2011 Stock Market Winners and Losers: McDonalds versus Bank of America; Food Will Get You Through Times of No Money Better Than Money Will Get You Through Times of No Food?

People still gotta eat.

It may be just that simple. As the year winds down, McDonalds has emerged as the best performing stock of the year on the Dow Jones Index, the foremost measure of corporate financial performance.

And the worst? Bank of America, epicenter of the mortgage mess, foreclosure crisis and consensus candidate for the institution that embodies all that is wrong with the economy.

The juxtaposition is delicious (as it were); McDonald's representing service for value while BofA represents the opposite. Research has shown that contrary to popular perception, the core Mickey D's customer is solidly middle class. Whatever the health and quality objections to its menu offerings may be - and knowledge is hardly secret anymore - customers are voting with their wallets. Reputation is based on trust. Whether in the US, Europe or China, that trust is garnering sales, which, in turn, has impressed investors.

BofA, meanwhile, has received more than its fair share of blame for the financial crisis, serving as the industry's doomed avatar thanks to its missteps, both operational and perceptual. The lesson appears to be that when the chips are down, trust and basic human needs wins. JL

Chris Isidore reports in CNNMoney:

When investors look at the change in McDonald's share price last year, they can think only one thing: "I'm lovin' it." The fast food giant was the best performer on the Dow Jones industrial average in 2011, up 31%. That was enough to beat out Warren Buffett's newest favorite, IBM, No. 2 among the blue chip winners.

At the other end of the spectrum was Bank of America, which suffered a 59% plunge to lows not seen since 2009.
That slump gave it an easy win over Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500), whose shares lost 44%, in the competition for dubious distinction of 'biggest loser.'

But those troubled giants were the exception among Dow stocks in 2011.

Overall, the index is up 6% going into 2011's last day of trading, outpacing the performance of not just the S&P 500 (SPX), up only 0.4%, but also the tech-heavy Nasdaq (COMP) and the broader Wilshire 5000 (W5000FLT), which are both slightly lower for the year.

And of the 30 Dow components, 19 are in positive territory for the year.

McDonald's has been helped by strong sales both domestically and globally. Shares hit an all-time high of $100.82 this week before settling back a bit to close Thursday at $100.81.

Meanwhile, No. 2 IBM had already achieved its run up by the time Buffett disclosed in November that Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) had purchased a 5% stake in the company. Its shares are down slightly since then but still managed a 27% gain for the year.

Buffett didn't do as well when he threw Bank of America a $5 billion lifeline, buying preferred shares of the troubled bank in a deal announced in August. Since then, the bank's stock has continued to slide, putting the investment in the red, even with the $300 million in annual dividends that Berkshire will pocket.

Bank of America has also been shrinking, announcing plans to shed 30,000 employees and close branches, and losing its title of the nation's largest bank to rival JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) in the third quarter. It was also forced to reverse course and drop a $5-a-month debit card fee after strong customer backlash.

In comparison to Bank of America's high profile problems, aluminum maker Alcoa's stock suffered a relatively quiet slide, as concerns about a looming recession in Europe and a possible slowdown in Chinese production hammered pricing and profits.

The company's third-quarter earnings miss added to its disappointing share performance.