MCD

With "billions served," McDonald's and its Golden Arches have come to be synonymous with American culture: We are the "fast food nation," the Big Mac is universal, children all over the world order Happy Meals with Chicken McNuggets, and the language is understood everywhere. But fresh off a...

GE reportedly will buy back slightly more than $12 billion shares, although the company has not made a formal announcement or filed paperwork with the SEC. The action would get GE's share-float back to 2008 levels, but will its shareholders care about the move?

McDonald's got a letter from 550 health experts Wednesday accusing the fast food giant of ignoring the impact its products -- and its marketing -- have on America's children. It's not the first such criticism of McDonald's, but so far, the attacks don't appear to have hurt its sales.

Tech giant Apple has blown by Internet behemoth Google to become the world's most valuable brand, according to branding research firm Millward Brown. See which other companies made the list.

The Federal Trade Commission has made good on threats to limit how fatty and salt-laden foods are marketed - particularly to children. That spells bad news for a number of large American companies, including McDonald's (MCD) to Yum (YUM) to Kraft (KFT). On Thursday, the FTC announced it was...

If I were to have guessed the results of a study comparing the loyalty of fast-food customers to their favorite chains, I would have guessed the most loyal would be Dunkin' Donuts coffee lovers. Customers of that chain -- and Northeastern U.S./Canadian restaurant chain Tim Horton's -- are always...

A gallon of regular gas climbed to $3.503 on Sunday -- nearly 38 cents higher than a month ago and up 15 cents in a week, renewing talk of a double-dip recession.

McDonald's is reporting a 5.3 percent rise in January sales at locations open more than a year, giving credit to its McCafe hot chocolate, Chicken McNuggets and the addition of oatmeal to the menu. U.S. sales growth was weaker than the rest of the world. U.S. sales rose 3.1 percent, Europe 7...

Friday's action notwithstanding, in which gold prices rose as the stock market sold off, safe-haven assets are suffering at the expensive of equities and other riskier assets. That's what happens when the global economy appears to be picking up steam.

Fast-food restaurants appear to have put the worst of the downturn behind them, but new industrywide challenges have emerged for 2011. That got us wondering if there's fast money to be made in fast-food stocks -- or if shares are too hard to swallow at current levels. [Video]