BK Breakfast?

Burger King exec says breakfast sales are great but he was speaking
to an investor conference so chances are it's not entirely true.

Dow Jones REPORTS

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Tax Planning for This Year and Next

My real understanding of Supply Side Economics was from a
speech by the late Senator Jack Kemp at a "Newman Meeting"
in the 1980s.

Senator Kemp was espousing the philosophies of economist
Arthur Laffer, a member of the Reagan administration.

A column by Laffer appeared in the Wall Street Journal this
week with his predictions for late 2010 and 2011 considering
the impact of coming tax hikes.

A link is posted below - warning - this is not uplifting
reading but it might help with some planning.

Art Laffer is HERE

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Clueless Wendy's Franchisees Surprised Their Company is a Takeover Target

An article criticizing Wendy's franchisee organization for not paying more
attention to how the parent company was doing is HERE

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McDonald's & "Restaurant Technology Services"

McDonald's is entering a third cultural phase:

In the early years vendors were kept at arms
length. In the 1980s and 1990s the second
generation of McDonald's management was
unable to resist the temptation to skim
income from the supply chain. But at least
they tried to do it secretly, under the
table, behind franchises' backs.

With the establishment of Restaurant Technology
Services it's obvious there is no longer any concern
about what franchisees think. And, as supplier/vendor
to the franchised system McDonald's is obviously not
worried about potential legal issues.

In the long history of franchising this issue has created
more conflict than any other. It would be productive if
McDonald's franchisees could get out in front of this
third cultural phase.

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Wendy's/Arby's Group Being Sold - Again?

It's always good news for
McDonald's when these other brands change
Ownership. Management, and Direction.

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Ex-McD franchisee Kruger signs with Smashburger

Nation's Rest. News reports

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SEI Website

Oak Brook Based SEI

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Interesting Anonymous Comments...

under "He Didn't Say That, Did He?"
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Crain's on Ronald

Ronald McDonald Takes a Back Seat in campaigns

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Secretive Companies

It's always frustrating when I'm asked about one of the
McDonald's vendors and can't provide information beucase
most of these vendors are privately held and have no
disclosure or transparency requirements.

So it's rewarding when a McDonald's executive admits that
vendors such as SEI and VSI are subsidiaries of McDonald's.
I'm told I should refer MCD O/Os to Jim Sappington's e-mail
of May 18, 2010 in which he discusses McDonald's technology
foundation.

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