the four door honda civic, the hyundai elantra, the lexus ct-200h, the nissan juke and the toyota priussearchers ran the cars through a battery of tests, including front, side, rollover and rear impact crashes. they say none of the 13 cars earned a poor rating in any test. and that is a big change from the last few years when small cars struggled to earn top ratings. researchers say the credit goes to the car companies that are making what used to be extra features standard. for example they all have standard side air bags and most have electronic stability control that can prevent many kinds of crashes. still researchers say nothing beats the protect irarmor of a bigger, heavier car, proving that the laws of physics are always in effect, even when gas prices seem to defy gravity. sandra hughes, cbs news, los angeles. >>> and this morning on "the early show," how a new movie may paint the way to a sarah palin presidential bid. and inside the world of storm chasers. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." [ male announcer ] using frontline plus shows your pet you care... by un

other hot cars we're hearing this morning, the 2011 hyundai elantra, bmw's x-3. also out of cnbc, flooding on the mississippi river could lead to higher grocery bills for all of us. wholesale prices on corn, on wheat and soybeans all jumping as shipping traffic along the river has been severely limited, as you know. that's because the water simply too high. the coast guard shut down a 15-mile stretch north of new orleans yesterday. it's now reopened but only one barge at a time. the mississippi handles more than half of the country's annual grain exports. >>> bernie madoff actually has a case for you. the ponzi schemer's wine collection goes on the auction block online today. the liquid assets, yes, the pun is absolutely indeed intended were seized from his former mansion in palm beach, florida, before it was sold. i've got to tell you a little secret. the auctioneers admit the collection is more valuable only because of the association with madoff, not really the content of those bottles. >> understood. you know going back to the grain thing for just a second, a

field earned the institute's top safety pick designation, including ford's focus, honda civic, hyundai's elantra, the lexus ct hybrid, the nissan juke, and toyota's hybrid, the prius. safety features like side airbags and electronic stability control are now standard equipment. but they're still small cars. >> you can't engineer away the laws of physics. so if you're concerned about crash-worthiness, a larger, bigger car, a larger, heavier car is a better choice. >> reporter: the test results are obviously comforting to manufacturers who say it's always their intent to build cars with both technology and safety in mind. laura garcia-cannon, nbc bay area news. >> and just in time for the long memorial day weekend, gas prices seem to have taken a bit of a dip in the bay area, but it's certainly not cheap. we wouldn't go that far. in fact, average prices are still about a dollar more than they were a year ago. in san francisco the most expensive gas around at $4.18 a gallon for regular unleaded. that's an average. and in san jose and oakland the average for a gallon of regular unleaded is at $4.06.

the small car winners, ford focus, hyundai elantra, lexus h hybrid, nissan juke, and the toyota prius hybrid. >>> mario gabelli is founder, chairman and chief investor of mario investment company. mario joins us with his view on the markets and the economy, and it is always a pleasure to see you, mario. >> it's a privilege to talk about my favorite subject, making money in the markets. >> making money. and how do i do that? >> we have been a practitioner for the last 35 years of a very simple process. find a good business, buy it at a discount from what other people would pay for the whole company, and then just hold it for a period of time. and our bias historically is companies with pricing power. so that's how we do it. and we do it every day. we kind of culled through a lot of annual reports and see a lot of companies. >> let's talk about the week. we had a revised gdp, a little lower than expected. we had 1.8% growth. does that change your view of the growth story, which of course is the fundamental backdrop to how you invest? >> well, that's a good point, and i'm glad you brough

the hyundai elantra, the nissan juke and toyota prius. >>> comparison shopping for a new car is about to get easier. e.p.a. unveiled the redesigned fuel economy labels to be displayed on all new cars. it will simplify the environment environmental impact for drivers. transportation reporter heather ishimaru has details. >> reporter: soars gasoline prices provide a perfect backdrop for a first look at the fuel economy and environmental impact label. current california labels show only fuel economy and an environmental rating for the car there they're on. now labels will compare the car against an average new vehicle. it also helps simplify comparisons across many different classes. >> gas hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric. for instance, this gas-guzzlers label an average of 11 miles per gallon shows you spend $14,400 more in fuel over five years than with an average new vehicle. while this all electric label at 99 miles per gallon equivalent shows a fuel saving of $9,600. the figures are all based on national averages, but are extremely useful for comparison sake. >> it took a lot of di

the cars which topped the list were the 2012 ford focus, the 2012 honda civic, the 2011 hyundai elantra, a lexus, and nissan, and the 2011 toyota prius. and analysts say today's results is a turnaround from a few years ago when small cars struggled to get those top ratings. >>> economists noticed an increase in unemployment claims last week. the number of people registering for the benefits rose by 10,000. the labor department says that brings the total number for april to about 424,000 people. some economists fear this is a trend and predict the number of may jobs added will fall below 200,000. that's a sign that the economy is still sluggish. >>> and still ahead, tonight at 6:00, speaking out. what the daughter of arnold schwarzenegger's former made is saying about the scandal tonight. >>> also ahead, sarah palin's announcement today that's fueling speculation that she's preparing for a presidential run. >>> plus, why the u.s. believes osama bin laden's compound may hold hidden clues into the life >>> we are learning more tonight about that teenager who was gunned down right after sch

whoops, there is lawrence in the parking garage. [ laughter ] >> the ford focus, honda civic, hyundai elantra and toyota prius. they were run through a battery of tests. one reason, more features like side airbags and electronic stability control. >> he scratched his brand-new volkswagen. >> all right, lawrence. >> yes, very upset. >>> san francisco giants should find out today if they lost their catcher to a serious injury. last night his left ankle hurt in a collision at the plate. had to be helped off the field. posey expects to have an mri today on that ankle. the player who ran into him scored the game winning run for the florida marlins in the 12th inning to add insult to injury. they have a day game today. i doubt highly that he is playing today. hopefully back soon but we shall see >>> a simple blood test could help doctors diagnose depression. the telegraph reports that tokyo researchers developed a new test that measures phosphoric acids. an earlier study shows people with depression have lower levels in their blood. past blood tests have relied on slower more expensive dna analysis

. >> reporter: look at this crash test of a hyundai elantra of 2001, it is not pretty.r bag deploys late. if that dummy were a human there would be enormous strain on his head and neck and probably broken bones in his legs and feet. because of tests like this that we've seen headlines like these -- calling light cars dangerous and less safe. but now look at this new test of the new elantra, much better. air bag goes off on time and while it doesn't look like it would be fun in there the driver in this case probably would have walked away. the new round of metal-crunching dummy-hurling tests from the insurance institute of highway safety says across the board smaller, fuel-efficient cars are safer. 6 of 13 won the top staf pick award and none earned a poor rating. a huge turnaround from a few years ago. >> we hope this makes a difference to people shopping in the market for smaller cars. >> reporter: right now makers of the smaller cars like the hyundai are pitching better gas mileage in their ads. >> snap out of it, 40 mile per gallon elantra. >> reporter: but pretty so

the hyundai elantra. the lexus ct-200h. the nissan juke. the honda civic four-door. gallon right now yesterday the government unveiled detailed fuel efficiency stickers for all new cars starting next year. these will include estimates of annual fuel costs and savings over five years. >>> a new report this morning points to a continuing weakness in the housing market. realty track reports that 28% of all homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 were in some stage of foreclosure. normally, that number would be below 5%. >>> we have a follow-up this morning on the walmart gift receipt controversy we told you about last week. california senator barbara boxer has now asked the federal trade commission to investigate. a hidden camera report found items returned to walmart with gift receipts were not being refunded the full price. walmart blamed the problem on confusion with its cashiers. senator boxer says she expects an answer in a few days on whether the ftc will investigate. >>> it is now 34 minutes past the hour. marysol castro has one final check of weather. >> thanks

. >> more savings for the hyundai elantra. >> this is the prius.incredible. ask this a trend that's going to continue, do we think? >> i talked to the renowned auto journalist in detroit, and he said the general consensus is it's going to level off this fall. and in 2012. so it really is a moment in time. >> when you are selling your car, there are a number of things, what would be the first bit of advice you would have with that whole checklist of things you're going to do before you put it out there on the market? >> the kelly blue book has the most objective assessment of what the vehicle is worth. smart to know that number. the second if you go to autotrader.com you can see what vehicles are selling for. that gives you a sense. there are some regional differences. it will also help you, this is an advanced move, if you are about to get out of a lease and you have a low residual value, meaning you can buy that car for a lot less, if you go to autotrader.com it might reveal the fact you should buy that lease out, go down to another dealer down th

i spoke to a hyundai dealer yesterday, and he says he is selling out of the elantra as fast as he gets them. they have been very, very popular with costumers. >> i was at the new york auto show, and i was talking to the people at hyundai, and there was a lot of interest in their new cars. >> hyundai has gotten a lot of buzz. it is a combination of things: it's good marketing, it's a good product, and it is a good price point. and hyundai raised incentives in april so it could cannibalize sales from japan. and it was fairly successful in doing that. >> susie: tell us about toyota. what is going on for toyota? >> it has been a tough year for toyota. we had the recalls last year. earlier this year we had the tsunami. toyota is really facing a lot of head winds. analysts say keep in mind this is a company that has strong cash reserves, and it has a very loyal following. so they think that the company will likely bounce back in 2012. >> susie: and we're seeing -- talk about bouncing back, we're seeing that chrysler is doing better. good enough that it is already talking about going public,