Stocks Opened Higher on Economic Data

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday after a stronger-than-expected report on retail sales and
waited for Fed minutes to come. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last down 7.84 points, or
0.05%, to 15,959.19. The S&P 500 gained 1.32 points, or 0.07%, to 1,789.19. The Nasdaq Composite
tacked on 6.96 points, or 0.18%, to 3,938.51.

U.S. consumer prices fell slightly in October because of a decline in energy prices, pushing the
annual pace of inflation down to the lowest rate since 2009, the government said Wednesday. In
October, the consumer price index dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, the Labor Department
reported.

The government shutdown in October did not deter consumers from showing up in auto showrooms and
other stores: retail sales rose last month at the fastest pace since July. Sales at U.S. retail
stores climbed by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in October, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Lowe’s Cos. Inc.’s fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 26% as the home-improvement retailer’s
same-store sales continued to grow. The company (LOW) raised its outlook for the year, now
expecting income of $2.15 a share on sales growth of 6%, from its prior view of $2.10 a share in
earnings and 5% sales growth.

Staples Inc. swung to a fiscal third-quarter profit. Staples reported earnings for the period
ended Nov. 2 of $135.2 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with a loss of $596.3 million, or 89
cents a share, a year earlier.

Deere & Co. (DE), the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, forecast better-than-
expected earnings for its 2014 fiscal year on rising demand for construction and forestry
machinery. Net income will drop to about $3.3 billion in the year through Oct. 31. It said
equipment sales will fall about 3 percent, compared with an average estimate of a 9.5 percent
decline.