On May 3, 2004, Standard&Poor's Rating Services revised its ratings outlook on McDonald's Corp. to stable from negative. Ratings on the company, including the 'A' long-term corporate credit rating and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit rating, were affirmed. This outlook change reflects the very substantial progress that management has made in turning around the business. For the past 12 months, McDonald's has been implementing a strategy broadly aimed at operational improvements, better marketing, and a somewhat more conservative financial policy. Since that time, the company has experienced impressive growth in domestic same-store sales, and its earnings and financial measures are all significantly better. Although comparisons for the remainder of 2004 will be more difficult, Standard&Poor's believes that
