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CNN Live At Daybreak
Driving High: Chick-Fil-A Finished at Top of 3 Categories
Aired September 30, 2003 - 06:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: According to a new survey on America's best drive-thrus, a chicken chain came out clucking but the Golden Arches have fallen. Get it, fallen arches -- never mind.
Carrie Lee has all the delicious details from the Nasdaq market site.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We'll explain it all, Karen, yes, Carol, excuse me.
Every year there's an independent research firm called QSR and they drive through popular U.S. fast food restaurants, basically poll them and tell us who comes out on top. They look at categories including accuracy, speed, menu board clarity, speaker clarity. And this year, Chick-Fil-A came out on top.
Now this was named the best drive-thru in America after coming out on top in three out of four categories. This is the second year the company has placed first. Coming in second was Taco Bell, followed by Wendy's, which had been No. 1 for a couple of years. Now coming out on the top five, rounding out the top five, Burger King and El Pollo Loco.
So where's McDonald's? Well, they're not loving the survey on all likelihood. The company plunged from 4th last year to 12th this year because of poor order accuracy. So focusing on healthier food, Carol, but maybe they should take a look at accuracy as well.
COSTELLO: We'll get healthier service. You know Chick-Fil-A probably came in No. 1 because you know it's always closed on Sunday, so that's its day of rest.
LEE: Gives them a day of rest and then they are ready to go on Monday morning. Maybe there is some truth behind that theory.
COSTELLO: You never know.
Quick look at the futures.
LEE: Things do look pretty weak. Looks like we're going to see some selling after a pretty nice day rally yesterday. The Dow, the Nasdaq ended well in positive territory. The Nasdaq up 32 points or 1.8 percent. For the month of September, though, looks like the Dow is down a little bit, the S&P lower as well. The Nasdaq is higher by just a bit for the month of September. One stock we're going to be watching today, Safeco. The company cutting 500 positions. That's about 4.5 percent of its work force to reduce costs. They are selling their life insurance and investment management division to focus on property and casualty. So just the latest bit of consolidation we've seen in this insurance space. And when companies cut jobs, investors often see that as good news because they are saving money, so the stock could see a pop today. We'll see.
COSTELLO: We hope so.
Carrie Lee, live from the Nasdaq market site, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 30, 2003 - 06:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: According to a new survey on America's best drive-thrus, a chicken chain came out clucking but the Golden Arches have fallen. Get it, fallen arches -- never mind.
Carrie Lee has all the delicious details from the Nasdaq market site.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We'll explain it all, Karen, yes, Carol, excuse me.
Every year there's an independent research firm called QSR and they drive through popular U.S. fast food restaurants, basically poll them and tell us who comes out on top. They look at categories including accuracy, speed, menu board clarity, speaker clarity. And this year, Chick-Fil-A came out on top.
Now this was named the best drive-thru in America after coming out on top in three out of four categories. This is the second year the company has placed first. Coming in second was Taco Bell, followed by Wendy's, which had been No. 1 for a couple of years. Now coming out on the top five, rounding out the top five, Burger King and El Pollo Loco.
So where's McDonald's? Well, they're not loving the survey on all likelihood. The company plunged from 4th last year to 12th this year because of poor order accuracy. So focusing on healthier food, Carol, but maybe they should take a look at accuracy as well.
COSTELLO: We'll get healthier service. You know Chick-Fil-A probably came in No. 1 because you know it's always closed on Sunday, so that's its day of rest.
LEE: Gives them a day of rest and then they are ready to go on Monday morning. Maybe there is some truth behind that theory.
COSTELLO: You never know.
Quick look at the futures.
LEE: Things do look pretty weak. Looks like we're going to see some selling after a pretty nice day rally yesterday. The Dow, the Nasdaq ended well in positive territory. The Nasdaq up 32 points or 1.8 percent. For the month of September, though, looks like the Dow is down a little bit, the S&P lower as well. The Nasdaq is higher by just a bit for the month of September. One stock we're going to be watching today, Safeco. The company cutting 500 positions. That's about 4.5 percent of its work force to reduce costs. They are selling their life insurance and investment management division to focus on property and casualty. So just the latest bit of consolidation we've seen in this insurance space. And when companies cut jobs, investors often see that as good news because they are saving money, so the stock could see a pop today. We'll see.
COSTELLO: We hope so.
Carrie Lee, live from the Nasdaq market site, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
