McDonald's is winning three-way fast-food fight, at home and abroad

In its three-way food fight with Burger King (BKC) and Wendy's (WEN), category leader McDonald's (MCD) is finishing a tough year in the industry battered but victorious.

The company announced Friday that it will being offering an extensive dollar breakfast menu in January -- all the better to reach its cost-conscious customers (and, incidentally, destroy its rivals). Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Wendy's announced it's pulling out of Japan after 29 years. With McDonald's an apparently insurmountable force in the Land of the Rising Sun, the smaller chain is throwing in the towel.