. hi, . hi, welcome to "on the money", i'm becky quick. america's higher ed system, why it cost so much for college, the new proposal that could make it free. the good, bad and ugly at the detroit auto show. what you may be driving soon and does detroit have bad timing? will business have an appetite for start-up's news product, eliminating food waste. what would you do if your furry friend got sick, the ins and outs of pet insurance. >> this is "on the money", your money, your life, your future. now, becky quick. >> here's a look at what's

making news, americans kept wallets in their pockets in december. a disappointing retail sales number showed a decline of almost 1%, much worse than had been expected. it was the largest monthly decrease since january of 2014. retail sales are always very closely watched because consumption makes up more than two thirds of the u.s. economy. a big part of this is because we were paying a lot less money for gasoline during december. all of this news helped push the markets down, one that saw wild swings, stocks close at a month one low on thursday. oil was to blame in part, tumbled by 5%, $46 during the week. earnings season is under way and turning into an ugly one for the big banks wells fargo met expectation but bank of america and jp morgan all missed estimates. and target is exiting the cold country to the north. it's ceasing separations in

canada because it couldn't find a way to profitability all the way to 2021. 17,000 employees will be out of a job. tuition increases have been slowing, paying for college educations are still a very high cost challenge for many americans. the state of the union address could open a discussion into how higher education dollars could be spent in private and public institutions. a amy gutman, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> this is a huge discussion taking place over a number of years but we're expecting the president will propose free college tuition for community clej colleges. do you think it's a good idea? >> i think making access to college today more accessible to

more people is absolutely critical to the american dream of opportunity. i think this is the engine of opportunity for a population that has been from the mid-20th century and it's only got more and more essential to what makes for having the opportunity that has really defined the american dream for millions of people. and that engine of opportunity needs to be stoked and so i think a proposal like president obama's is one of many proposals that are needed to get this engine more vital than it has been in recent years. >> it seems like something that's gotten more out of control. i went to a state university and at that state university when i started school it was about $7,000 for tuition room and board and today it's $25 thoi2$ year. i don't know how one family can

afford that, let alone two or three kids in school. >> if we go back to the mid-50s, mid 20th century, that's when i was thinking about college in high school. think about this. the city university of new york graduated 36,000 students a year, tuition free and about 24,000 night students with minimal tuition. they graduated 10 nobel laureates and colin powell and jonas salk, those hard working young people at the time got a free education. it wasn't as clear that a college education was essential. now it's absolutely essential. >> dr. gutmann, tell us about your story, i know you had issues trying to pay too. how were you able to go to school? >> my father was a scrap metal

dealer, we had no savings. he had a very modest income and diped when i was a junior in high school. my mother was a stay-at-home mom at the time but before she had me and married my father, she was a stengrapher. we had no money for college. but my parents believed in education and what made my career possible and i owe it all to a full scholarship based on need at radcliffe college. >> do you think technology is going to change and force this change to happen? you've got online options. you have the massively open online courses and innovations on campus. will that eventually bring down the cost for traditional college model? >> online courses, moocs -- they are called moocs and a bold experiment, i think they have the potential to revolutionize higher education, not in the way

that a lot of hype suggests. they are not going to make on campus learning obsolete, quite the contrary, they are going to supplement what can be done on campus. they are already making available high quality courses to millions of students who otherwise would not have any access to them. the question is not so much what the technology will do, but what we will do with the technology. and my hope and my plan at penn is to enrich the in class learning we can have with having moocs, flip classrooms where you -- the students learn online outside of class and then they interact more with their faculty in class. but we already have 3 million students who have accessed our online courses, who would never be able to come positive penn and have an on campus

experience. those courses are free, they still don't substitute for getting a degree and having interaction, but just like the printing press didn't all at once revolutionize learning, it did overtime. i believe the results will be revolutionary and totally compatible and supplementary to on campus learning. >> thank you so much for joining us today. knowledge apower. >> my pleasure, becky, thank you. >> the mood was electric at the detroit auto show but is it a case of bad timing by automakers? we'll show you the cool cars and gadget. >> how one startup is hashing out a new recipe to help eliminate food waste. as we go to break, look how the stock market ended the week.

the the winner is, the car and truck of the year unveiled this year. the all aluminum ford f-150 and vw golf driving off with the grand prize. there was a lot more than a big truck and small car at the auto show. the feeling was electric, get it? our correspondent phil lebeau joins us with more. >> there was something for everybody at the show. the most optimism we've seen in a number of years and that was reflected in a slew of new models. >> introducing the chevrolet bolt. >> with sales surging, the buzz is back at the detroit auto show. >> these are good times here in detroit and u.s. all together. >> there are new performance cars and luxury models, but two electric vehicles may generate the most chatter, gm's new extended range chevy bolt and

all electric chevy bolt, a concept scar. gm estimates the bolt will have a range tapping 200 miles when it debuts in 2017 and could sell as little as $30,000. >> can you make $30,000 stick? >> you know, it's a concept vehicle but if it's going to fit the equation that customers are looking for, yes, that's what we're going to do. >> automakers are tauting greater mileage, plunging gas prices say it's time to revisit fuel standards set five years ago which call for fleets to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. >> in light of today's fuel prices and forecasting what they are going to be in the future, we need to take a very -- >> do they not make sense? >> we have to make a factor of analysis what that's going to be. >> it's time to explore the future of buick. >> for now it is on resurgence of autos not seen since the 90s.

>> i'm hoping it's not silly optimism, right, it seems more pragmatic, the lessons of 2009, 2010 aren't that far behind us. >> how optimistic are executives in the auto industry? many believe sales this year in the united states will top 17 million vehicles if that happens, becky, it will be the highest auto sales since 2001. >> phil, thank you. we're also joined by nikki maynard, the director for journalism at arizona state university. phil, why don't we start where you were leaving off. auto sales for 2015, do you think it's realistic. >> 17 million is realistic. we finished 16.5. you never know what happens with summer auto sales. there's always the chance the economy starts to hit a rough patch and see sales slow down a little bit, consumer confidence dips a little bit. as long as consumer confidence is strong, i think 17 million is a realistic shot.

>> nikki, how about you? >> the three elements that go into car sales, housing starts, the economy in general, consumer confidence and jobs. if jobs continue to pick up, especially full-time employment continues to pick up, i thnk we could get to 17 million in the industry but you have to remember that only about two thirds of people have full-time jobs. we've turned into kind of a temporary economy. those are the places you have to look. are people getting hired and are they getting hired into full-time jobs? >> as you pointed out in the package. the big emphasis was on electric vehicles all coming at a time when gas prices are dropping dramatically. do you think it's another case of bad timing by detroit? >> they make these plans months, if not years in advance in terms of the vehicles they are having the planning process and roll out at these auto shows. you can't just hit the brakes once you see gas prices plunge. but it is also interesting, becky, as much as we saw discussion about electric

vehicles at the show, primary because of the volt and bolt, we saw the return of power cars, muscle cars. you look at the ford gt, the acura nsx, that is pure muscle that we're talking about there. and that's a reflection of the optimism in the industry. >> micki, the big three are riding high, do you think it's different this time? can they maintain profitability, have they learned lessons from the past? >> it wasn't just they learned lesson, general motors and chrysler got a big hand from the government. they had a lot of their legacy costs stripped away. if they can't make money now without all of that overhead, they are never going to make money. >> part of what we see for the future are self-driving cars and i know you were a couple of weeks ago you drove one of these things, did you feel safe? did you like it? >> i loved it. i felt very safe. it was very comfortable. you know what it was? an extension of cruise control.

it was only on the highway. it was a concept car. a research car by audi, and when we hit autopilot, we were zipping around traffic without any problems at all. it felt very comfortable and natural. this technology is coming very fast, all of the automakers are moving in this direction. we'll see more of this in the next couple of years. thank you both. >> thank you. >> thanks, becky. >> up next, we're "on the money", sorting america's food waste problem. how one company wants to put more food on your plate instead of the trash. pets are living longer. could run up pretty big medical bills in the process. we'll have tips on being prepared for problems when illness or injury strikes your furry friend. over 50 of the top job boards with just one click- with ziprecruiter. find candidates in any industry, nationwide. just post once and watch your qualified candidates roll in to ziprecruiter's easy to use interface.

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according to a study, uneaton food is the largest component of waste costing cities billions of dollars. businesses pay a huge price too but now like everything else there is an app for that. tony hu and elizabeth melts at the hospitality group, thank you both for being here today. >> thank you for having me. >> tony, what is it, how does the app work? >> it is an online platform to help reduce wastes with anl lit ticks. and the way it works,

restaurants input waste data on a daily or weekly basis. and our platform calculates how much they are generating and how much they can save. over time as they input this data it gives recommendations on ways to reduce waste. >> like order less of this because you're throwing x amount out every week. >> yes. >> how do you make money with that? >> restaurants produce money by reducing waste and it's a subscription service, monthly pay to fee for month. >> you've been using that for the last year. how did you get on to this and how does it work at your operation? >> a mutual friend connected us, food connect, and we started using it because we're looking to reduce waste. >> what did you find? what was one of the biggest products you were ordering too much of or throwing out too much of? >> one of the big things we found is that we -- a lot of it

is you don't know what you don't know, which is that the in trash hauling, it's not like they come around with trucks with scales on them all the time. you think your trash is one thing and it's not. you actually get information about what your composting, throwing away, what you're recycling. and one of the things you find people aren't doing as good a job as you think they are -- >> what's one of the numbers that shocked you? >> you're not diverting as much food waste to land fill as you think you are. >> how much do you think you're saving in terms of ordering legs of or being able to better compost? >> i would say what we've gotten is data, something we didn't have before. now that we have almost a year's worth of data, we can say, you are charging this for this and that and the other thing. what we now know we're producing x, y and z and that's invaluable in our world. >> you have a background in international business and in technology, is that right?

>> that's right. >> how did you come up with the idea for this app? >> sure, it's a great question, several years of experience in technology and training in sustainability. i have a deep passion for the environment. i saw how there weren't good tools to help restaurants reduce waste and we came up with the idea to form this app. >> what made you think of the restaurant industry? >> in new york city, restaurants generate a lot of waste and it's a pressing issue. when we arrived, we saw the opportunity to address the issue. >> are you a foodie? >> i'm definitely a foodie, love food and restaurants. >> and you must have been thinking about things like this for a while. elizabeth, once you got hooked with the idea did it make sense to you? >> yes, anything to help us -- in food waste, can you make portions smaller, orderer less, it's all about the data, getting information what you are and

aren't doing. any angle you can approach it for is a huge help. >> you feel smarter than you did a year ago? >> it's huge. >> thank you both for joining us today. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. >> up next, a look at the news for the week ahead and if you're kicking off 2015 on a new par with man's best friend, how pet protection could save you in bills and in heart ache.

for for more on our show and guests, go to our website,

otm.cnbc.com. and follow us on twitter. here are stories that may impact your money. ibm, netflix, american express and general electric and mcdonald's all report. markets are closed on monday for martin luge are king jr. holiday. and tuesday night president obama delivers the state of the union address. on wednesday, housing starts for december. thursday, the european central bank meets. this is a biggy, folks, policy makers could announce a new program to stimulate the weak eurozone economy and that has been the expectation that's been moving markets all along. thursday marks 31 years since apple launched the mcintosh computer back in 1984. on friday we'll get existing home sales for december. did you get a pet as a present this holiday season or maybe you know somebody who did? our producer trent and his family got little noel here, they are learning that planning can make all of the difference in providing a long and happy life for your furry friend. sharon epperson joins us to talk

about your money and your future with your new pet. >> becky, pets often become like family members quickly and there isn't anything pet owners wouldn't do for them. when a beloved pet gets sick, the cost can add up quickly. financial planning can make a big difference when it comes to pet insurance. >> pet insurance makes the most sense when your dog or cat is young. when you just got a new puppy or kitten, look at the pet insurance options because it can help you pay for medical expenses that migts come along during their life span. >> while insurance can offset unforeseen medical cost, buying pet insurance is a big consideration, you have to really weigh the pros and cons. >> in a case like this, new puppy like noel, good investment? >> it depends on the pet and type of care you're looking for for the pet. the price of it can vary, from $10 a month to $35 a month. somewhere upwards of $100 depending on the type of pet and

care that you want. >> what kind of care -- >> just as complicated as medical insurance for insurance, do you want basic, comprehensive coverage and then figure out whether or not there's certain conditions that the pet might have that may not even be covered ats all? >> kind of coverage do you get for $100 a month? >> it is often for the more exotic animals. if you're talking about a little puppy like this, more in the 10 to $35 a month range. >> what should we know about this insurance? >> figure out the different things that go along with it. read the fine print. she likes me too. find out about the waiting period and co-pays and deductibles and all of the things covered. my kids will want one now. >> i want one now. >> it's really important to look at thocosts and adds these up. medical considerations, check them out first and make sure they are healthy and what type of preexisting conditions do

they have, they may not be covered. >> they they have preexisting? >> for puppies. >> all of the things you have to look at, it's worth doing research and looking online comparing plans. >> dogs want the affordable care act extended to them as well. >> exactly. >> sharon, thank you so much and noel, thank you too. that does it for us today i'm becky quick. thank you so much for joining us. next week we'll be on location in the swiss alps to bring you ceos and innovators in davos. keep it here. we're "on the money." see you next weekend.

[ticking] >> what would you do with your money if you were fabulously wealthy like greg carr? he decided to pour it into one of the most beautiful places on earth. so what are his rewards? well, to begin with, he's a local hero like few we've seen before. >> [speaking foreign language] >> all: [cheering response] [ticking] >> it's harvest time in the great vineyards of italy, none greater than the 5,000 acres farmed by the antinori family. they've been in the same line of work for six centuries now. >> cheers.