• Since Taco Bell introduced the “waffle taco” and the subsequent line of breakfast options, McDonald’s has been nervous. The fast food giant, with its popular Mc-breakfast options, has started an ad campaign that boasts of a fresh cooked breakfast and quality ingredients to combat the Yum Brands Inc. competition. The company says it hasn’t noticed any decline in its breakfast business since Taco Bell introduced the breakfast options.
• This week brought bad news from the magazine industry. The Ladies Home Journal, one of the oldest monthly publications in America, announced it would no longer be offering a monthly subscription. The magazine will be converted to a quarterly, newsstand-only magazine this coming fall. The change is a result of continuous declining profits, subscriptions and changes in consumers’ reading habits.
• While it was an unfortunate week for print publications, Apple investors had one of their best weeks in recent memory. After far exceeding the market’s expectations for first-quarter earnings, the Silicon Valley-based tech giant rewarded investors by adding $30 billion to its stock-buyback plan, increased its dividend eight percent and declared a 7-for-1 stock split. The stock price rocketed during after-hours trading, rising over eight percent, after the news was delivered.
• If you think a cup of coffee is a bit expensive now, then you may want to consider switching to tea for the future. Coffee prices are on the rise, and have almost doubled year-to-date. The increase in prices is a result of an unforgiving drought in Brazil — which is the producer of about one-third of the world’s coffee and the primary producer of Arabica beans, which are used for creating gourmet blends. While it may take some time for the price increases to effect consumers, eyes remain on May’s crucial bean harvest.
*All information is according to the Wall Street Journal.
