There was quite a bit of economic data to digest last week…small business optimism rose in December, marking four months of gains, as expectations for business conditions improved…consumer credit rose by 20 billion dollars in November as more Americans tapped credit to shop for the holidays, and new claims for jobless benefits jumped by 24-thousand to 399-thousand, due to layoffs from the holiday season.

In the week ahead— we expect quite a few bank and tech company earnings reports — such as Bank of America, Citigroup, Microsoft and I-B-M, as well as housing, production and inflation data.

We’ll check on housing with the December housing starts report. …in November new construction rose 9 point 3 percent — due to growth in multi-family units, and building permits — a gauge of future building activity — rose 5 point 7 percent.

We’ll gain insight on the economy with the December industrial production report— which tracks activity in manufacturing, mining and utilities..in November industrial production dipped slightly due to a decline in auto, home electronics and apparel production.

We’ll get a read on inflation with the December consumer price index report —which tracks price changes for food, clothing and energy—-in November consumer prices were unchanged and eased concerns about inflation.

And that’s your CNBC market look ahead for the Grio dot com..I’m Shartia Brantley.