Seven years of growth, auto sales are slowing down this year. As phil lebeau reports in this weeks cover story, there are a lot of forces driving changes in the Auto Industry reporter change at the top of ford is a big deal. Jim hackett takes over the automaker after the companys board decided to oust former ceo mark fields. Ford is hoping a new boss will push the company to move faster, especially when it comes to developing technologies like selfdriving cars where the automaker is fighting the perception its trailing competitors like tesla. The way were going to win the hearts and minds of everybody is have great ideas of work, and ford has put a decade into the av development, and its really coming along, and when were ready to talk about it, were going to be really clear about it. Reporter the pressure on ford reflects an industry on crossroads, from selfdriving cars built by forecast firms to the growing popularity of ride share companies. Many are questioning if consumers will soon be buying fewer cars and trucks. After hitting a alltime high last year, new vehicle sales have cooled off slightly. Thats prompted automakers and dealers to offer bigger rebates and incentives to close deals, but that may not be enough to convince perspective customers to buy new instead of used. Preowned vehicles have become more attractive because prices have fallen. Walk around a used car lot, and youll see ample supply due to a surge in lease vehicles being turned back in. All of this means you could find big discounts this summer, especially on cars, which are not in as much demand as trucks and suvs. Inventories are high. Incentives have been tracking high. I think that right now is a good time to buy period, but as we head towards the end of the summer deals will probably become better at that time. And one reason why so many people focused on the end of the summer. Look at the fourth of july weekend, becky, which is traditionally one of the most popular weekend for autos to be bought and then you also have Labor Day Weekend so if you dont see the best deal on the lot, this memorial day weekend it might harper later this summer. Good news for all you shoppe out there. Phil, thank you very much. Reporter you bet. What will Auto Industry changes mean for you when you start looking for your next car, suv or truck . Rebecca lindhland is here from kell el blue book. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me on. One of the things we know that the fleet at this point, the average age of the cars out there have is 11 1 2 years old. What does that mean for consumers . Basically that people are driving around in a rotary phone. Or at least a flip phone. Exactly. And one of the things they find when they go to the dealership is a lot of new technology. A lot of new things that are in the cars, and the cars are going to make a lot of noises, but they are not used to having the make either. Is that a good thing or a bad thing . I dont know if i need all the whistles and bells and everything that go with it, but whats the good side of that have . So, one of my biggest concerns about having such old vehicles on the fleet and on the road today is just the safety factor. Theres a lot of vehicles that have only one air bag, if they have any at all. Theres a lot of vehicles that may not have even things like lane control, you know. Even Adaptive Cruise control which is fairly new, so i were love to see consumers just upgrade their vehicles for safety factor. Even baby seats. Right. You know the connectors now, they are so much easier, so theres, you know, very simple things and more complex things they will find in new vehicles. Good point. A lot of vehicles dont even have bluetooth. And could the to be really careful, the handsfree phones is the only way you should be talking. Fatalities are increasing for the first time in years because of distracted driving. I dont think it helps to have computers in the dashboard necessarily, but well see. Well see, exactly. Consumer auto loan debt is on the rise and people are taking longer and longer times for their leases. Is it a bad idea to take a longer lease, longer than four years, maybe even longer than five years. So, one of the things i really want consumers to Pay Attention to when they go into the showroom what they pay for the overall cost of the vehicle, not just the monthly payment. And thats gone up and up as they put more things in the car. I would never go more than 60 months, even if its 0 financing. No more than five years. Because what youll find youll owe more on that vehicle than what its worth for years to come. And probably every year the valuation drops by a bigger percent and. The valuation is dropping down, so i would just caution consumers to make sure that youre looking, and youre trying to get a payment thats closer to the 60 months rather than 72 or 84. So what should we be doing in terms of buying or leaseing . Its the constant ageold discussion. Whats a better deal . It is. The interesting thing about leasing is that the people that probably should lease tend not to, so if you dont drive a lot, you actually could just lease. Every three years you get a new vehicle and since cars depreciate, its really not an asset, especially if youre owing more on it the idea thats always pushed me awaysy dont want to the have dings on the car that i then have to go back and pay for. Dont want to worry if im going to hit my limit of how many miles im supposed to be driving. I would never recommend a Fresh Graduate, never recommend a Fresh Graduate lease because you dont know what could half. You could end up a girlfriend or boyfriend hundreds and hundreds of miles away or a new job and you dont and your life is not stable enough to lease, if you will. Speaking of those new graduates, how many of them are actually buying cars, the millenials are a different generation and they are doing things had a little differently in. They are a different generation a what we see on our Sister Company is they spend a lot of time researching. They find the overall process of purchasing very, very overwhelming which is completely me, too. I do, too. But we also see them willing to participate in a new vehicle. The millenials, so many of them, so if they get fed up with things like the way that you deal with cars at the dealership, will that mean good news for most of us who come from smaller generations. First of all, its more splintered than ever because this is really the first to imthat the baby boomers arent dominated so we over got gen x and gen y and the baby boom remembers still there, we have to see what they are purchasing and respecting the generations for sure. Im like cindy brady, constantly forgetting about the older and the youngers. Exactly. Thanks very much for joining us today, rebecca. Great to be here. Thanks, becky. Now heres a look at whats making news. As we head into a new week on the money, stocks set new records once again. The s p 500 closed at a new high climbing for a sixth straight day, the nasdaq climbed higher as well raising big losses and even though the dow didnt set a record it did continue to rise. Stocks were mixed on friday. A fresh reading on america Grass National Product showing it climbed by 1. 2 , a better number but better than the initial reading and Consumer Spending led the way. The gdp is the best measure of the size and scope of the u. S. Economy. Existing home sales fell more than expected in april, falling 2. 3 in part because of a short hajj of houses on market keeping prices high and potential buyers on the sideline, and it may be the ultimate retail irony. Amazon, which drove many brick and mortar book stores out of business with its lower prices has opened a new brick and mortar book store of its own in new york. It occupies the same space that once housed a borders book store and the new store offers big discount for amazon prime members. Up next, were on the money. Stocks keep on climbing, it seems. Whats behind the record week on wall street and should you change anything youre doing . And later, memorial day deals that rival cyber monday. What to buy now at the best prices . Right now a look at how the stock market ended t if you have a garden, you know weeds are lowdown little scoundrels. With roundup precision gel®, you can finally banish garden weeds without harming precious plants nearby. 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Great to see you as well, becky. It has been a pretty eventful week, terror attacks in england, the president s budget released and in fact we kept setting new records for the s p 500 and the nasdaq. Whats happening . Well, you know, its unfortunate, i think. I think the market is somewhat desensitized from these things. I think the good news is were actually focused on Economic Data and actually focused on earnings that were seeing coming out of the market right now, so i think thats part of what is fueling the markets to continue to move higher despite kind of some of the unfortunate events that weve seen globally. The Federal Reserve released minutes from its last meeting. The fed meets again in june land there are Market Expectations that they are going to raise rates again. If thats the case, what do you think the impact will be . Well, i think the impact is broad and its different for different people so for the average american raised Interest Rates obviously will mean higher Mortgage Rates potentially on the long end, of course. Auto loan rates will go up. Hopefully well begin to see some of those saving rates increase with the consumer. Weve seen it a lot with the companies and a lot of the regional and community banks. I would love to see some of the larger bulge bracket and investment banks begin to rates savings rail for the average consumer as well. Were also hopefully see the banks earnings increase because well actually be able to start making money again which should be great for everyone if you have a 401 k and savings. When it comes to the savings rate, amen to that. Lets see what happens there. Exactly. If you are somebody who is saving for retirement, if youre saving for college or something, should you be doing anything differently than what youre doing to this point. Well, not just solely based on whats happening over the last week, right . Hopefully youre investing for the long term and your financial adviser, whoever helping you with determining your Asset Allocation is positioning you for the time allotment that youll have when you need the money show changing something based on just this week is not advisable for most. However, if something has changed fundamentally in your situation, you do want to adjust your strategy but one week worth of the market moving is not something for average person to actually whank what they are doing for long term, for retirement or college savings, or even just buying something new. Courtney, thank you, great to see you. Thanks so much. Great to so you as well, becky. If you have extra cash from a recent stock rally and youre looking to spend, memorial day weekend is the time to try to find some seems. Vera gibbons is with gasbuddy. Com and is here with what to buy now and what to wait for. Vera, always great to see you. Nice to see you. So weve already talked about cars being a potential good thing to buy, but when it comes right down to it, whats the absolute best category . Apparel. Clothes . 40 of all Memorial Day Sales are clothes. Everyones got the deals, macys, tj maax, i mean, all of the Big Department store. Name your store. They have got it. Really something for everyone this memorial day. If you really want to get good deals, better to go to the store in person, or is it better to go online and try it . Sometimes its better to go on line because you get Additional Savings of 10 to 35 off, some of them throwing in Free Shipping. Macys if you spend 49. You get their Free Shipping and at blooming dales if you shop online, 20 it is off, stuff already reduced soy youll walk away with stuff from the clearance bin at probably next to nothing. Better inventory because everything is dumped into one spot. And you dont have to deal with traffic either. Mattresses, sometimes 50 on and im kicking myself because i have one delivered this weekend that i bought a while ago. Didnt pay full price. 50 is what mattresses are going. Sears has had a nice beauty rest Queen Mattress set for 50 off and some cases you can do better if youre shopping one of the clearance sales, but 50 off in, some cases 60 off. Okay. Note to self for next year is this a good time to be buying household appliances, things really good for appliances, in particular refrigerators. Because this is the time of year when manufacturers move the old models off the floor and replenish them with the new ones. Manufacturers of other goods such as stoves and other big ticket items have a big production cycle and refrigerators in particular 50 above in some cases. These are name brands, samsung, frigidaire, kenmore, sears, once again a nice kenmore on sale. Legitimate deals. Yes. And also a time for some smaller items around the kitchen, small kitchen gadgets, blenders, things of that nature. Williams sonoma up 050 off, sur la table. I never know how to say it. Yes. I saw sur la table. They answer on the known sur la table. If youre looking to up your game in the kitchen. Where am i not going to find a game . Dont be shopping for the real summery goods, bathing suits, sandals, Patio Furniture stuff, target has had a 30 off plus an additional 10 off with a coupon, but thats the kind of stuff, same with grills, unless youre really need one and youre old one is rusted out wait until the end of summer. Things like laptops and Electronics Better at backtoschool period. Thank you. Great to see you. You, too. Up next, were on the money, tis the season, wedding season, and how to be the perfect guest without breaking your bank. And move over janet yellin and ben bernanke, your replacements are in training. Well take you whether youre after supreme performance. Advanced intelligence. Or breathtaking style. Theres a cclass just for you. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Lease the c300 sedan for 399 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Including the fullsized introducingsprintercedesbenz family of vans. And the midsized metris. If these are your wingtips. If this is your gourmet latte. Then these are your vans. Vans for professionals. Strictly professionals. Best commercial van residual value according to alg and starting at just 25,995. Mercedesbenz. Vans. Born to run. Wedding season is fast approaching, and aside from all the joy weddings bring, they can also dig a pretty big hole in your wallet for both happy couple and the guests. Helping us try to navigate it all is stephanie cain, the real wedding editor at the knot and thanks for being here. Thanks so much for having me. Lets get to the ageold question, one i ask myself every time i attend a wedding. How much am i supposed to be giving, whats the appropriate gift . Yeah. This is a tough question, actually the top question for every guest going to a wedding practically and it used to be the thought that youre supposed to pay for the head of the table. They could be losing money. You need to ditch that myth. Buy a gift based on the relationship to the couple so on average a guest thats worse. Thats how much i love you or dont. Well, you know, for people that youre very, very close, to likely spend a little bit more on them and were seeing that even with statistics, so, you know, wedding guests on average are spending 118 on a gift, but the guests that are in the wedding party, bridesmaids and groomsman are spending 177 so the guideline we like to recommend is if you are attending a wedding for a good friend, you want to spend around 125. If you are much closer to them, a best friend, really close family member, you can spend up to 200, and if youre going just to a wedding for a distant relative or a coworker, for example, can you spend a little less, maybe 75 to 100. What about if its a Destination Wedding and im spending a money to fly everybody to the location of your choice, stay at the hotel of your choice and stay there for many days with you on this whole thing, do i still need to give the same sort of gift . Not the same sort of gift but its still nice, give a gift of a lower price point. Another great gift. If you know other guests attend being the wedding as well, go in an group gift. Buy a substantial gift for the couple but each person is putting little less in the pot. Heres spoon, congratulations. Exactly. What about if youre bringing a guest, been invited to bring a guest, any etiquette that goes along with that. Absolutely. If youve been invited to have a guest its obviously up to you to bring a guest or not. Definitely rsvp for that person by the rsvp date for that person so they can have proper place cards and escort cards created. Also nice to bring a guest that also knows the couple so if you have a significant other at the time, can you bring that person but if youre single nice to bring a friend, family member, someone you know youll have a great time with. Thats good. Friends that youve seen recently, anything new thats out thereto . Anything thats kind of all the rage at this point . Personalization is what is top right now for couples everywhere. Thinking begun with their venue, with how they are planning the style of their wedding, what kind of vibe they want to create and how they want to share that with their guests. Stephanie, thank you very much. Thank you. Up next on the money, a look at the news for the week ahead and these kids, take a look at this, they arent getting around. At front row seat to one of the most prestigious economic competitions that is correct. Onboard cameras and radar can detect danger all around you. Driver assist systems can pull you back into your lane, if drifting. Bye chief. Bye bobby. And will even help you brake, if necessary. It makes driving less of a production. Lease the gle 350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Are you ok . What happened . Dad kinda walked into my swing. Huh . Dont you mean dad kind of ruined our hawaii fund . I thud go to the thothpital. There goes the airfair. I dont think Health Insurance will cover all. Of that. Buth my fathe without that cash from aflac we might have to choose between hawaii or your face. Hawaii what . Haha. Hawaii you might have less coverage than you think. Visit aflac. Com and keep your lifestyle healthy. Aflac with this level of intelligence. Its a supercomputer. With this grade of protection. Its a fortress. And with this standard of luxury. Its an oasis. The 2017 eclass. Its everything you need it to be. And more. Lease the e300 for 569 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Here are the stories coming up that may impact your money this week. The markets are closed on monday for memorial day when we remember those who gave their lives serving in americas military. On tuesday, well get a look at home prices with the case schiller index. Wednesday, we get the feds beige book. That measures the nations economy by region. On thursday auto sales for may are out and batten down the hatches, everybody. Hurricane season begins. On friday well see just how many jobs were gained and lost in may. Thats when the employment report is released. Lets face it, the thought of economics makes most High School Students groan and roll their eyes. Steve liesman found kids across the country vying to be the top of the class. Reporter they are dancers, musicians, wrestlers and basketball players, 11,000 unique kids from 47 states but they have something in common. They are just about as smart as they come and they study and really get economics and they faced off in the finals of the National Economics finals, call it the National Spelling bee for economics and you cant believe the drama and you cant believe the brains. The zarnowich rules. Thats correct. Reporter haar more than 20 questions, the teams from Moundsview High School in ardensville minnesota and chat hootie were neck and neck. The score is 1211. Moundsview pulled out a win for the fifth time in seven years. The equilibrium price and quantity will not change. Thats correct. [ applause ] moundsview economics teacher credits her students suck to hard work and making economics fun. You wont get the kids there by hitting them over the head and taking more tests. They have to be doing it because its fun for them. Reporter the competition also featured a first ever International Round with students from china competing against the usa. Country a its 18 years and country b its nine years. The u. S. Won but china competed well and they will be back. The council for economics education teachers teachers how to teach economics. Were trying to get kids like these engaged in economics so they can understand how the world works. And the world better get ready for these kids. For onthemoney, steve liesman. More than 20,000 in prize money was awarded to students at the National Economics challenge. Go kids. Thats the show for today. Im becky quick. Thanks so much for joining us. Next week, it could be the solution to the skills gap. Onthejob training for apprenticeships. Each week keep it right here for on the money. Have a great one, and well see you next weekend. This is a story about mail and packages. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams theyre handing us more than mail theyre handing us their business and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you right now on nbc10 news today, teen hero. A young man rushes into a burning home to save his nephew. We are hearing from that teen. And then the southern rock, a singer died with cancer. Sun, clouds, and we are tracking rain for later tonight. When it will move in in the nbc first alert forecast. I am katy zachry. Its 5 30 on the dot