TOP STORIES

Menu Plans, Franchise Shifting Will Be in Focus When McDonald's Reports-- Earnings Preview

McDonald's Corp. is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens on Monday. Here's what you need to know:

EARNINGS FORECAST: Net income of $1.41 a share is expected, compared with $1.31 a share a year earlier.

SAME-STORE SALES AND REVENUE FORECAST: Analysts are expecting McDonald's to post a 1.3% increase in global same-store sales for the quarter, with a 1.4% decrease in the U.S., its biggest market. The company is expected to report revenue of nearly $6 billion, compared with $6.3 billion a year earlier.

Corn Rises on Fund Buying; Soybeans Decline

CHICAGO--Corn futures extended gains Friday, with buying by commodity funds pushing prices for the grain to a more than six-month high. Meanwhile, wheat rose while soybeans fell.

Prices for corn climbed for a sixth straight session as optimism over demand drove a spate of buying by commodity funds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday said net corn sales for the week ended Jan. 12 totaled almost 1.4 million metric tons, on the high end of analyst expectations for 750,000 to 1.5 million tons.

STORIES OF INTEREST

USDA Pick Has Roots in Farm Country

Donald Trump's pick to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, is a Georgia farm boy with a record of promoting U.S. meat and crops overseas, with fans in the Farm Belt and agribusiness corporate offices.

The former Georgia governor is also widely known for championing the output of the largest poultry state, though some environmentalists were skeptical that he would push farmers and agricultural companies to address water quality and climate change.

FUTURES MARKETS

U.S. Cattle Futures Fall From Seven-Month Peaks

CHICAGO--U.S. cattle futures fell from seven-month peaks on Friday, as investors dialed back expectations for a steeper climb after this week's surge in the cash markets.

Cattle futures for February fell 0.775 cent, or 0.6%, to $1.2025 a pound, after hitting the highest closing price for a front-month contract since June 10 on Thursday. For the week, that contract was up 1.5%. April live cattle fell 0.9 cent to $1.18975 a pound. Feeder cattle for January picked up 1.15 cents to $1.3310 a pound, marking a 2% jump from last Friday's settlement.

CASH MARKETS

 
 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 20 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically 
                             integrated operations 
                                      * 
Jan 20       +$28.72             +$ 38.06 
Jan 19       +$26.06             +$ 34.97 
Jan 18       +$26.90             +$ 35.76 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of 
production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                 Beef 
          For Today             Choice   83.6 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select   83.7 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday fell $1.18 per hundred pounds, to $190.42, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 85 cents per hundred pounds, to $186.64. The total load count was 88. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.44, to $79.44 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 20, 2017 17:25 ET (22:25 GMT)

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