the best brands on four wheels. and your leap year money check lists. moves you may not know about. "on the money" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "on the money." your money. your life. your future. the business of toys is a multibillion dollar industry. the toy industry not only has an impact on the economy but also your child's happiness. what can we expect to see in the toy aisle for 2016? morgan brennan recently attended one of the largest toy fairs in the country to find out more. she joins us with our cover story, a great assignment, morgan. >> reporter: it was very fun, sharon. the toy industry converged on new york city. here as what you can expect from the business of play as 2016 unfolds.

new hoverboard to more than 100 new shopkins characters, companies are unveiling their newest characters and play things. u.s. toy sales grew to more than $19 billion last year. one of the strongest performances in years. experts hope 2016's product lineup will keep the momentum going. "star wars" has helped, with a number of companies benefiting from the franchise's source. legos saw sales surge next year 2016. >> of course "star wars" is another one, the same with superheroes. there's no doubt the stories are a core part of the industry. >> reporter: 2016's film roster should continue to film sales. >> the hopes are very high. a lot of them are on the fantasy

>> reporter: playmobile is hoping its national licensing deal with the national hockey league will propel it into the u.s. mass market. >> we decided to go after it national wide. we're promoting it on television this year. >> reporter: while some you to makers are launching new lines, others are revamping classic ones. barbie is getting more eye colors, hairstyles, even body types, in an effort to appeal to more girls and stoke more sales. last year mattel also unveiled hello barbie, a talking doll powered by artificial intelligence. now it's adding a smart home dream house that connects to wi-fi and reacts to voice commands. all of these efforts seem to be working. barbie sales last quarter grew for the first time in years. >> they're really reinventing those classics, like the wooden doll house that my daughter had, no more. >> reporter: the toy category that grew the fastest was gains and puzzles. those were up 11%.

getting makeovers. if you take a look at hasbro's monopoly, that game is in the process of getting rid of its paper cash and moving that over to bank cards. one of my favorites is lionel, a centuries-old toy maker. they're unveiling something that looks like a toy roller coaster track with spaceship inspired locate owe motives that little boys can race. >> that sounds like fun for big boys and girls too. thanks, morgan. joining us it steve pasierb, and dana points. thank you both for being here. what are you seeing, steve, as is fortunate hottest trends in the industry? >> we're seeing innovation from end to end. tech has gotten really cool, tech toys are innovative and fun. as the piece said, games now

wet head is a water roulette game. there's an app that extends it, you can make it a trivia game or add your own clues. the integration of tech and toys, whether it's slinky which still sells well. >> dana, you mentioned props in a box. >> we're calling it anti-screenplay. there are these millennial parents who while they want their children to learn to code also want them to spend time without screens. props in a box is two kinds of disparate costumes. they come in pieces. the child can decide do i want to mix the pieces, be a doctor, a fisherman, whatever, and put these things together in an inventive way. >> and kids are now making their own movies, posting them on

skills one has in today's life. >> and letting them come up with it on their own. we're no longer saying, or not as much, that this is a boy's toy, this is a girl's toy. amazon doesn't have those categories anymore, target too. >> and open-ended play is really hot right now. >> the way to think about this is toys are the instruments of play. and play is an essential part of childhood development. it teaches them social skills, spatial skills, negotiation in the case of something like shopkins where kids are trading them. you're having your child play, and unstructured play in particular is an important part of developing a well-rounded child. >> let's talk about shopkins. i have a 10 and a 13-year-old. shopkins is a relatively new company that's really taken off here through youtube. >> around the country, they're removing them from vacuum cleaners.

moose toys, a small company from australia, really hit on that, driven by youtube and the internet age. there are now shopkins clubs in schools. kids learn how to collect. they have the patience to collect. they learn how to negotiate because they trade them back and forth. they learn organization, all those things. they're cool little toys, enjoyable, and at a price point that families can afford. >> i think the market has awakened to the fact that this is really hot. you'll see companies, lego and hasbro's little kingdom, which has even tinier pieces. everyone is aware that now if you have a product with like a $10 price point, people might buy lots of them. >> one thing that i think still needs to have some progress here but we're getting there is diversity in toys. i was really excited to see melody, the new african-american doll from american girl coming out. we're seeing more from latino

>> companies are understanding their toys need to be a reflection of broader society. so the gender changes, the broadening of race and diversity part. barbie is representative of that and some of the other disney lines. >> the market of the future is really largely latina. >> mattel went into that with me. >> great to have you both here ideas for our children. thanks so much. >> thank you. now here's a look at what's making news as had he we'd into a new week on the money. america's economy grew at a slightly faster pace than expected for the fourth quarter of last year. the second reading of the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the size and scope of the u.s. economy, showed an increase of 1% on an annual basis. that's slightly ahead of expectations. although consumer spending was weak. stocks and oil prices moved hand in hand most of the week and when oil climbed on thursday it took the markets right along

the dow was up more than 200 points and the s&p 500 hit a seven-week high. stocks were mixed on friday. new orders for goods that last a long time, like refrigerators and washing machines, we hope, were up. if you like that starbucks reward program, you better look at the rules more closely because they're changing. instead of collecting a star every time you visit, you'll get points based on how much you spend, sort of the model that the airlines use. that means you'll have to spend more to get the same rewards. we'll see if that leaves customers with a bitter taste. up next, we are on the money, and we're cashing in on refunds. one startup is on a mission to help shoppers put cash back in their pockets of this they just need one little thing to do it. and later, which cars are most reliable. the survey that has the car and truck brands with the fewest and

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who doesn't look for the best deal you can find when you're shopping and what happens after that deal comes after you've made your purchase, though? many stores say you can keep the price difference. but billions of refunds go unclaimed every year. startup paribus is looking to automate that process for shoppers. what's the catch? you'll need to give them access to your e-mail account. joining us are co-founders eric glyman and karim atiyeh. how does this work? >> all these stores guarantee if you buy something and it goes on sale later, you're entitled to this difference in the form of a refund.

how to get this. what we do is automate that process. simply sign up with an e-mail account that gets your receipts. it will pick it up automatically. any time a price drops we'll send in a claim for you and get you paid. >> i'm on amazon more than i like to say. is that one of the places that you can go get me a better price? i'm not saying the places i shop all the time but a lot of people shop at these places. >> absolutely. these places we support, we support a bunch of other stores, best buy, target, walmart. really the biggest online stars are supported by our service. >> it's a little scary i must admit. the idea of someone going into my e-mail, knowing what i'm purchasing. isn't that happening all right? i'm getting a lot of e-mails telling me to buy products from certain retailers. >> obviously, all these retailers are looking your shopping patterns, and they optimize their prices to get you

what we're doing is not going through your e-mails, obviously not. we have tokenized access to your mailbox that allows us to pull only receipts. we can know what the receipt is and pull it up on your servers for analysis. anything that's not a receipt stays in your in box. >> i'm really into finding discounts. i have retail me not book marked. >> we're kind of an oddball, we're first to the scene in doing this. we're also a strange business to begin with. most things out there are either trying to sell things to you or you are the product, they'll sell your information. we don't do anything of that kind. instead we built technology that acts for people as your age. so if something has changed after you've bought something, if you missed a better deal, if you missed a coupon, it will spring into action. we take a cut, so we share the

>> how much of a cut do you take and how much are you saving me on average? >> normally we charge 25% of what we recover for you. you can bring it down to zero percent by referring friends. for us, we generally save people between 60 to $100 a year. but some results can be way higher. there was somebody two weeks ago who saved over $1,000 on a single price drop. someone who saved over a thousand times in 5 months. it depends on where you're shopping. we'll be there to catch anything you miss out on. >> how many customers would you say you have? >> we're getting close to a quarter million users, which is crazy to us, we launched in may. >> nine months ago. >> wow. >> we had a few hundred beta testers. today it's growing by a few thousand people every day. >> anything to help people save money, we're happy to tell them about "on the money." thank you so much for being here.

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the most complaints? smart, dodge, and ford ranked last. the cars' high tech features often failed to work. if you're ready to buy that new car or truck, here's some information that could help you make that choice. consumer reports is out with its annual rankings from best to worst. from safety handling to reliability to affordability, reporter phil lebeau has what you need to know before you head to the dealer. >> reporter: with americans buying a record number of cars, trucks, and suvs, consumer reports says testing of those new models shows a clear split between the best and worst brands. top picks this year include audi, subaru, lexus, porsche and bmw. when it comes to subaru, consumer reports says reliability makes it a top pick

>> when you drive a subaru, they actually drive extremely well. they ride well, they handle well. they're reliable and do have a lot of advanced safety features that you normally only see in much higher priced cars. >> reporter: among the best individual models, the toilet camry is consumer reports' top mid-sized car, calling it a near perfect sedan. the kia sorrento was named best mid-sized suv. the ford f-150 was named the best pickup truck in part because its cab is quiet and spacious. some models got high marks because they have collision avoidance systems which consumer reports believes should be standard in all vehicles. what were the lowest rated brands? fiat, jeep, and in my opinion sue mitsubishi. consumer reports says there are several issues that keep it from

>> the reliability isn't very good. there are better vehicles out there. you know, certainly there's the image, the styling. i admit the styling very good. but you know, if you're looking for something deeper than that, unfortunately it's not there. >> reporter: fiat chrysler, the parent of jeep, says it respects consumer reports' opinion but says it's continually improving its models. fiat chrysler says its own internal reviews shows hits models are getting better. phil lebeau, "on the money," chicago. >> the only car brand that has grown its u.s. sales every year for the last ten years is subaru. up next, "on the money," a look at the news for the week ahead. and one very small and simple way to make a big impact on

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for more on our show and our guests, go to our website. follow us on twitter. here are the stories coming up that may impact your money this week. on monday we'll get a look at the housing market with pending home sales for january. on tuesday, we'll see if the auto industry is driving up sales with the latest monthly report. and it's super tuesday, when 12 states in one territory will hold primaries or caucuses. on thursday we'll get an

doing with the nonmanufacturing index for february. and the big number everyone will be watching on friday. the employment report. it will show how many jobs were added to the economy. there are plenty of ways to mark leap year. we've come up with one that you may not have considered. when february's extra day rolls around on monday, why not do a four-year checkup of your money? from your retirement to your career, there's plenty to think about and see if you're on track for different milestones. stacey tisdale joins with us more. of course you should always be monday to do mondayitoring these things. keeping your career on track. what are some things you should think about every four years? >> every four years you want to reevaluate where you are in terms of what your goals are. it's a revealing thing. you want to look at the

you've had. i wanted to be a manager by now, have i gotten the reviews, the support, the mentoring that would get me there. four years ago, is this what i wanted to be doing. >> a lot of people in their financial plan, one of the last things they think about is insurance. that's something that at least every four years you need to think about. what are some things when you're talking about auto insurance or homeowners? >> the first thing you want to do with insurance is look at all the cool new things out there. there are insurance policies that will let you build cash that you can use for things like your child's education, something i'm personally looking is you can add a long term care rider to your health insurance policy. you want to make sure you're not paying for coverage that you don't need, for example if your kids are out of your house, get them out of your policy. if your car is at least ten years old, you really don't need collision insurance.

when it comes to homeowners insurance, again, think about, have i done any upgrades, have i added a new bathroom, have i added a new kitchen. make sure that your coverage that you're paying for matches what you need. >> what about retirement? this is something that we tell people to look at every year. and often team just set it and forget it. >> one thing that's really cool, retirement savings is such a daunting thought, but small increases make such a big difference. if you're 25 years old, let's stay with this leap year theme, and you add 1% every leap year, by the time you retire you'll have an extra $739 a month. that's just by adding 1% every leap year. 45 years old, for some of us that might be getting close to that, if you add just that 1% a year, every four years, by the time you retire, you're going to have 263 extra dollars. >> the other thing you said is

helping you with your money, assess that relationship. >> it changes. your goals change. you want to make sure that your adviser knows what your goals are, you want to make sure they're on track. you might need to make adjustments to your portfolio or whatever. one thing that's important is look at your relationship with your financial adviser. are they accessible to you, are they asking you about your goals? >> great advice, stacey tisdale, thanks. thanks so much for joining me. becky's guest next week, warren buffett. we'll ask him his views on the economy, oil prices and so much more.

see you next weekend. welcome to u.s. farm report. i'm tyne morgan, and here's what we're working on for you over the next hour. brace yourself for another trying year... usda is out with its latest price outlook at margins could stay slim for both crops and livestock. usda remains optimistic about the rural economy.. < we're now seeing lower unemployment and poverty rates> the ag secretary faces congress, defending the current state. conditions are ripe for avacado harvest in

hills so it's really hard work and it's really tiring.> we'll show you why this work isn't for the weary. that's our farm journal report. and in john's world... now for the market related news. u-s farmers could be facing the lowest commodity prices in a decade. the ag department out with its price forecast for the 2016/2017 marketing year. usda releasing its price forecast for 2016 during its ag outlook forum going on right now. usda chief economist robert johansson says he projects soybeans to drop to $8.50 a bushel. that's 30 cents lower than last year. corn is pegged at $3.45. that's a 15 cent drop from 2015. and the price forecast for wheat $4.20. those prices are based on a