Big Mac Attacks Brokers With Public Stock Offering

McDonald’s Corp. has a hot new item on its menu: its common shares, fresh from the company to you.

McDonald’s filed to sell 11.5 million shares directly to the public through its McDirect program, giving consumers hungry for the company’s stock a way to buy their fill of the company’s stock, without paying extra for the fixings - brokers’ commissions in this case.

Consumers can sign up for the McDirect program by agreeing to purchase at least $1,000 worth of stock. Investors who already own McDonald’s shares can invest in $100 increments. They buy the shares by sending or wiring cash to First Chicago Trust Co. of New York. The bank will buy and sell stock on the open market or from the company once a week or daily if necessary, at the average market price that day.

Investors pay a $5 enrollment fee, and a $3 annual fee will be deducted in quarterly installments from dividends, which are reinvested in the stock.

If investors want to sell shares, they will be charged 10 cents a share - up to $5 - plus a $10 processing fee per sale, not counting the price of the shares themselves.

McDonald’s officials declined to comment on their menu for marketing the McDirect shares because the program has yet to win approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Texaco Inc. pioneered the practice of direct sales in 1989, and since the Securities and Exchange Commission made the filing procedure easier in December, many more companies have jumped on board, including Exxon Corp., Kellwood Co. and Dial Corp.

Mutual funds favored for IRAs

The Employee Benefit Research Institute says mutual funds have captured more that a third of the assets in Individual Retirement Accounts.

Other favorites are:

29.48 percent in self-directed accounts at brokerages.

15.68 percent in commercial banks.

8.23 percent in life insurance companies.

6.42 percent in savings and loans.

3.52 percent in credit unions.

2.48 percent in mutual savings banks.