. >> don thompson is out. he has been under tremendous pressure. same source sales figures decline and some of the worst in months and months and months. they just brought in a new chief operating officer. so now what? look at that. >> this is great news for a company that needs to shake it up. this is at least a catalyst for a company that i don't think is broken. i think they need product innovation and need to do a lot on the marketing side. it is very interesting. a change at the top will bring at least new momentum. look what it did to other big companies. i am long on it. i would take another look. >> i guess. does it tell you the problems are more severe? >> i was happy yesterday. >> okay. >> with the potential. >> right. >> was a new ceo part of the catalyst for the stock? >> no. i think these are all things that will help. >> pete, what do you think? >> i think we talk about who is on the hot seat. i think mr. thompson was one of those. >> he was. for a long time. >> the hottest of the seats. i would point towards ibm as another one that i

. >> done thompson gone -- -- don thompson gone as of march 1 and [indiscernible] shares getting hammered in after-hours. the latest round of ibm layoffs has started. the company has been notifying about the numbers. and cranking out -- that is up 49% from the previous year. profits, $696 million. the percentage of ad sales, 69%. this is a mobile company. facebook user base is growing. the growth rate of sales and users continues to slow and for more i am chained why -- joined by david kirkpatrick. and the former head of mobile. when you look at these numbers you see that the long-term vision of mark zuckerberg is playing out? >> i guess so. it is getting boringly predictable. they have been nine or 10 quarters in a row. i thought it was so interesting the way that he answered some questioner about how are they putting the wrong emphasis on building up use in the developing world? he takes such a long-term view. if you are the kind of investor we want. >> i heard that, it was an amazing moment. i never heard that. >> if you want short-term, do not invest. we think long term and that has p

take a listen. >> for me it is mcdonald's and don thompson.n you look at what is going on in that space, mcdonald's are getting their butt kicked. they came out with a couple of products that haven't worked. there are all kinds of new start ups that have taken marketshare from them. mcdonalds is the one for me. >> now thompson is out over at mcdonald's. >> i will go to at&t and randall stephenson. i know it sounds funny but stick with bk on this one. since 2009 they have gone up 17%. the stock market has gone up 131%. they pay a huge dividend in an environment where everyone wants a dividend. if that wasn't enough they also sell the biggest product of all-time, the apple iphone. if you can't make your company work and you can't make more than 17% since 2009, you are doing something wrong. that's all. >> interesting. dan, what do you say? >> he nailed that mcdonald's thing. >> but he is wrong on at&t? >> well, yeah. at&t is a utility. >> it is not a utility. >> it is go to operate with you as the ceo with. a 5.7% dividend yield it is probably a

. >> we want to talk about don thompson stepping down as ceo of mcdonald's.k hurd will join us and jim, oracle ceo, his company's bent on the cloud. more "squawk on the street" after this. >>> mcdonald's announcing ceo don thompson is leaving the company after less than three years running the company. slumping sales at the giant. steve easterbrook, who once ran mcdonald's's business in the uk going to become ceo, effective march 1st. earlier ceo jim skinner told us he was confident thompson would turn things around. >> i have great confidence in the leadership of the company and don thompson. they have suffered substantial headwinds, as you know over the last couple of years. this is a cyclical business and i'm sure that they will move forward with the appropriate strategies to recover in the market. >> we asked him why and he said he's a great leader and i picked him. what do you think happened here? >> i think that this is a company that was in revolt. i think the franchises who are the company, had enough. menu's too hard worried about wage pressures. the

caroline hyde, don thompson is off. >> welcome, steve easterbrook.son, less than three years as ceo. he managed to push the shares up 1%. the rest of the market was up some 33%. people have run out of patience. sales falling. in they bring a fresh change. cool brittania, in a quintessentially american brand. taking the helm is steve easterbrook. he is the first ceo of mcdonald's who hasn't completely institutionalized mcdonald's. really successful u.k. brands. now, maybe he can sprinkle a little bit of je ne sais quoi over the brand. >> the background to all of this is, rather like tesco, mcdonald's apparently, you can start as the guy at the drive-through and make it to the top of the company. >> don thompson started as an electrician. he worked his way up over 25 years. he did try to change things. we are seeing the problems mcdonald's is facing. you've got sushi, you've got mexican, you've got so many other types of fast food that seems healthier. you also got other burger brands to dominate. you've got shake shack, five guys. all of them have a f

replacing don thompson in march. thompson have been ceo for less than three years, let the restaurant chain through its worst sales slump in more than a decade. the donald's hopes easterbrook a different entire company what he did in his native u.k. credited with boosting business there, tweaking menus, and taking on critics. facebook is putting its foot on the gas pedal and accelerating spending even as sales growth slows at the social network. mark zuckerberg says the strategy builds in the company's efforts from last year. >> 2014 was also yield a big investments. this year, we made big bets in the next generation of communication and computing platforms requiring two apps. focusing on serving our committed the better, raising the quality and relevance of content and news feed, improving search and video products, and improving the performance and efficiency of our mobile apps. >> the company says spending will jump 55% to 70% -- 77%. facebook reported net income rose to $701 million in the fourth quarter. breakin

mcdonald's ceo don thompson is leaving the company.mberg businessweek" looks at five numbers that may explain why mcdonald's needs a change. >> time is up for don thompson. having failed to turn around the company's lackluster performance, the mcdonald's ceo will be stepping down in march. here are five of the worst numbers from thompson's tenure that explain why he's out. 13, the number of consecutive months mcdonald's domestic same-store sales didn't increase. in november 2014 alone, sales dropped 4.6%. eight, the number of items mcdonald's plans to cut from its overly crowded menu in an attempt to speed up service. mcdonald's has already removed some wraps in certain markets. 10 million, mcdonald's wasn't able to sell roughly 10 million pounds of chicken wings it bought for its mighty wings promotion in fall of 2013. the restaurant chain was forced to sell the wings at a discount until supply ran out. $.15, that is the price per chicken nugget during burger king's latest promotion. that is five cents cheaper than a mcnugget. burger

shares of the hamburger giant sizzling 5% higher on ceo don thompson replaced by the company's chief brand officer. who is the incoming chief executive and what challenges does he face? sara eisen has more. >> reporter: america's biggest restaurant chain is getting its first. steve easterbrook grew up with watter ford and mcdonald's since 1993. few based pizza express and wagamama back in 2011. credited with turning around mcdonald's u.k. business and running european arm. recently he's been the chief brand officer focused on marketing, menu innovation and digital initiative. >> they make their bet on steve easterbrook but it will take more than one person. a whole new strategy at the top because they have lost they're not getting the millennials and losing current customer base because the whole market is shifting into healthy foods. >> reporter: mcdonald's is coming off first drop in annual same store sales in ten years. u.s. market is particularly worrisome. investors fear mcdonald's is losing touch with core customers and millennials who choose to fast casual chains like chipotle

don thompson setting down. steve easterbrook has been with the company since 1993 and takes over as the uh new ceo of mcdonald's. >>> marissa mire has been in charge of yahoo!er for about the same amount of time as thompson. they are now spinning off their $39 billion stake in ali baba is oh the focus is on the core business and what she's doing to turn it around. yahoo! came a long way under her. earning still down. revenues dipped 1%. the transition from desk top to mobile a challenge for yahoo! >> much appreciated. we'll talk later as we watch the markets. they are down over 200 points. still ahead, she's here. the newly crowned miss universe paulina vega will join us on set. we have a lot to talk about. i was there. we have behind-the-scenes things to reveal to you. seattle seahawks running back marchand lynch may have failed at the only thing he set out to accomplish at media day this weekend with. how his plan to avoid a fine may have backfired on him. good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting

don thompson is out.easterbrook , will be tasked with engineering this turnaround which he did help do in the u.k.. joining us is john sculley the ceo who served as the president of pepsico. he sits on the board of the fast casual restaurant franchise company in florida. bring up the stock chart of mcdonald's compared to schiphol lay. -- chipotle. one chart sums up the problem of the last several years. other companies like chipotle eight the mcdonald's star. >> you are right. it will be a case history of a company that did not see that consumers were changing in terms of their preferences. here's what is ironic, a fast casual, which is the growth driver of so much of food service today, said mcdonald's was largest shareholder of chipotle into the six. sold or interests because they wanted to focus on mcdonald's. chipotle is now a $22 billion company. it is cutting into the growth of mcdonald's. they missed the pit it. not dissimilar from what happened to kodak when kodak -- on film processing and consume

don thompson wasn't supposed to be the ceo either even succeeding jim skinner.idates. one some alleged misconduct issues and the other was frustrated with the succession process. so they really haven't had their -- the plan they had in mind roll out. but at least they've had bench strength. >> and when we look at legendary ceos and usually we can find like they did this. we can come up with three decisions that they made either to buy or sell something or whatever. but when you think about how many things happen every day and some of them are so minor, but they probably make a couple hundred decisions, maybe even more every day. and i think the sum total of those things gets overlooked. it can be from the top down. that can totally transform a company. >> absolutely. when michael dell says we're the only ones out to provide the entire integrated line of i.t. that nobody else can provide from the cloud to you know right down to your own devices, that's something where he has made a distinctive difference. howard shultz was talking about going back to the core of

the shake-up at mcdonald's after a ceo don thompson, and lc is leaving in february.p today 5%. when a stock goes up on the ceo's departure it meant wall street didn't like the ceo. barack the tenure for thompson. look at their stock versus the dodge and industrial average. he took over in 2012, had two good quarters out the gate and that is all she wrote. matt krenz is a market report with usa today in los angeles. he is being replaced by a branding god but branding is their problem. is this a good move? >> they have to do something to get investors happy meal. stock has done nothing and went nowhere last year. they need to change it up, they need to get the millennials back in mcdonald's. they have been told their entire lives to not eat there and now they're at jacobi lined up. they have got to change the brent and the mix and the new ceo is a way to get that done. charles: no doubt about it but they have borne -- a new board of directors of this same board broadened don and thought apple slices, the same board that sold jacoby mexican grill. having said that will

don thompson will step down march 1st. the company has been suffering from a decline in sales and series of safety scandals. thompson took over as ceo in 2012 and will be replaced by steve easter brook, currently executive vice president and chief sales operative. they saw its sales go down by double dates and twice found a supplier with meat past the expiration date. global sales dropped 7.3% from the year before leading to a 21.4% decline in net profit. >>> policymakers at the u.s. federal reserve sent jitters through the market with their latest announcement saying they're on course to raise rates later this year despite shaky global growth and putting pressure on major benchmarks across europe. paris is down just a touch at this time and concerned about what's happening in greece and saw athens benchmark dive 9% wednesday. shopping hi shed 1.3%? tokyo's nikkei was down 1.06% and mum way. bucked the trend and went up. the collar is trading in a narrow range against the win, mostly in the upper 149 level. meanwhile the e

ceo don thompson will step down march 1. he will be replaced by steve easterbrook, who is credited with turning around the u.k. division. donald's is stuck in its worst u.s. sales slump in more than 10 years. bill gross says the fed will raise interest rates late this year to save capitalism. gross just came out with an investment outlook for his new employer. i feel it bill gross works for himself. he says the global economy is at the point of breaking down because of 0% interest rates. president obama wants to put an end to the budget cuts. at a retreat for democrats in philadelphia, the president will propose a spending boost for domestic programs in the pentagon. that would reverse the across-the-board legit limits known as sequestration -- budget limits known as sequestration. i do not think there is such a thing as a retreat in philadelphia. >> what would you call it? >> and off-site? just saying. >> the stock is currently trading below the first day after its -- brendan herne is th. paul sweeney is here as well. brend

quickly, herb, how much of this do you think was don thompson's fault then? >> i don't know how much was his fault, in the sense that it was a question of his ability to maneuver properly. you know, he was trying to get the coffee in the stores. did it work? did it really make a difference? you know -- look, execution, in the end a good ceo can lead people. his relationship with the franchisee was important. it seemed to be a mess. but they were in a tough part. he came after a really great leader. cramer always talking about first year after -- well, this is three years after, it's tough. >> and the stock has really not moved over those three years. brian, over the o you. >> i'm wondering if you think mcdonald's needs to go on the offensive. they've got these really nice ads running. if you go the mcdonald's.com, it's "our story." but carls junior right now says buttery jack. it's all about butter and grease -- does mcdonald's need to stop pretending like we're nice people. like, let's just make good food that is rich and creamy and delicious and maybe it's

>> i think the biggest one at risk is don thompson at mcdonald's. but i don't necessarily think that he -- it's his fault. in other words i think anyone could have take then job at mcdonald's when he did and probably faced a similar challenge. it's unclear whether anyone could have done any better. plenty of people will perhaps disagree with me on that but i think he's in the hot seat for something he inherited which is the case of each and every one of those you look at. now, i think muhtar kent at coke is in an interesting position. he again inherited something he couldn't -- it's not his fault that the soda business in general went flat. but he's going -- it's going to be interesting to see what happens with say, green mountain and his investment in green mountain to see whether their cold product due out this year performs in line with expectations. that shows he's been trying to take the company in another direction and whether that really is going to work. so i think actually he's more in the hot seat than ginni rometty. many people think she

with sales at mcdonald's slipping don thompson is stepping down as c.e.o.o be replaced an senior cheskt vice president steve easter brooke. >>> the u.s. and europe said it could face tougher economic sanction force whipping up new violence in ukraine. here's elizabeth palmer. >> reporter: the on again off again war in eastern ukraine is on again. and ukrainian soldiers are bracing for another major assault by pro-russian rebels after they were forced to retreat from donetsk airport last week. the war of words is on again, too. on monday russia's president vladimir putin described ukraine's army as a foreign legion implying n.a.t.o. soldiers had joined its ranks. nonsense said n.a.t.o. in fact, it's russia that sent soldiers to fight with the rebels. 9,000 of them, according to the ukrainian government. along with weapons including tanks and anti-aircraft systems so good the ukrainian air force hasn't been able to fly over the war zone for months. here's the front line with the pro-russian rebels now in control of ukraine's industrial heartland. analysts bel

i blame steven weis for that. >> don thompson has been on our hot seat wall for a while. we mentioned it yesterday before this news happened. >> he should be. i respectfully disagree with stephanie. i would not step in and buy the stock. i think there's a big turn yaernds that has to come here, connecting with millennials and the menu right now is incredibly challenged and they have to go out and first thing they have to improve sales. they have to have that return to positive comp growth. it's not something that i feel confident in the near term. >> pete, you made a statement you expected thompson to be out sooner rather than later but what would you buy in this space? >> well. >> i don't care if it's a fast food name, wendy's -- >> i love chipotle. we talk about fast casual and fast food. talking about mcdonald's, this is fast food and the biggest change they've got to make, stephanie outlined a couple things of the process in which they were going through, stores and some of the other things. what they really need to do, scott, if you go back to 2007, they had 85 menu

. >>> some changes at the top at mcdonald's, ceo don thompson will retire as president and ceo of the company march 1st. thompson will be replaced by mcdonald's chief brand officer. >> the new far left prime minister of greece is wasting no time shaking things up alexis who was just sworn in yesterday has already halted plans to privatize the major port and has begun rolling back tough austerity measures that have been in place for the past five years, as part of its bailout loans. that sent the greek stock market down hard for a third day straight. off 9% more today, with bank stocks plunging 26%. >> a top ratings agency is reportedly close to settling costly lawsuits stemming from unrealistic ratings that it gave to mortgage backed securities during the mortgage crisis. s&p is poised to pay 1 $1/2 billion to the justice department and a handful of states that sued it over risky investments that later went bad. >>> now moving to chicago, losing both jobs and population now, a new resident tech is taking hold of the city's downtown, and pushing property values up. diana olick reports.

world's largest fast food chain missed wall street's earnings and revenue estimates and today, ceo don thompson warned business will continue to be weak in the first path of 2015 but also said the company is taking decisive action to regain momentum sales and market share. shares of mcdonald's finished the day lower by about 1.5%. >>> let's get to the markets now. ups one of the biggest drags on the stock today but existing home sales rose nearly 2.5% last month but that was a little shy of estimates. all in all today, the dow fell 141 points. the nasdaq was the standout. it gained 7.5%. s&p 500 down more than 11 points bu posted first weekly gain of the year. whoo-hoo! the nasdaq the big winner rising more than 2.5%. >>> as for oil, attention today was squarely on saudi arabia the world's largest exporter of petroleum and what effect the death of sau de king ab dull la had. it was a volatile section for prices with west texas intermediate higher in the day only to turn around and erase the gains and close down 1.5%. brent crude rose slightly. jackie deangelis has more on the death of the saudi

don thompson there for 25 years but ceo for less than three retiring at 51. their problem is health concerns supply problems in asia. >>> the air force is sticking with boeing for the next air force one. the current air force one jets there are two of them, are older boeing 747s. the new ones will be 747-800s. 747-800s. but won't be ready for 8 years. will get all sorts of modifications first. >>> facebook is doing better than expected thanks to growth in two areas. they say more than two-thirds of its ads revenue comes from mobile devices. more than half a billion facebook users only use mobile devices to access the site. it has about 3 million video views a day and, again, about two-thirds is from mobile devices. >>> well trying to decide where to buy a house, look for a starbucks. zillo found over a 15-year period the value of homes near those shops rose 96%. the national average only 65%. it's not that having one northeastern improves its value but starbucks has a knack for picking locations. good little tip. >> it is go where starbucks is. >>> the vetera

mcdonald's unveiled a new menu this month part of ceo don thompson's plan to jump start the sales in the u.s. monthly sales a key barometer, won't take long to know if this is the right recipe for a turnaround. yahoo stock up over 20% in the past year but more to do with the company's multibillion dollar stake and the chinese internet giant, ali ba baa, than meyers' leadership. >> i think the problem is she has too much money and has to spend some. the investors will say, just give us the cash. >> reporter: myer plans to give half of the proceeds from the ali ba baa stake to shareholders. what does she do with the rest of the money? after for sales and a weak one for profits, coke plans to cut costs and shed its bottling business. is ceo's plan enough and can he execute it fast enough to keep disgruntled investors at bay? with ibm, the worst performing dow stock for the past two years, ceo jinny ra met tee needs to reverse the trend. >> i think rametti has been dealt a tough hand. getting the company to a $20 eps number. >> reporter: heshe did abandon the forecast with her own strate

>> the prosecution is expected to rest its case today against former philadelphia sportscaster don thompson. he's accused of selling fake sports trips to benefit charities and then pocketing close to $300,000. >>> in montgomery county court, a judge will sentence a former defense attorney who pleaded guilty to selling precipitation drugs. gregory noonan admitted to selling 200 painkillers to an undercover officer and faces up to 47 years in prison. >>> well, morning commuters in two states could notice an unwanted change. >> why some of you will be paying more and others won't have a place to park. >>> plus the high-tech operation that put a stolen pet back in the arms of his owner. >>> watch out for icing conditions this morning. shouldn't see them in southville, that's just plain rain coming down, but there are colder spots in the morning commute. we're going to see some slippery and sliding conditions. right now it is 35 degrees at 4:36 here at nbc 10. ring ring! ring ring! progresso! wow soup people, i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding. wel

count on nbc 10 to be there for week two of the don thompson trial. >>> and imagine having to stop torge. the future of the electric cars is coming up. >>> a rainy start and for some an icy commute. a live picture from ben salem, just to the north in newtown and just to the west in dresher, the temperature is 32 degrees. so what is falling as rain in ben salem is icing up in areas north and west. >>> 5:24. on wall street investors are gearing up for the kickoff to a new earnings season. landon dowdy is here with the cnbc business news. landon good morning. >> tracy, good morning to you. futures point to a higher open as markets ended in the red last week. stocks struggled amidst friday's jobs report and falling oil prices. there's no major economic data today but retail sales will be reported on inflation and the consumer earnings season kicks off with results from alcoa and jpmorgan and citigroup. the dow fell 170 points to 7073 and the nasdaq was at 3704. >>> and general motors is looking at a new electric car to drive 200 mile os up a single charge. the car called the chevy volt wi

don thompson. "sunday morning" visited him at corporate headquarters in oak brook, illinois, just last year. >> we have 35,000 restaurants. we're a big target. if you attack mcdonald's, you'll get press. >> reporter: but it's the bottom line at the world's biggest restaurant chain that's been under heaviest attack. after 14 straight months of flat or declining sales in the u.s. and five straight quarters of negative growth, the board abruptly announced last night that its 51-year-old c.e.o. will retire. sara senatore is an analyst with bernstein. >> mcdonald's, i think, was trying to be all things to all people and it started to become kind of nothing to anybody. >> reporter: as mcdonald's has faced mounting health concerns about its menu, so-called fast casual chains like chipotle, five guys and panera, have been gaining ground. when "consumer reports" ranked fast food hamburgers last summer, mcdonald's came in dead last. mcdonald's has countered producing videos called, "our food, your questions.

don thompson gone. president and ceo both titles. qualcomm has cut its forecast for revenue, increasing competition in china. which had a host of problems. bloomberg had all reported shares getting hammered in after-hours. it appears that the latest round of ibm layoffs and started. worker's rights groups have notified -- the exact number is unclear. he has left after being passed over to lead the division at ibm. facebook's mobile machine -- cranking out 3.8 5 billion. $296 million, percentage of ad sales from mobile is 69% over the quarter. it is a mobile company. the social network says it has more than a billion active users. for more, i'm joined by david kirkpatrick in new york, author of "the facebook effect. " she is presudebntident a strategic partnerships. how do you see this playing out? >> it is almost getting boringly predictable. they have beaten nine or 10 wars in a row. i thought it was so interesting how zuckerberg answered questions about putting the wrong emphasis in the developing world. he takes such a long-term v

don thompson has been with mcdonald's for 25 years but its ceo for less than three. he is retiring at 51. mcdonald's problems include changing tastes, health concerns and supply problems in asia. >>> the air force is sticking with boeing for the next air force one. the current air force one jets, there are two of them, are older boeing 747s. the new ones will be 747-800s, 747-800s. okay, that's an interesting number but won't be ready for eight years. they'll get all sorts of special modifications first. >>> and facebook is doing even better than expected thanks to growth in two areas. the social network says more than two-thirds of its ads revenue now comes from mobile devices. more than half a billion facebook users only use mobile devices to access the site. facebook also says it now has about 3 million video views a day and, again, about two-thirds of that is from mobile devices. >>> well, trying to decide where to buy a house, look for a starbucks. zillo's research finds that over a 15-year period the value of homes near those coffee shops rose 96%. the national

just as the world's biggest hamburger chain fights to hold on to customers and change its image, don thompson will retire march 1st after more than two years as ceo and 25 years with the company. he was the first african-american to head mcdonald's. his departure comes amid declining sales. customer traffic in the u.s. fell 4% last year. >>> scientists in australia believe they are closer to a cure for peanut allergies. they gave children a particular kind of probiotic. after that test 80% of the allergy sufferers were able to eat peanuts. the scientists will now work to see if that treatment will work long term. >>> now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> a very cold start this morning. that's a live view from the poconos where the temperatures have just dropped four degrees to four degrees. it is cold this morning for most of the area and we've got snow on the way, jillian. >> snow? say it ain't snow, bill. >> oh. >> all right, good morning. this is a live look at 95. right at the philadelphia international airport. 95 looks good coming up in just a few minutes, i'll give you your drive tim

. >> time is up for don thompson.g failed to turn around the lackluster performance of mcdonald's, he will be stepping down in march. here are five of the worst numbers from his tenure. 13, the number of consecutive months mcdonald's domestic same-store sales did not increase. in november, 2014, sales dropped 4.6%. the worst in more than a decade. eight, the number of items mcdonald's plans to cut from its crowded menu and attempt to speed up service. they have already removed some of the quarter powders and wraps in certain markets. 10 million, mcdonald's was not able to sell 10 million pounds of chicken wings it bought for its promotion. they were forced to sell them at a 3% discount until supply where and out -- ran out. 15%'s -- $.15 the price for a nugget during the burger king promotion. they have been aggressively challenging mcdonald's. .3%. the total amount mcdonald's stock has gained during thompson's tenure. compare that to shares of chipotle, which has gained 90%. >> he was in charge for three months -- th

don thompson is stepping down less than three years of his tenure, and it's not just the long standing rivals like wendy's wendy's and burger king take ago way customers, chipotle is taking away customers. >>> they released their preliminary reports this week and it calls for big changes, the advisory committee was put in place by governor jack markell it's for the inner city students and one drastic change is the streamline serving the city. >> the christina school district to leave the city and concentrate in newark and the western part of delaware county and colonial school district has 150 students or so in wilmington and no schools, to leave the city as well. >> students from christina and colonial schools will be take and in by the red line district. they are holding meetings on the proposed changes. >>> the speaker of the house mike terzi met with students today and toured the catholic cool to learn about its blended learning program. he backed learning college fund philadelphia they use tax credits to make college education more accessible. more than of the due paul students ar

there's a new pittsburgher boss as don thompson will step down in march. he's going to be replaced by steve easterbrook who is currently the company's chief global brand officer and was formally head of mcdonald's europe. thompson that took over as ceo has seen sales slump. they have come under fire for adding too many items to the menu and consumers are opting for healthier fare. mcdonald's reported the first an wrul annual drop in sales. they're closed but likely to start the session lower. >> it always makes me unbelievably hungry. california is taking a stand against e-cigarettes. planning a campaign to warn residents about the health risks. this follows a report declaring they're a public health threat urging lawmakers to regulate them like traditional cigarettes. they say it's to discourage people from switching to e-cigarettes which are seem as less harmful. seema has more on what to expect after the break. >> that's right, wilfred. genetic sequencing is transforming the personalized medicine space. how can you as an investor profit from it? we'll s

mcdonald's announced today, this afternoon that don thompson will retire as president and ceo and as board member of the director. he's been on the board for 25 years. he started off as a cook at mcdonald's. great success story. the board has decided to go with steve easter brook to replace him as president and ceo. (?) no word yet if al sharpton will boycott mcdonald's yet. i'm just joking. by the way, the stock is down a little bit. real quick, on this thing, that's not an indictment on restaurants. that's just -- all businesses are having a hard time keeping up with the times. >> shake shack is going public. the same week -- matt: i don't know if shake shack and mcdonald's are the same customer. i live next to mcdonald's. they're not the same customer. charles: mcdonald's is up big times. matt: up three bucks after hours. charles: this is a move that is not completely out of left field. people knew this would happen. >> if they were worried about shake shack and others, they would have recruited outside. the new guy serves as the vice president. they're not bringing in fresh blood

the corporate world can be so cruel and mcdonald's former ceo don thompson knows it leaving because customersoming. fried because he wasn't selling enough fries. happens all the time in the private sector rarely if ever in the public sector. the same folks who bought healthcare.gov are rehired by the irs to work magic there. talk about inbred incompetence rewarding it! a hard charging ceo is out even though his company still made $4.76 billion last

how can the sacking of don thompson as the ceo of mcdonald's and the replacing of easterbrook, relatively unknown, and caused it to rally 5% in a single session. the answer is simple. the person at the top sets the agenda creates the atmosphere and allows the entire team to flourish. the ceo is the head coach, and now, they took mcdonald's and sent to it a seller through a series of miscues in an attempt to keep mcdonald's relevant. i say seems, because we know from wendys and burger king and even from pepsico, that there is still a huge market for food that is not all that good for you. but somehow, thompson was not able. look at wendys or daniel schwartz at burger king or the ruler of pepsico, which includes frito lay, she is putting up monster numbers even though nobody confuses doritos with tofu. bringing in the investor who reenergied wendys who has them on a tear schwartz who amazingly is in his early 30s. he engineered the brilliant takeover to diversify from burgers. i'm not saying that the new ceo can turn this dog around overnight. consider when schultz returned to starbucks, it

don thompson retiring after months of lousy sales. a 21% dropped in earnings.onald's struggling to offer something millennials want. >> you kids are changing everything. >> they like fast casual chains like chipotle and panera. that stock is up 3% right now. doesn't it make you feel bad that somebody leaves and the stock goes up. the 401(k). retirement savings hitting record. fill fidelity. the average balance hitting $91,000. the stock market tripled since the low in 2009. last year the s&p 500 had a third year of double digit gains. fidelity says the gains are thanks to higher worker contributions. >> should i retire now and pocket the savings? >> you have to keep working until you die. you have children to send to college. >>> "early start" continues right now. >> time ticking down for two hostages. hostages captured by isis. a sunset deadline set for a prisoner swap. isis hedemanding the release of the terrorist in exchange for hostage hostages. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. happening right now, the clokck is ticking do

so don thompson started with the company working the grill. that's an amazing story.nfortunately, he was way too slow to move. perhaps he was -- same store sales that were pretty good the first year. the fact of the matter is, all of last year, sales, all in the tank. the company had the secret to remaining relevant. it was in this graft. that's when they notified in chipotle mexican grill. they had 500 locations before going public in 2006. mcdonald's started to sell their stock. at the same time chipotle went public, everyone said these guys have the right formula. a unique restaurant concept. good management. food quality. that's all we hear. 1998, 2006. finally, in touch with the consumer base. fast food, that's a myth. chipotle, $22, first day traded, 44. now, about $750 a share. by the way, there's this odd requirement for restaurants, it's called taste. the consumer reports tasting ranking last year, mcdonald's not only came in last in the hamburger category, it was last out of all 52 restaurants across four different categories. lack of innovation. in the long