McDonald’s restaurants have been the symbol of the fast-food industry for decades. These types of places have been the go-to establishment for consumers’ burger and dollar food needs. It appears the days of everyone munching on a Big Mac, Happy Meal or McFlurry are slowly coming to an end.
There have been two revealing reports released over the past couple of days:
According to a new survey by Brand Keys, Americans are losing their appetites for some of the biggest fast food chains in the world: McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King. Researchers discovered that there has been a drop in visits to quick-service restaurants across all demographics. Baby Boomers reported an 18 percent decline in visits, Gen Xers reported a 11 percent drop and millennials are trying to avoid these places altogether and opting instead for healthier, more expensive choices.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s is experiencing a decrease in global sales. In part to the food safety scandal in China and a larger appetite for healthier food options, worldwide sales fell by 3.7 percent last month – the Asia-Pacific region substantially plummeted by 14.5 percent.
Both reports spell doom for the stock market, says Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, who told CNBC on Thursday that McDonald’s is usually a good indicator for the international economy and its current slump is representative of the failed monetary policies of central banks everywhere.
“If McDonald’s doesn’t increase its sales, it tells you that the monetary policies have largely failed in the sense that prices are going up more than disposable income, and so people have less purchasing power,” explained Faber.
He added that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive quantitative easing program hasn’t really assisted “ordinary people,” but rather certain aspects of Wall Street.
“Credit expansion and money printing hasn’t filtered much to ordinary people. It’s boosted asset markets, real estate and stocks,” said Faber. “So well-to-do-people have done very well. High-end restaurants are packed. Now, some money flows to people who are serving there, because well-to-do people give generous tips, but ordinary people have a much higher cost of living.”
Although consumer prices are swelling at the present time, personal income has remained stagnant, citing the two percent gain in consumer prices in the past 12 months and the 0.1 percent jump in wages.
Overall, the stock market will likely enter into a bear market soon, avers Faber. “Now we’re probably not going to get a correction, but more likely, a bear market that will be 20 to 30 percent at some point.”
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