Burger King (BKC), which competes for the attention of fast-food junkies along with McDonald's (MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN), and Yum! Brands (YUM), didn't do too badly when it came to bottom-line growth in the second quarter. Same-store sales, on the other hand, could have used a little assistance.

Earnings per share calculated out to 37 cents. That was good for a 12% increase. Great to see double-digit appreciation. However, domestic comps went down 3.3%, while total comps were off by 2%. The same-store sales metric is a very important indicator of the overall health of a business that has many locations.

Yum! Brands (YUM), whose colleagues include McDonald's (MCD), Burger King (BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN), sold off this afternoon as the market digested the fourth-quarter earnings news that was released on Wednesday after the bell. I will say, even though this report wasn't a complete disaster, it also wasn't the most exciting document I've ever read.

Sales went down 1%, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis increased 7% to 50 cents. Earnings.com says 48 cents per share was the desired figure. Same-store sales in the United States decreased 8%.

Goldman Sachs has elevated McDonald's (MCD) to conviction buy from buy and upped its 12-month price target to $75 from $73.

According to the brokerage, McDonald's is weathering the current economic crisis thanks to a combination of positive same-store sales and accelerating margin gains. Goldman added that consensus estimates underappreciate this fact, which should bring about some upward earnings revisions during 2010.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• American Express Co. (AXP) doubled its bottom line in Q4 while its provisions for losses fell.
• Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) warned of weakness in Q4 and lowered its guidance, sending shares lower.
• Coach Inc. (COH) better-than-expected Q2 earnings were accompanied by sales growth, but shares fell.
• Comerica Inc. (CMA) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss, sending shares to a 52-week high.
• CSX Corp. (CSX) posted Q4 earnings that topped estimates but its revenue fell short of expectations.

Fast food giant McDonald's (MCD) reported its fourth quarter numbers this morning. The company was able to outpace analyst estimates, pushing shares higher in premarket trading.

The world's biggest fast-food chain earned $1.22 billion, or $1.11 per share, 23% more than last year's profit of $985.3 million, or 87 cents per share. But the results included a one-time benefit of 8 cents per share.

U.S. stock futures were mixed Friday morning as investors mulled results from General Electric and others, and focused on the effects President Obama's plan to overhaul Wall Street would have on banks.

On Thursday, Wall Street suffered one of the worst day in month after the Obama administration announced a proposal to increase regulation on the financial industry. Despite several strong earnings, concerns over China's efforts to curb lending, a surprise increase in jobless claims and a drop in manufacturing amounted to the Dow industrials sinking 213 points, or 2%. The broader S&P 500 lost 1.9% and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.1%.

McDonald's (MCD) closed at $63.20. MCD is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on January 22. February and March put option implied volatility is at 18, June puts are at 20, versus its 26-week average of 20 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Hansen Natural (HANS) closed at $40.53. HANS is expected to report Q4 EPS in late February. February option implied volatility is at 25, March is at 36, June is at 38, versus its 26-week average of 42, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Fast food giant McDonald's (MCD) is going to be reporting its fourth quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts are expecting to see another strong quarter for the company.

Headed into tomorrow's earnings release, analysts are expecting to see the company post earnings of $1.02 per share. For the same period last year the company posted earnings of 87 cents.

Early this morning, Credit Suisse took a trip down the restaurant sector, issuing an upgrade for McDonald's (MCD) and a downgrade for Burger King (BKC). The broker lifted MCD to outperform from neutral and upped its target price on the shares to $71 from $69. At the same time, the brokerage lowered BKC to neutral from outperform and cut its price target to $21 from $23.

Credit Suisse justified its moves by noting that estimates and valuation don't fairly reflect the ability of MCD to build upon its market share gains during a recovery. The firm is not as excited about BKC because of the industry's conditions and tension between franchisees.

McDonald's (MCD) isn't the only company tapping into the "billions" game. In a bit of chest-thumping while Google (GOOG) announced its new cell phone, Apple (AAPL) let the world know that iPhone and iPod Touch users have pulled down 3 billion applications from the company's App Store since its launch a year and a half ago.

Steve Jobs, the company CEO, said, "This is like nothing we've ever seen before." He didn't reveal how many of these apps were free -- and whether billions and billions of downloads translate to billions and billions of dollars.

Sonic (SONC), a fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (MCD), Burger King (BKC) and Yum! Brands (YUM), reported Q1 results on Tuesday after the bell. The market didn't like the numbers. At one point, shares were down about 9.5%.

Total sales saw a huge decline of 26%, but this fall was driven by a refranchising strategy. Perhaps a better way to look at the situation is through the company's same-store sales metrics. On a system-wide basis, comps dropped 6.5%. On a partner drive-in basis, comps plunged 9.1%.

British and Dutch investors turned to Iceland a few years ago, attracted by savings account deposit rates that were competitive with equity investment returns. It was an amazing situation, and the money just seemed too easy.

Then, Iceland got the sort of IMF loan that is normally reserved for countries like Somalia, and the Brits and Dutch worried that they'd never get their money back from an investment as supposedly safe as a savings account.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says Pepsi, McDonald's and Intel are set to bounce back with a bang.

You can always tell a benign market by the comeback the doghouse names manage to give you.

Consider the errant cases of Pepsi (PEP) (Cramer's Take), McDonald's (MCD) (Cramer's Take) and Intel (INTC) (Cramer's Take). All three allegedly "disappointed," with Pepsi failing to please on the alleged guide-down after its bottling purchase, McDonald's stuttering on a bad month and Intel on a so-called failed quarter.

One of the easiest stock picks for me to make this year is also one I made last year and for many of the same reasons. In a time of economic turmoil, high unemployment and tight liquidity, what could be more practical than pawn shops and cash advance outlets? EZCORP (EZPW) made me money last year and I expect more of the same as it continues to expand.

Most investors wish they could have gotten in on the ground floor of the hugely successful The Home Depot Corporation (HD), McDonald's Corporation (MCD), or Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) franchises while they only had a few hundred outlets. In the case of EZCORP that is still possible.

After reading an unbelievable sell recommendation by one of my BloggingStocks colleagues, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In Thirteen Dow stocks that are doomed, we are informed that 13 of the 30 are going down and we should all bail out before it is too late.

I find this silly on many levels. For one, 13 stocks amount to a large-cap index fund and since large-cap stocks have lagged the market the probability that they will outperform going forward is real and has many investors promoting them.