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Whole Foods

outlook dims

Whole Foods Market, the largest natural-foods retailer in the U.S., trimmed its sales forecast for fiscal 2013. The company said sales may increase as much as 11 percent in fiscal 2013, compared with a previous estimate for growth of as much as 12 percent. Whole Foods reiterated its profit forecast of as much as $2.87 a share for the fiscal year ending in September.

U.S. retail sales

rise slightly

Americans barely spent more last month at retail businesses and restaurants after higher taxes cut their paychecks. Retail sales ticked up 0.1 percent in January from December, the Commerce Department said. Nearly all working Americans are taking home less pay this year after Congress and the White House allowed a temporary 2 percentage point cut in Social Security taxes to expire Jan. 1.

U.S. inventory

growth slows

Inventories at U.S. businesses climbed in December at the slowest pace in six months as consumers kept spending even in the face of possible tax increases in the New Year. The 0.1 percent increase followed a 0.2 percent gain in November that was smaller than previously estimated. The lack of stockpiles, though, may prompt companies to boost orders later this year.

Mondelez profit

disappointing

Mondelez International, maker of Oreo, Cadbury and Nabisco food products, reported a fourth quarter profit that fell short of Wall Street expectations. For the October to December period, it earned $534 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $830 million, or 47 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue fell 2 percent to $9.5 billion.

Apple slashes

MacBook price

Apple has lowered the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro laptops by $200 and updated its processors. The company also launched new models with faster processors and more memory. A MacBook Pro with a Retina screen display and 128 gigabytes of flash memory will now cost $1,499, down from $1,699.

Cisco 2Q profit

up 44 percent

Cisco Systems reported strong results for its second quarter despite concerns about weak demand in some areas. The networking giant said net income rose 44 percent to $3.1 billion, or 59 cents a share, from the year-ago quarter. Revenue climbed 5 percent to $12.1 billion.

Thompson Reuters

to cut 2,500 jobs

Thomson Reuters is cutting 2,500 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, to reduce costs and turn around its Finance and Risk division, the news and financial information company's largest division. The division, which rents trading terminals to the financial industry, accounts for just over half of the Thompson Reuters' revenue. The company has about 60,000 employees.