Sluggish Home Sales But Lots of Burgers to Go

The recent spate of financial news paints a dim view of the global economy. But despite the trouble spots, large orders of fast food are taking a bite out of family budgets and a lot of stuff is being purchased on credit.

The evidence: Corporate earnings were robust at Burger King and MasterCard. Here's a quick digest of major financial news, with short pull out quotes.

This market story from Reuters targets a drop in stock prices based on concerns about a possible slowdown in economic growth.

quote:

"Stocks are now worried about growth going too slow. They should be thinking that way," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston. "Anecdotally I am reading about all these problems with auto companies and seeing unsold homes -- add it all up and things are quite bad.-- From Reuters"

But somebody is chewing on lots of Burgers. Profits were hot on the grill at Burger King, according to Businessweek.com

Burger King Holdings (BKC) on Nov. 1 announced a whopping 82% surge in quarterly profit and 7% gain in revenue, boosted amid factors such as tax changes and growing sales.--Businessweek.com

123Jump.com reported on the 82 percent hike in profits from MasterCard.

MasterCard Inc. (MA: chart), owner of the nation''s second-largest credit card brand, reported 82% profit jump in Q3, due to an improved revenue and a higher number of purchases worldwide.