Increased spending at gas stations and restaurants in January, pushed up retail sales by 0.4%. Service station sales increased 2.3%, restaurants and bars rose 1.4%, and auto sales slipped 1.2%. Over the past 12 months, retail sales have risen 5.6%. (Commerce Department)

Consumer prices saw their biggest increase in nearly four years in January up by 0.6%.  In the last 12 months’ consumer inflation is up 2.5%, the biggest year-on-year gain since March 2012. Gas prices climbed 7.8%, accounting for nearly half of the rise in CPI. Food prices were up 0.1%, the cost of food consumed at home was unchanged, and the cost of medical care rose 0.2%.  (Labor Department)

Cisco Systems, a Dow component, beat street expectations on quarterly profits and matched on sales. The networking equipment maker got a boost from strong sales of its security-related products. (CNBC)

Kraft Heinz, the company behind Heinz Ketchup and Oscar Mayer products bested quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but that is not helping the stock today.  The company saw its bottom line benefit from lower input costs and cost cutting from their merger in 2015.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.