Posts for Ticker ‘MCD’

Today’s Best Market Rumors (11/18/2009) (MCD)(BAC)(GOOG)

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 1.48 PM EST:  News Corp’s (NYSE:NWS) MySpace is in talks to buy free music streaming site imeem. (AP)

Update 1.42 PM EST:  Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will launch its own Android phone  (TechCrunch)

Carl Icahn is aggressively buying shares in MGM  (HollyWood Daily)

Apollo Management may try to list on the NYSE. (FT)

Paulson & Co. believe that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will double by the end of 2011.

Oil prices at $80 could damage the economy.  (Fortune)

The low volume of the rally is raising concern about why investors are not convinced the market is going higher  (CNBC)

Subway may open 1,000 stores in Russia by 2015, a challenge to McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)  (Reuters)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 18, 2009 – 8:17 am in Rumors, , , ,

Should McDonald’s And Wal-Mart Shelter The Mentally Ill And The Homeless?

It could be the economy or the fact that spending time in McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Target (NYSE:TGT), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is more pleasant than it used to be. All of these retailers certainly have clean and well-heated stores.

There appears to be a rise in the number of homeless people and people who are mentally ill in the aisles and at the tables of America’s largest retailers, fast food coffee chains and restaurants. These establishments are often crowded enough or are in buildings that cover enough square feet so that a person could be lost, or to some extent hide in plain sight.

Read More »

Posted on: November 17, 2009 – 5:10 am in Economy, Editor's Picks, , , ,

24/7 Wall St. TV: Should Starbucks (SBUX) Serve The Deranged?

24/7 WallSt TVStarbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) is s fine place for the homeless and deranged to spend their time. The purchase of one cup of coffee gives them access to comfortable chairs, bathrooms, and music for hours the same way that it does for all the coffee shop firm’s partons.

There appears to be more mentally troubled and homeless people in Starbucks stores. That may be because of the recession, or it may simply be an impression based on an unscientific sample. Read More »

Posted on: November 14, 2009 – 8:49 am in Retail, TV, ,

Media Digest 11/13/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   China’s economy may be hurt as its stimulus ends.

Reuters:   Warren Buffett says the financial panic is over.

Reuters:   Former bankers are considering buying failed banks.

Reuters:   The SEC is expected to go ahead with the Bear Stearns case. Read More »

Posted on: November 13, 2009 – 4:03 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (ARIA, EWBC, GE, MCD, ANF)

These are this Monday’s top day trader and active traders stock alerts.  We have a link for more detailed analysis and price/volume data at VSInvestor.com:

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) is up 10% as traders hope the analyst upgrade may hint at it being the next hot low price biotech stock.

East West Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: EWBC) is soaring by 27% on it winning in an FDIC-led bank takeover.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is up again by almost 3% this morning on a likely NBC Universal valuation of close to $30 billion.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is up almost 1% on same store sales, but U.S. same store sales remain more of a concern than some of its other growth.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is up 5% on an analyst upgrade.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

Jon C. Ogg
November 9, 2009

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 8:55 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , ,

Wal-Mart (WMT) Lends Hand To The Poor One $2 Meal At A Time

WMTThe cynic’s view of Wal-Mart’s (NYSE:WMT) new expansion of its Great Value private label food brand is that it is aimed at making as much money as possible from those who are out of work or work for the minimum wage. The New York Times reports that Wal-Mart is marketing the brand as a way for food shoppers to get good meals for “less than $2 a serving.” It might not be too crass to say that the program is nothing but the big box retailer’s equivalent of the McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) $1 “Value Meals.” Read More »

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 5:39 am in Economy, Retail, ,

24/7 Wall St. TV: McDonald’s (MCD) Consumer Service Lesson: Seconds Count

24/7 WallSt TVMcDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) spends a great deal of its test kitchen time trying to beat the clock. It has occurred to the fast food chain that a customer who expects to wait 30 seconds for a meal may leave after a minute if his food is not ready.  The world’s largest restaurant operator has its own Innovation Center where management works out the kinks of serving food hot and on time. Read More »

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 4:08 am in Food, TV, , , , , , , , ,

A Coffee Firm Merger Aimed At Starbucks (SBUX)

hersheyTwo coffee companies which sell their products online and through retailers are merging. They should be able to create a formidable competitor for Starbuck’s  retail business outside its own stores. Diedrich (NASDAQ:DDRX) will be bought by Peet’s NASDAQ:PEET) for $26 a share or $213 million. The consideration is well above Diedrich’s current price of just over $20.

Diedrich sells it single serving products and beans through restaurants, stores, and coffeehouses. Peet’s sells coffee and tea through restaurants and food services establishments and also sells coffee and tea makers. Neither firm has a chain of stores like Starbucks does, but each competes with the Starbucks branded coffees sold in grocery stores and super markets. Read More »

Posted on: November 3, 2009 – 5:40 am in Food, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , ,

Media Digest 10/28/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Nielsen survey shows consumer confidence up in the US for the first time since 2007.

Reuters:   Obama’s financial reforms are advancing in Congress.

Reuters:   The pay czar said his authority should not be expanded.

Reuters:   Obama’s “too big to fail” bill would curb bailouts. Read More »

Posted on: October 28, 2009 – 3:59 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Positive Earnings Show From All 5 DJIA Components (T, MCD, MRK, MMM, TRV)

NYSE Floor ImageWe have seen earnings from five of the thirty DJIA components this morning alone.  All were above expectations, even if some of the year over year comparisons do not look that great at some.  We had AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), and The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) all on deck.  We included estimates from Thomson Reuters for comparison, as well as performance and relative color where applicable.
Read More »

Posted on: October 22, 2009 – 8:28 am in Earnings, , , , ,

The 100 Hardest Working Brands In The World

hersheyThere are a number of ways to rank brand values. One of the most important is the level at which a brand contributes to the market value of a public company.

24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed  by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”.  Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless.  How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business.  Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets.  A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value.  If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list: Read More »

Posted on: October 20, 2009 – 5:06 pm in Research, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

7 More DJIA Stocks on Earnings Deck (BA, MMM, AXP, T, MCD, MRK, MSFT, MO, HON)

NYSE Floor ImageWe have already run the 5 of the 30 DJIA components that reported earnings this morning.  But we still have 7 more of the 30 DJIA components reporting during the rest of this week alone.   The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), 3M Company (NYSE: MMM), American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) are all on the earnings docket this week.   We also have earnings from Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) and from Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), both of which are ex-DJIA components that many traders and investors still think of as Blue Chips.

We have created detailed earnings previews for each stock with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters, as well as earnings data and color for what to watch out for where applicable.  Also included is how much each stock has rallied since June 30 and since the March 9 close that all traders mark as the low index closing date and the end of the death-spiral bear market we were in earlier this year.
Read More »

Posted on: October 20, 2009 – 11:38 am in Calendar, Earnings, , , , , , , , ,

Next Week’s Top 10 Earnings on Deck (AAPL, UNH, YHOO, FCX, WFC, T, MCD, POT, MSFT, SLB)

NYSE Floor ImageWe have almost an endless wave of corporate earnings for the calendar Q3-2009 coming out next week.  We have what looks to be over 100 of the S&P 500 Index members reporting and what appears to be 12 current or ex-DJIA components reporting earnings as well.  Coming up with a Top 10 is almost unfair, but this coming week’s top ten earnings we will be focusing on are as follows: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB).

We screened out the companies whose destiny has already been set by competitor earnings from this last week and screened out the ones which will have no real broad impact but are still widely held and actively traded. Lastly, we screened out the drug and medical companies as we are featuring those in their own group at BioHealthInvestor.com.  A more detailed estimate count from Thomson Reuters has been provided, along with data showing performance from the March 9 close and the June 30 closing date along with other pertinent information on each stock.
Read More »

Posted on: October 16, 2009 – 1:12 pm in Calendar, Earnings, Editor's Picks, Internet, Large Cap Stocks, Technology Companies, , , , , , , , , ,

Starbucks (SBUX) Begins To Thrash McDonald’s (MCD) In Coffee Wars

bucksMcDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) was supposed to crush Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) in the premium coffee business when the world’s largest restaurant chain introduced a line of premium java more than a year ago.

It turns out that McDonald’s impressive start as competition to Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and other specialty coffee retailers has begun to flag.

New research shows the momentum in terms of store traffic patterns has turned in Starbucks’ direction and it is likely that the trend will continue. Read More »

Posted on: October 14, 2009 – 2:15 pm in Food, Research, Restatements, Retail, , , ,

A Voice Of Gloom At The Fed

bankJanet L. Yellen is the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and a voting member of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee. She is highly pessimistic about an economic recovery.

Yellen is under no obligation to follow the party line established by Mr. Bernanke or any other Fed official. That is a good thing for her. Much of what Ms. Yellen has to say is not likely to be welcome in Washington where Fed and Treasury management are promoting the expansion.  They are, of course, being very careful to avoid irrational exuberance. Read More »

Posted on: September 15, 2009 – 4:58 am in Economy, Editor's Picks, , ,

The 100 Most Valuable Brands Of 2009?

bearSeveral consulting firms post annual figures for the world’s most valuable brands. The two best known are probably the Interbrand and BrandZ surveys. They are notably different, up until now at least. BrandZ includes a number of large brands from Asia. Interbrand does not.

24/7 Wall St. has put together a list of the most valuable brands of 2009 by looking at valuation calculations from a number of sources. Then a base valuation was taken from the 2008 Interbrand data to fix values for this year and changes from last.

Most methods take into account the future earnings of a brand for its parent company. This is fundamentally a guess particularly during a turbulent period in the global economy. Interbrand’s rule is that a brand most get at least a third of its revenue from outside its country-of-origin. That is arbitrary, particularly as it apply to brands in China.

24/7 Wall St. has made the assumption that the value of most brands have been hurt log-term by the deep recession.  Forward earnings estimates for many of the firms on this list show that. Those brands which post value improvements show much more modest increases than they would be in a stable economy.

Looking at the Interbrand list from last year, it is fair to ask why firms like Nissan, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Red Bull are not present.

Because the brands on this list are taken from names on the Interbrand survey, we have not made a calculation about which companies may be new to their list in 2009 or which may drop off.

Public firms which are part of this ranking include (KO)(IBM)(MSFT)(GOOG)(GE)(NOK)(TM)(INTC)(MCD)(DIS)(HPQ)(AXP)(C)(HMC)(ORCL)(AAPL)(SNE)(PEP)(HBC)(NKE)(UPS)(FDX)(SAP)(DELL)(JPM)(GS)(KL)(EBAY)(SI)(F)(AIG)(AMZN)(CAT)(AVP)(RIMM)(GPS)(TIF)(BP)(SBUX)(JNJ)(MAR)(V)

The 100:  Read More »

Posted on: September 13, 2009 – 9:01 pm in Research, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 9/10/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   GM has made its decision on Opel and will announce it today.

Reuters:   Foreign car makers are having trouble with the affluent market in China

Reuters:   Steve Jobs made a presentation at Apple’s (AAPL) latest public meeting.

Reuters:   OPEC will hold prices steady. Read More »

Posted on: September 10, 2009 – 4:03 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 9/8/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Richard Fuld defended his actions at Lehman.

Reuters:   Manpower says the outlook for hiring is US is weak.

Reuters:   Gold futures topped $1,000.

Reuters:   Kraft (KFT) will probably up its bid for Cadbury. Read More »

Posted on: September 8, 2009 – 4:00 am in Press Digest, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Defensive Stocks Offering No Haven (WMT, PEP, KO, TAP, KFT, CAG, CPB, HRL, MCD, MO, VGR, RAI, PG, CL, MRK, JNJ, NVO)

Burning Money PicWasn’t it just last week that we were up eight days in a row on the DJIA?  And now we have a sell-the-news reaction to the recent growth numbers.  Maybe it is because we ran too far too fast and because we started pricing in robust growth rather than muted growth.  But generally when equities have stayed hot and then start to sell off in profit taking or in case things got too heated, you at least see a migration into some of the defensive stocks.  That is not the case.  In our normal 16 Defensive Go-To Stocks, only ONE was up.  If you throw in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) as the ultimate defensive stock like we usually do, then you have only TWO of 17 trading up on the day….

PEPSICO INC (NYSE: PEP) $56.1805.. Down $0.4895; -0.86%
COCA COLA CO (NYSE: KO) $48.58.. Down $0.19; -0.39%
MOLSON COORS CO. (NYSE: TAP) $47.01.. Down $0.37; -0.78%
KRAFT FOODS INC. (NYSE: KFT) $28.08..  Down $0.27; -0.95%
CONAGRA FOOD INC. (NYSE: CAG) $20.13.. Down $0.40; -1.95%
CAMPBELL SOUP CO. (NYSE: CPB) $30.86.. Down $0.50; -1.59%
HORMEL FOODS CORP. (NYSE: HRL) $37.00..    Up 0.05; +0.14%
MCDONALDS CORP. (NYSE: MCD) $55.72.. Down $0.51; -0.92%
ALTRIA GROUP INC. (NYSE: MO) $18.13.. Down $0.16; -0.83%
VECTOR GROUP LTD. (NYSE: VGR) $15.71.. Down $0.07; -0.44%
REYNOLDS AMERICAN (NYSE: RAI) $45.17.. Down $0.54; -1.18%
PROCTER GAMBLE CO. (NYSE: PG) $53.05.. Down $1.06; -1.96%
COLGATE PALMOLIVE (NYSE: CL) $71.82.. Down $0.89; -1.21%
MERCK CO INC. (NYSE: MRK) $31.79.. Down $0.64; -1.97%
JOHNSON & JOHNSON (NYSE: JNJ) $59.88.. Down $0.56; -0.92%
NOVO NORDISK (NYSE: NVO) $60.024.. Down $0.986; -1.62%

Oddly enough, Wal-Mart is the ONLY one of the DJIA 30 components trading higher this afternoon.

JON C. OGG
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009

Posted on: September 1, 2009 – 2:31 pm in Defensive Stocks, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tracking The Value Of The World’s Major Brands

apple
Several companies run annual brand valuations. It is a good business for advertising and marketing firms to be viewed as experts on brands. Brand values are based on the cash flow they create, and there are a number of ways to measure that. The mathematical parts of the formulas are relatively easy. The part that is hard, because it requires skilled forecasting, is what the reputation and value of a brand is likely to be three or four years from the date the values are set. It would have been hard half a decade ago to predict that AIG (AIG), the brand of the world’s largest insurance company, would be virtually worthless today, or that Facebook would be an extremely valuable brand. There is both art and science to determining the future of brands. Read More »

Posted on: August 12, 2009 – 3:21 pm in Accounting, Banking, China, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Goods, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Hardware, PC Companies, Research, Software, Telecom, Tobacco, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,