Consumers might have closed their wallets to frivolous spending, but they’re ramping the spending back up by dining out at value restaurants, giving exchange traded funds (ETFs) a kick.
Although visits to restaurants have fallen now for two straight years, the decline lessened in the spring quarter. The Associated Press reports that spending has spike upwards for morning meals, a bandwagon that McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and Burger King (NYSE: BKC) have been banking on. While traffic at restaurants is generally down, spending is up 1%. [Fast Food Buoyed In Slow Economy.]
Greg Ferrell for The Financial Times reports that in the United States, McDonald’s continued to outperform other fast food chains with a 4.6% increase in sales over the previous August. McDonald’s,the world’s largest fast-food chain, reported that its same-store sales for August were up 4.9% globally year-on-year. [Fast Food ETFs Go International.]
McDonald’s said its performance in the United Kingdom and Russia was also strong, but that gains in those markets were offset by weakness in France.
- PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage (NYSEArca: PBJ): McDonald’s is 5.3%; Yum Brands is 5.2%; PBJ is up 3.8% in the last six months
- PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment (NYSEArca: PEJ): McDonald’s is 5.4%; Yum Brands is 5.2%; Burger King is 2.6%; PEJ is up 2.7% in the last six months
- SPDR Consumer Discretionary (NYSEArca: XLY): McDonald’s is 7.6%; Yum Brands is 2%; XLY is up 0.8% in the last six months
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.