Notable news items and price action from the past twenty-four hours.  Today, we are adding a column on the right hand side of our price table with our fundamental views on select names. 

  • MCD is having to boost imports to Japan to counter supply-chain disruption in the wake of the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami.  A number of the company’s processing plants and a distribution center were damaged by the tsunami, Simone Hoyle, VP of Supply Chain for McDonald’s Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa region told The Wall Street Journal.
  • SBUX CEO is set for a mixed reception at Harvard on Friday as a protest is being planned for his appearance at Harvard Business School, according to The Harvard Crimson.  Organizers of the event, including employees of Starbucks and Harvard, hit out at Shultz’ “phoniness” in this new book and the reality of conditions for workers at SBUX being bad and getting worse.
  • Roberio Silva, Brazil’s candidate to head the International Coffee Organization told Bloomberg that “coffee prices will stay “firm” in the next two years as producing countries such as Colombia and Vietnam recover from harvest damage.
  • COSI traded down on massive volume yesterday.  Our conviction on this name remains high and we view this pullback as a buying opportunity.
  • BKC’s exodus continues.  Burger King’s manager for product innovation, Robert Thomas, stepped down Wednesday, making him the latest of several executives to leave the burger company.
  • HSY on Wednesday said it raised wholesale prices by 9.7 percent.
  • Dunkin' Brands is considering an IPO in the second half of 2011. Reuters reports, citing sources, that the IPO could be in the range of $500-750M. The company is still in preliminary discussions regarding the IPO and has not yet selected underwriters.
  • Dunkin’ is going to be sold as “growth” story…  Continuing its steady expansion around the world, Dunkin' Donuts, the world's leading baked goods and coffee chain, today announced the opening of its 3000th restaurant outside the United States

TALES OF THE TAPE: MCD, SBUX, COSI, BKC, HSY, DUNKIN - stocks 331

Howard Penney

Managing Director