Over the years as we have covered various sectors — from energies to stocks and stock indexes to fixed income to forex; and different asset classes from futures to equities to exchanges traded funds — trading has grown more complex.

Even with record inflows into exchange-traded funds and dozens of publicly traded names to choose from, there’s only one ETF devoted to the restaurant industry, the aptly tickered USCF Restaurant Leaders Fund.

Even with record inflows into exchange-traded funds and dozens of publicly traded names to choose from, there’s only one ETF devoted to the restaurant industry, the aptly tickered USCF Restaurant Leaders Fund (MENU). Not that there haven’t been other attempts in the past, although they had the same lifespan as a “gastropub” focusing on sprouts.

From its early 2012 high until October of 2015 McDonald’s stock remained basically flat. In that same period the S&P 500 gained roughly 50%. MCD was clearly languishing. There was talk that MCD’s star had faded (see “Breakfast rally," below).

McDonald's has been on a tear since the election and has entered hyper drive this spring, rallying more than 20% in the second quarter alone. This pushed the world’s most famous fast food restaurant into overbought territory in the CPO. This creates a good selling opportunity as the CPO expects McDonalds to correct in the third quarter.

For a restaurant stock pairs trade we tapped one of the sector’s leading analysts for his best long and short picks.

Smart traders follow managers and analysts with a proven track record of success, which is why it is good to know what a hedge fund managers’ three favorite restaurant stocks are.

During Ed Rensi’s 14-year term as president and CEO, McDonald’s experienced phenomenal growth. U.S. sales doubled to more than $16 billion, the number of the U.S. restaurants grew from nearly 6,600 to more than 12,000, and the number of U.S. franchisees grew from 1,600 to more than 2,700. Under Rensi’s leadership, McDonald’s became the most recognized brand in the world, the next being Coca-Cola.

While the restaurant sector is robust, it is facing many risk factors, chief of which are expectations of growth that harken back to the dot-com bubble. In addition to the unreasonable expectations, our restaurant sector focus dives into the key threats and opportunities affecting the bottom line of restaurant companies in the United States. As explained by former McDonald’s President and CEO Ed Rensi, the decline in retail mall traffic has been a major factor in the ongoing decline in chain restaurant sales. From the third quarter 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, chain restaurant sales fell by 2.4%.

While the restaurant sector is robust, it is facing many risk factors, chief of which are expectations of growth that harken back to the dot-com bubble. In addition to the unreasonable expectations, our restaurant sector focus dives into the key threats and opportunities affecting the bottom line of restaurant companies in the United States. As explained by former McDonald’s President and CEO Ed Rensi, the decline in retail mall traffic has been a major factor in the ongoing decline in chain restaurant sales. From the third quarter 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, chain restaurant sales fell by 2.4%.