-->Dow industrials component McDonald's (MCD: news, chart, profile) tacked on 36 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $24.45 after J.P. Morgan upgraded the fast food behemoth to"overweight" from"neutral." Analyst John Ivankoe feels the recent decline in the stock on concerns over mad-cow disease have created a buying opportunity.

"We believe mad cow will cause very slight consumer reaction beyond the immediate term - assuming discovery of future cases is limited - but that the downward pressure on beef prices will be immediate, erasing a previous investment negative for the restaurant industry in 2004," Ivankoe said in a note to clients.

The stock had fallen 5.2 percent last Wednesday on news of the surfacing of mad cow.

cbsmarketwatch