20 billion of unallocated money from the $350 billion Congress put under his charge for the financial bailout package. With Paulson hinting that the remaining $350 billion of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) would be saved for the next administration, time is of the essence.

Treasury has committed the first pile of money -- $250 billion to capital injections for financial institutions. So far, it has sent out $158.6 billion to banks, or 63% of the total allotment. President Bush asked for another $100 billion in October, 80% of which has already been allocated.

In that second batch of funds, the government gave troubled insurer AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) $40 billion and lent Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) $20 billion (on top of the $25 billion it received from the first bailout batch). Then, Tuesday, Treasury dedicated another $20 billion to cover any losses that the Federal Reserve might suffer as a part of a new consumer loan bailout.

That new bailout, announced Tuesday, will be financed by a different pile of funding - most likely from the printing of more money. The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department said they will allocate $800 billion more to go to holders of loans backed by consumer debt in an attempt to jumpstart lending by the nation's banks for mortgages, credit card purchases and cars.

And that may not be the last new bailout measure. There's a growing chorus of voices outside of Treasury to spread bailout money around.

The recent struggles of GM (GM, Fortune 500), Ford (F, Fortune 500) and Chrysler have built momentum for a bailout of the U.S. auto industry. Automakers have until Dec. 2 to submit proposals for how they would use - and pay back - $25 billion of government funding. The Bush administration has said it does not want a Detroit bailout to come from TARP funds.

Some government officials like FDIC Chair Sheila Bair have called for TARP money to be used to guarantee mortgages backed by private lenders to encourage them to restructure loans to troubled homeowners. The Bush administration's new program to modify mortgages announced earlier in November stopped short of providing direct government financial help.

The Treasury would have to go back to Congress for the remaining $350 billion. Paulson has repeatedly said there is no "timeline" for asking lawmakers for that authority, which many economists believe means that will be left for President-elect Barack Obama's nominated Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner.

Here is how the government has thus far invested billions of dollars to rescue banks, companies, consumers and their homes.

The government has taken these steps to aid financial institutions.

Term-auction facility: $1.6 trillion in loans to banks so far in exchange for otherwise unwanted collateral. The Fed increased its monthly auction limit to $300 billion in October, up from $20 billion when the Fed began the program.

Dollar swap lines: Unlimited dollars to 13 foreign central banks to provide liquidity to foreign financial institutions. The Fed lifted its cap after raising it to $620 billion in October from $24 billion in December.

Bear Stearns: $29 billion in a special lending facility to guarantee potential losses on its portfolio. With the lending facility, JPMorgan was able to step in to save Bear from bankruptcy.

Lending to banks: $70 billion lent on average every day to investment banks, after facility opened to non-commercial banks for first time in March. $92 billion a day to commercial banks.

Cash injections: $250 billion allocated to banks in exchange for equity stake in the financial institutions in the form of senior preferred shares.

Citigroup: $300 billion in troubled asset guarantees and $45 billion in cash-injections to prevent fourth-largest bank from failing.

Fed rate cuts: Down to 1% in October 2008, from 5.25% in September 2007.

Consumers are benefiting from the government's actions in recent months.

Stimulus checks: $100 billion in stimulus checks made their way to 140 million tax filers to boost consumer spending and help grow the economy.

Unemployment benefits: $8 billion toward an expansion of unemployment benefits, to 39 weeks from 26 weeks. Some states must now offer 39-week benefits after an extension act was passed in November.

Bank takeovers: $15.5 billion drawn down so far from the FDIC's deposit insurance fund after 22 bank failures in 2008.

Rehab foreclosed homes: $4 billion to states and municipalities in assistance to buy up and rehabilitate foreclosed properties.

Student loan guarantees: $9 billion so far in government purchases of student loans from private lenders. Higher borrowing costs made student loans unprofitable for a number of lenders, many of whom stopped issuing the loans.

Money-market guarantees: $50 billion in insurance for money-market funds. The Fed then began to lend an unlimited amount of money to finance banks' purchases of debt from money-market funds. The Fed then agreed to purchase up to $69 billion in money-market debt directly. In October, the Fed said it would loan up to $600 billion directly to money-market funds, which was extended for six months in November.

Housing rescue: $300 billion approved for insurance of new 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages for at-risk borrowers. The bill includes $16 billion in tax credits for first-time home buyers. But lenders have been slow to sign on.

Deposit insurance: $250,000 in insurance for interest-bearing accounts, up from $100,000. The FDIC also issued unlimited guarantees on non-interest- bearing accounts and newly issued unsecured bank debt.

Consumer loans: $800 billion extended to consumer loan-backed securities, including $200 billion for assets backed by credit cards and car loans and $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities. The Fed will also buy $100 billion of Fannie Mae and Freddie debt to try to make loans cheaper.

Uncle Sam has intervened to help companies in the following ways.

Business stimulus: $68 billion in tax breaks to corporations to help loosen the stranglehold on businesses trying to finance daily operating expenses.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac: $200 billion to bail out the mortgage finance giants. Federal officials assumed control of the firms and the $5 trillion in home loans they back.

AIG: $152.5 billion restructured bailout, including a direct investment through preferred shares, a easier terms on a $60 billion loan, and new facilities meant to take on the companies exposure to credit-default swaps.

Automakers: $25 billion in low-interest loans to speed the industry's transition to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Commercial paper facility: $271 billion in corporate debt purchased so far by the Fed since its so-called Commercial Paper Funding Facility opened. 

Treasury prices surged, lowering the corresponding yields. The dollar tumbled versus major currencie and oil prices slumped.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 0.4%, ending higher for the third session in a row. The last time the Dow gained for three straight sessions was in late August.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index added 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 0.5%.

Stocks rose in the morning after the government announced a pair of new programs that will provide roughly $800 billion to increase the availability of consumer and mortgage lending. (Full story)

But the advance petered out and stocks plunged through the afternoon as investors sorted through weak economic readings and opted to cash out of some of the recent technology winners. The market ended in mixed territory.

"It's positive that the federal government is being proactive and the bond market certainly loves it today, because it's explicit demand for bonds," said Brian Battle, vice president at Performance Trust Capital Partners. "But the stock market is less certain."

He said stock investors may also be taking the scope of Tuesday's $800 billion announcement as a sign that things are actually as bad as some fear. The GDP and housing market reports added to those concerns.

There may also be frustration that despite the massive amounts of money being put to work by the government, the tangible improvement has been minimal, said Robert Loest, portfolio manager at Integrity Funds.

"All of this money is being used in an ad-hoc fashion that doesn't seem to be helping the job market or stabilizing the financial system," Loest said.

"I think we are creating a huge debt load and we're not really getting anywhere," he said.

On the plus side, he thinks the market is setting itself up for a short-term technical rally, due to both the psychology having gotten so bad recently and the enormous amount of cash on the sidelines.

Wednesday brings a buffet of economic reports, including readings on jobless claims, income and spending, manufacturing, housing and consumer sentiment.

Stocks surged Monday in a broad rally as Citigroup (C, Fortune 500)'s massive rescue package and President-elect Barack Obama's picks for his economic team pushed investors off the sidelines.

Including Friday's advance, the Dow gained 891.10 points for the period, its biggest two-session gain ever, according to Dow Jones. The two-day percentage gain of 11.8% was the biggest since October 1987. The S&P 500's rise of 13.2% was also its biggest two-session percentage gain since October 1987.

All financial markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Markets have a shortened session on Friday.

Economy: The U.S. economy saw its worst quarterly decline in seven years, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. GDP declined at an annual rate of 0.5% in the third quarter versus an earlier reading of a decline of 0.3%. The drop in GDP was in line with expectations.

Although the U.S. is not officially considered to be in recession, it is generally believed to have been in recession since at least the start of the third quarter. The fourth quarter is expected to be the low point of the economic cycle and the first quarter of next year is expected to show weakness as well.

Another report showed the continued weakness of the housing market. The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price national index posted a 16.6% decline in the third quarter, the biggest drop on record.

But another report was a bit more upbeat, showing that consumer confidence recovered a bit in November from a record low hit in October.

Separately, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said its watch list of problem banks spiked in the third quarter.

On the move: Big financial stocks continued to rise for a third session, including Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500).

But many of the tech advancers of the last few sessions retreated, including Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500).

Late Monday, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) reported better-than-expected sales and revenue and forecast upbeat fiscal 2009 profit, matching its pre-announcement from a week earlier. However, analysts Tuesday questioned whether it would be able to maintain its sales pace considering the slowdown in tech spending. Shares fell 7%.

GM (GM, Fortune 500) shares continued to plunge amid worries about the ability of the company and the industry to stay afloat. (Full story)

In other news, BHP Billiton (BHP) is giving up its $68 billion all-stock hostile bid for fellow miner Rio Tinto (RTP), due to the downturn in commodities amid the economic slowdown. BHP shares gained 14.5%, while Rio shares fell 27%.

Market breadth was mixed and volume was moderate. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers two to one on volume of 1.88 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers five to four on volume of 2.52 billion shares.

Other markets: Asian markets rallied, with the Japanese Nikkei closing up 5.2%. European markets closed with moderate gains, with the London FTSE adding 0.4%.

U.S. light crude oil for January delivery fell $3.73 to settle at $50.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gasoline prices continued to slump to 3-1/2 year lows, with gas down 2.3 cents to a national average of $1.885 a gallon, according to a survey of credit-card activity released Tuesday by AAA. Prices have been dropping for over two months. In that time, prices have lost $1.97 a gallon, or over 51%.

The dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.

Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.10% from 3.34% Monday. Last week, the 2-year, 10-year and 30-year government bonds all hit the lowest levels since the Federal Reserve started keeping records in 1962.

The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill rose to 0.115% from 0.105% Tuesday, not far from 68-year lows of zero. The 3-month - seen as the safest place to put money in the short term - last hit these levels in September as investor panic peaked.

The low yield means nervous investors would rather preserve their money despite no interest rather than risk the stock market.

Lending rates rose a bit. The 3-month Libor rate rose to 2.2% from 2.17% Monday, while overnight Libor rose to 0.93% from 0.8% Monday, according to Dow Jones. Libor is a key bank lending rate. (Full story)