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McDonald's - why is no one talking about it?
#13
Hi everybody, I'm confused. I've been slowly building an MCD position, and, I'm not even close to 100 shares. Today, I received this offer via E*Trade from them:

Dear Shareholder:
January 2, 2024

McDonald’s Corporation (“McDonald’s”) is pleased to announce a voluntary program
through which shareholders owning fewer than 100 shares of McDonald’s common stock
may conveniently sell all their shares or purchase enough additional shares to increase
their holdings to 100 shares.

While we value all of our shareholders, we realize that the inconvenience and cost of
commissions may have deterred you from selling or purchasing fewer than 100 shares
in the past. For this reason, we are offering you this program.

This voluntary program is being managed by Georgeson LLC (“Georgeson”), an affiliate
of McDonald’s transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (“Computershare”).
Computershare will serve as paying agent for the program. A processing fee of $5.00
per share (up to a maximum of $60 per account) will be charged by Georgeson and
deducted from your proceeds or purchase deposit to defray the cost of this program. If
you wish to sell or purchase shares, you may instead do so through a broker of your
choice, and fees may differ.

To participate in this voluntary program, please contact your broker or account
representative and inform them of your decision to sell or purchase shares through this
special program. Shares held in any McDonald’s-sponsored employee benefit plan are
excluded from this program.

All terms of the program are contained in this letter and its Questions and Answers
section on the reverse side. If you have any further questions or would like public
information about McDonald’s, such as their annual report on Form 10-K or quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q, please call your broker or account representative.

Sincerely,
McDonald’s Corporation

****

And further on, some stuff that I don't fully comprehend about the benefit:

3. What will I be paid or will I pay for McDonald’s shares?

On a weekly basis, ending on a Friday, shares submitted for sale will be matched to shares requested
for purchase by other participating shareholders. The balance of shares not matched will be traded in
the open market throughout the respective week and a few days afterward. A weighted average price
will be determined by these market trades for the respective week and that is the actual price
shareholders will be paid or will pay. Weighted averaging means the per share price is obtained by
dividing the aggregate dollar amount of all market sales (or purchases) on behalf of such participants
during the respective week by the total number of shares sold (or purchased) on behalf of such
participants during the respective week. To defray the cost of the program, a processing fee of $5.00
per share sold or purchased (up to a maximum of $60 per account) will be deducted from your proceeds
or purchase deposit. The actual price cannot be guaranteed in advance. You may instead sell or
purchase shares through a broker of your choice, and fees may differ.

********

So, I don't get it. I don't even have a commission at E*Trade. Do they just not want me being a shareholder because of my small share count? Does it cost them overhead? Should I ignore this?
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#14
I found an older article about this: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/6-reason...2015-02-12. Apparently it's some sort of insidious practice.
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#15
If you hadn't of found the article, I would have told you to ignore it. E*Trade doesn't charge commissions so why would you want to pay a $60 commission.
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#16
I called E*Trade. The customer service rep explained that small time investors with less than 100 shares represent a bit of a headache on the company's books, because they have to do accounting for us, yet we don't count in some official statistic regarding the amount of shareholders. He told me I can just ignore the buy-out offer, so I am. But it certainly doesn't make me feel welcome.

Edit: Also, it's not like we're talking about a stock that has a share price of $30. MCD is expensive, and obtaining 100 shares is going to take me years.
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