These are some of this Monday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls. Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray. American Capital Agency Corp.…
Sugary beverages such as soda became public enemy number one for public health activists (known to critics as the food police) in 2010. That has led to a call to levy special…
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is tired of taking blame for soaring childhood obesity rates and the resulting Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The company’s CEO Jim Skinner told the FT that the “food…
Douglas A. McIntyre The new tax package made it through the first stage of Congressional approval. (Reuters) The federal government began the process of setting higher capital requirements for US banks. (Reuters) China will have…
The market is disappoint with McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) same-store sales in November. The company’s stock trades down about 2% to $79, still near its 52-week high. The shares have risen to their…
Douglas A. McIntyre The day before the Thanksgiving holiday yields a mash-up of earnings. Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported a 27% gain in profits this morning on sales that topped the same…
comScore data comes out monthly and it is very frequent where the trends come in almost exactly as you might have guessed when it comes to popular websites and the traffic growth. …
For years now, The Economist has computed its Big Mac index, a measure of purchasing power parity in the countries in which Big Macs from McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) are sold. The…
Does the US consumers’ taste for coffee translate well into Chinese? It looks like Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is determined to find out. Sales and profits have picked up in the last…
China warned that QE2 could destabilize the global economy. (Reuters) Aol (NYSE: AOL) has tapped Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to aid it in its pursuit of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (Reuters) Some…
Twitter has, by most estimates, 145 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than…
Douglas A. McIntyre Consumers who might remain unconvinced about an economic recovery still have to eat. And not all of them are eating at fast food restaurants. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) reported a third-quarter…
Reuters: The US will push a trade and foreign exchange agenda at the G20 meeting. Reuters: Fed officials are still not in agreement about quantitative easing. Reuters: American International…
Twitter has, by most estimates, 145 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than…
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) earnings were up again and it renewed its commitment to raise its dividend which adds to the return it has made to shareholders through buy-backs and improved pay-outs. The…
Douglas A. McIntyre 
