McDonald's profit slips 8% on currency hit

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2009

McDonald's profit slips 8% on currency hit

McDonald's Corp. reports second-quarter profit falls 8.1% as currency
headwinds hit the top and bottom lines, even as customer traffic and
operating income
rise.

AT&T'S QUARTERLY PROFIT FALLS 15%; IPHONE STRONG

AT&T posts a 15% drop in second-quarter profit owing to further
declines in its wireline business as well as heavy subsidies to sign
up new iPhone customers, but the carrier shows good success in adding
to its iPhone subscriber base.

3M QUARTERLY PROFIT SINKS 17%, BUT SHARES CLIMB

3M Co. second-quarter profit falls 17% on the back of its transportation,
security and consumer electronic-related businesses, but manages to
exceed Wall Street expectations.

JUNE EXISTING-HOME SALES RISE AGAIN

Resales of U.S. single-family homes and condos rose 3.6% in June to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, the highest level since last
October, the National Association of Realtors reports.

RATES ON FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES RISE: FREDDIE MAC

Rates on fixed-rate mortgages rose this week, as recent housing indicators
suggest that the worst of the housing downturn may have passed,
Freddie Mac's chief economist said on Thursday.