McDonald's arches are pure gold again; Burger King not as hot

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TAKING STOCK

Dear Mr. Berko: I bought 100 shares of McDonald's at $38 a share even though you told me not to do so last September, and the stock now sells for $51 a share. Fm thinking of buying 150 shares of Burger King because my broker says it's going to be a better company than McDonald's and has more growth potential.

Please give me your thoughts on this. I might even sell my McDonald's shares if you recommend it.

D.P.

Cleveland

Dear D. P.: I certainly gave you poor advice on McDonalds, so perhaps I can redeem myself with this response. But you know the old expression: "Fool me once ... !"

Hands down, hands up and in your pocket, McDonalds Corp. (MCD-$51), with $18.40 in revenue per share, is a far superior company in almost every way to Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC-$26), with $16.60 in revenue per share.

While most burger aficionados would agree that BKC s Whoppers are juicer, tastier and more savorous and toothsome than MCD's burgers, most stock analysts would concur that MCD is, by orders of magnitude, a superior company to BKC. In fact, many analysts would suggest that BKC is egregiously overpriced compared with MCD.

The proof is in the numbers. BKCs...