Retail sales ticked up by 1.1 percent last month according to the Commerce Department. The growth was better than expected, despite higher gas prices and the payroll tax increase that went into effect at the beginning of the year.

Shoppers around the world may have tightened their belts, but the world’s biggest clothing retailer is doing the opposite — it is expanding fast. The Spanish company Inditex, which owns Zara among other chain stores, has just unveiled an impressive set of figures: a 22 percent jump in profits. Large does not necessarily mean unwieldy, and Inditext is the proof. The world’s biggest clothing retailer is also one of the  nimblest; it invented fast fashion. By manufacturing more than 50 percent of its products itself the Inditex chains can respond quickly to changing tastes.

President Obama is getting together with a group of CEO’s today to discuss cybersecurity. Obama will be talking with the CEO’s — such as JPMorgan head Jamie Dimon — about how the public and private sectors can work together to protect against cyber attacks.