McDonald’s shares close lower on Friday, company’s workers in Britain go on strike for the first time

Employees at two McDonald’s restaurants in the United Kingdom went on strike on September 4th for the first time ever due to pay and other issues.

McDonald’s shares closed lower for the second time in the past six trading sessions on Friday. The stock inched down 0.10% ($0.16) to $159.81, after touching an intraday high at $169.20 and also a fresh all-time high. In the week ended on September 3rd the shares of the restaurant chain added 0.62% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a fourth consecutive period of gains. The stock has dipped 0.10% so far during the current month, following a 3.11% surge in August. The latter has been a tenth straight monthly gain and also the sharpest one since May. For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed retailer gained 3.03%. The stock has appreciated 31.29% so far in 2017.

14 employees at restaurants located in Cambridge and Crayford staged their first strike, as they demanded an increase in their hourly wages to GBP 10, more trade union recognition as well as termination of the so called “zero-hour contracts”.

Jeremy Corbyn, who leads the British Labour Party, expressed his support of “the brave McDonalds workers, who are making history today.”

“They are standing up for workers rights by leading the first ever strike at McDonalds in the UK”, Corbyn was quoted as saying by Reuters.

A companys spokesperson claimed that the protesters were less than half of the 33 balloted union members. In addition, the person noted that internal grievance procedures were, in fact, the motives behind the strike, not contract terms or payment.

According to the spokesperson, McDonalds and its franchisees are offering an option including guaranteed hour contracts to their personnel. However, 86% of workers have so far opted to stay on flexible contracts.

Meanwhile, a union that represents the workers insisted that trained shop stewards should oversee restaurants located in Britain.

According to CNN Money, the 25 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding McDonald’s Corporation’s stock price, have a median target of $173.00, with a high estimate of $185.00 and a low estimate of $150.00. The median estimate is an 8.25% surge compared to the closing price of $159.81 on September 1st.

The same media also reported that 18 out of 32 surveyed investment analysts had rated McDonald’s Corporation’s stock as “Buy”, while 11 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the McDonald’s stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $159.57
R2 – $159.94
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $160.00
R4 (Long Breakout) – $160.20
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $160.42
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $160.51

S1 – $159.75
S2 – $159.68
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $159.62
S4 (Short Breakout) – $159.43
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $159.20
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $159.11

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $159.44
R1 – $160.57
R2 – $161.32
R3 – $162.45
R4 – $163.57

S1 – $158.69
S2 – $157.56
S3 – $156.81
S4 – $156.05