Big Mac Is Big Winner

There's no recession at McDonalds. The fast food giant that caters to cost-conscience consumers has seen 55 straight months of increased sales. Profits increased 11% in the third quarter of last year alone. With dollar-menu staples and millions of Americans trading down--" "If you can't afford to eat at Chili's, you'll snap up McDonald's," said one analyst--the company and Walmart were the only stocks on the Dow Jones index to go up during last year's abysmal decline.