McDonald's sales plunge as it Posts Seventh Straight Quarter of Falling U.S. Sales

The fast food giant reported a 10% drop in quarterly sales and earnings per share on Thursday. And while that was good enough to beat Wall Street's meager expectations, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook called the results "disappointing."

McDonald's has been struggling, and the troubles led to the ouster of former CEO Don Thompson in January.

Since taking over, Easterbrook has stressed that McDonald's must make big changes to convince people that they should eat at the Golden Arches.

Easterbrook unveiled the company's turnaround plan in May.

That announcement had a lot of marketing gobbledygook phrases like "modern progressive burger company." But it left many analysts wondering -- to borrow a famous old slogan from rival Wendy's (WEN) -- where's the beef?

Wall Street -- and customers -- wanted more details about how the company planned to spruce up the menu.

Easterbrook said in a statement Thursday that the company is "seeing early signs of momentum" and predicted a sales rebound in the third quarter. Thursday's results showed a decline in same-store sales of 0.7% worldwide and 2% in the United States.

But for McDonald's to get back on track, it all comes down to the food. And it seems that customers, especially Americans, are still not happy.

The company noted that a main reason for the tepid results was because "featured products and promotions did not achieve expected consumer response amid ongoing competitive activity."

Translation: The food stinks and consumers are going elsewhere.

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As we pretected in our article from today: War Started, Apple stock went crushing in what seems to be an awful day for the company. Apple stock has dropped by almost 8% and loosing tens of Billions from its worth.  

Another reason for Apple’s bad results, apart from the dispute with Samsung and other major tech companies was that it sold fewer iPhones than expected in the past three months, and offered a weak outlook for the current quarter.

The biggest technology rally since October was knocked cold, as disappointing earnings reports punished Microsoft Corp. and left Apple Inc. in danger of its worst-ever loss of market value.

Overall, Apple's sales and profits were strong. In its fiscal third quarter, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) recorded revenue of $49.6 billion. Financial analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected sales of $49.4 billion.

But the company sold "just" 47.5 million iPhones. While that's up a stunning 59% from a year ago, the number of iPhones sold last quarter is still fewer than the 49 million analysts had forecast.

There was plenty of good iPhone news for Apple to cheer about, though. 

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Materials like copper, aluminum, gold and oil are dropping in value, raising concerns about the health of the global economy.

The CRB raw industrials spot price index is now at its lowest level since November 2009. The Bloomberg Commodities Index touched levels unseen since June 2002.

Just this week, crude oil prices retreated to $50 a barrel, while gold tumbled below $1,100 an ounce to five-year lows.

And mining stocks like Newmont Mining (NEM), Barrick Gold (ABX) and Coeur Mining (CDE) are down 20% to 25% this month alone.

So why is this happening? David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds, said that "It's a yellow flag for the global economy. I don't think it's a heads up that we're headed for disaster, but I do think it tells us something."

There is simply isn't enough demand: Soft global economic growth has hurt demand for some of the most closely-watched industrial metals like copper and iron ore, as well as oil.

While China is growing faster than many countries, it has slowed drastically in recent years. That's a critical factor, because China's previously-insatiable demand for natural resources made it the world's "swing consumer."

China's slowdown is playing a huge role in the demand picture. Growth in the first half of 2015 slowed to the weakest level since 2009 -- and there's growing rumblings among investors that Beijing may be fudging the numbers.

Many other emerging markets like Brazil and Russia are growing at a sluggish pace, too. So are developed economies like Europe and to a lesser extent the U.S. The International Monetary Fund recently downgraded its global growth forecast to 3.3%, the weakest pace since the financial crisis.

"We're not going into a global recession, but there isn't a lot of growth out there either," said Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading Partners.

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Unbelievable reaction of the internet over the patent battle of all the companies against Apple,

Who will win?

FaceBook, Google, Ebay, Dell, Hp, Samsung all came together to crash Apple with their patent war with Samsung. The companies believe the financial market reacts and it damaging their business. The huge alliance of such brands can provide today a day to be remembered in a trading market.

Preper your account today with Signals Binary - write the word " WAR" on our live chat and our support will show you how to be prepared for today. 22/07/2015

eBay and PayPal will trade as two separate companies from today.

The split sees PayPal listing independently on the stock exchange.

The split comes more than ten years after eBay bought the payments firm in 2002. But in September last year, it announced plans to divide the two companies, letting PayPal off into a separate entity.

eBay Chief Executive John Donahoe said the decision was taken because it was best for each business and would create additional value for shareholders. He added the two companies will continue to work closely together.

Once the two businesses were seen as being among the shrewdest combinations in Silicon Valley history.

eBay, as a younger company, needed a reliable way for shoppers to pay for their purchases on its site.

The split leaves the two firms' top executives free to focus on their individual businesses.

PayPal will start trading on the NASDAQ as an independent company while eBay will continue as its own separate public company.

PayPal is expected to be valued at around $44bn, potentially eclipsing the estimated $35bn for eBay's marketplace after the split.

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Apple is set to rake in $52.5 billion in earnings, in what could be the largest annual profit ever generated from a company's operations.

This is how Apple could make a $53 billion profit this year in 4 points:

1. iPhone sales lead...again

The record 74.5 million iPhones that Apple sold during the holiday shopping season helped Apple's profit soar more than 37% that quarter.

The iPhone remains popular despite the fact that Apple is likely to announce a new version in the coming months. Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the first three months of 2015, and analysts polled by FactSet estimate that Apple sold another 47 million iPhones last quarter.

The big screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus proved popular competitors to large-screen Android phones.

IPhone unit sales are expected to be relatively stable in 2015 and 2016 but as more people own iPhones, analyst Andy Hargreaves of Pacific Crest Securities worries that this growth "creates risk if we reach the point of complete saturation or if a competitor slows Apple's share gains."

2. MacBooks are hot!

The PC industry slumped 11.8% worldwide in the second quarter compared to last year, according to IDC, a market research firm -- but Apple bucked the trend.

While all major PC brands like HP (HPQ, Tech30), Dell and Lenovo (LNVGF) reported a decline in computer sales, Apple's MacBook sales grew by 16.1%.

3. Is China's downfall Apple's downfall?

Despite the roaring success of Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Apple has held its own in China -- Apple's biggest growth market.

But a slowing Chinese economy could pose a risk for Apple. This year, analysts have their eyes glued to changes in consumer habits in China in response to the recent stock market crash. However, UBS believes the country's market turmoil will have a limited impact on the economy.

4. Apple Watch remains a mystery

The X-factor in Apple's earnings could be the Apple Watch. The company has been tight-lipped on the Watch's sales performance, and that likely won't change when Apple announces its quarterly earnings on Tuesday.

And Until Apple releases its official figures, there is no way of really knowing. But don't expect to see Apple Watch figures yet. Before the Watch released, the tech mammoth announced that it will be lumped with the likes of Apple TV, Apple music -- and recently, the iPod -- in the "other" category.

With or without the Watch, Apple is posited to report strong numbers this year.

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Google's second quarter performance turned out surprisingly good, as the company beats profit expectations.

The Internet search giant reported $6.99 earnings per share, while analysts were expecting about $6.70. Google (GOOGL, Tech30) generated $17.7 billion in sales over the past three months, an 11% growth from last year. Wall Street was looking for about $17.8 billion to $18 billion, a 13% acceleration. Overall the company made $3.9 billion in profits.

While more people clicked on its ads in the second quarter than last year, businesses still shied away from spending. The amount of money advertisers paid for clicks dipped 11% -- the ninth consecutive quarter of negative growth.

One of the biggest reasons for the decline has been mobile. Although many now surf the Web primarily through phones, they are still more likely to buy products online through desktops. Advertisers, therefore, tend to spend more to target shoppers on desktops than on mobile.

The other reason is Google's video platform YouTube, where businesses are even less likely to spend money on ads because they say it doesn't generate the kind of sales leads they want.

Google has made numerous improvements to both of these areas in the past few months. To help people make faster decisions to buy things on their phones, the company's mobile search ads now show much more information than before.

Paid search results for a camera, for example, will provide product ratings, features, and inventory in nearby stores. This is a huge upgrade from what mobile search ads used to be, which was just some text and a link.

"We continue to close the gap between mobile and desktop search," Ruth Porat, Google's CFO, said during the earnings call.

But the biggest change to Google's mobile search strategy came this week when it launched a buy button in its search ads. Clicking on a Google ad with a buy button will take users to a dedicated shopping site where they can complete a purchase in about two clicks. Transactions are processed through saved financial information stored within Google accounts.

"The buy button has the potential to change advertisers' willingness to [spend] on mobile," Mark Ballard, Merkle RKG's director of research said that: "Search is probably the best performing type of digital ad because you're capturing someone's intent and interest at a specific time."

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GOP presidential hopeful files financial disclosure documents. 

Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, has reportedly filed financial disclosure documents with the U.S. government that show he has a net worth that exceeds $10 billion.

Trump’s campaign announced that he had submitted paperwork to the Federal Election Commission Wednesday: “This report was not designed for a man of Mr. Trump’s massive wealth,” the campaign said in a statement. “For instance, they have boxes once a certain number is reached that simply state $50 million or more. Many of these boxes have been checked.”

Last month, Trump, who now leads the polls among Republican candidates for the presidential nomination, said he was worth about $8.7 billion. In a statement Wednesday, his campaign reportedly said that number was over a year old.

Earlier Wednesday, speaking to supporters, Trump attacked other candidates over needing donations to run their campaigns: “Every single person who gave Jeb Bush and Hillary money has something lined up, and it’s not necessarily and probably not at all to the benefit of [the American people],” he said. “Special interests, lobbyists, donors, they all get something.”

Trump’s candidacy has received much media scrutiny, particularly since he made controversial comments about Mexican immigrants earlier this summer. His comments led to him losing numerous business partnerships with such companies as Macy’s  M -0.82%  and Univision.

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Greece's parliament has voted to accept substantial economic reforms needed before the country can receive a fresh bailout worth as much as $96 billion.

The heavily indebted country needs the bailout money to avoid bankruptcy and a 'Grexit' from the euro, but the reforms are extremely unpopular.

Many Greeks resent that European lenders are imposing such harsh, strict reforms on their pension and tax systems.

For months, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Syriza party rallied against the reforms. But Tsipras was forced to accept them as the country tottered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Greece's parliament formally approved the following measures:

- Reform the tax code to raise additional revenue for the government. This will include raising sales taxes on restaurant meals and other items to 23% and eliminating tax discounts on popular Greek islands.

- Overhaul the pension system, which will include setting the standard retirement age at 67 to discourage people from retiring early.

- Safeguard the independence of the nation's statistics agency, the institution responsible for data tracking the nation's debt and economic growth.

- Implement rules to meet budget targets, which could require additional spending cuts.

Greek parliamentarians debated late into the night as protesters waited outside.

The IMF had participated in the previous Greek bailouts, but is not directly lending money to Greece this time around after the country defaulted on two IMF debt payments over the last three weeks.

Eurozone nations, along with the European Central Bank and the IMF, have already loaned Greece roughly 233 billion euros ($255 billion) in rescue financing since 2010.

They are unwilling to lend Greece any more money without promises that it will get its financial house in order. 

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Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, is preparing for a make-or-break parliamentary vote over the austerity measures Athens must take in exchange for a fresh bailout from its eurozone partners.

Just hours before the vote, Tsipras suffered a blow with the loss of a key minister, Nadia Valavani. The deputy finance minister resigned, saying it was “impossible” for her to keep serving in the Tsipras government given the austerity measures he had agreed to. She warned the nation faced a “crushing” capitulation at the hands of its creditors in Brussels.

Tsipras must keep the number of rebels within his own party below 40, in order to pass the measures required as part of the controversial rescue package agreed after marathon talks over the weekend.

Athens parliament will vote tonight on the bailout plan demanded by creditors, which the International Monetary Fund has just savaged.

The deal – which includes austerity measures tougher than those overwhelmingly rejected by the Greek public in a referendum this month – has come under fresh fire, after the International Monetary Fund published a highly critical paper calling for large-scale debt relief for the stricken country.

The IMF’s “debt sustainability analysis”, which was published by the Washington-based lender after parts of it were leaked to the media, suggested Greece may need a 30-year moratorium on repayments; or a substantial “haircut” – a partial write-off of its debts.

Greece is already in arrears to the IMF, and the emergence of the paper raised doubts whether the Washington-based lender would be willing to contribute to another Greek bailout.

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