Updating Our Current Recommendations for McDonald’s Corp., J.C. Penney Co., Inc., International Business Machines and Toyota Motor Co.

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP. $54 (New York symbol MCD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $59.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; WSSF Rating: Above Average) plans to open 500 new restaurants in China over the next three years. It opened 146 restaurants in 2008, and now operates about 1,015 restaurants in China out of about 32,000 worldwide. Expanding in China makes sense for McDonald’s, despite the country’s slowing economy. Demand for low-cost fast food is still strong, and construction and labour costs are falling. McDonald’s is a buy. J.C. PENNEY CO., INC. $16 (New York symbol JCP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 222.2 million; Market cap: $3.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $2.57 a share in its fiscal year ended January 31, 2009, down 47.9% from $4.93 in the prior year. Sales fell 6.9%, to $18.5 billion from $19.9 billion. Same-store sales fell 8.5%. The drop was largely the result of lower consumer demand for…