Investors are always trying to beat their respective benchmarks, and for many that's the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But investors will never beat the market by investing in it passively. They can, however, overweight great companies and underweight or ditch the losers. 

So in an effort to beat the Dow with its own components, we're taking a buy, sell, or hold stance on each individual stock. 

Up today is McDonald's, a stock Austin owns and believes to be a great long-term investment. Despite a few quarters of less than thrilling earnings and same-store sales figures, this company still has one of the widest economic moats Austin has ever seen. Short-term headwinds with slowing global growth and foreign exchange woes don't detract from what is a phenomenal business model. Should shares come any lower, Austin says he'd happily add to his position.

McDonald's is probably most commonly known for its great dividend, and with good reason, but it still didn't qualify for a nomination in "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need." We invite you to read about those amazing companies that did, though. Just click here and get your copy of the report today. It's totally free.