At least for one day this year, executives at McDonald's (MCD) - Get Report have something to cheer about. But their big, fat smiles may not last too long.

The Golden Arches said Monday that it would sell its businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong for $2.08 billion to Citic, a state-owned conglomerate, and private-equity firm Carlyle Group (CG) - Get Report . Citic and its investment arm, Citic Capital, will have a controlling stake of 52% in a business with more than 2,400 restaurants. Carlyle Group and McDonald's will have stakes of 28% and 20%, respectively.

The agreement, which took a lengthy seven months or so to iron out, is for 20 years and is expected to close this summer. McDonald's will get about 6% of the business' sales in the form of royalty payments, providing it with a consistent stream of cash with minimal risk. In light of the expected cash infusion, solid balance sheet and low interest rate environment, McDonald's could soon sweeten its cash payouts to investors.

By the end of the third quarter, McDonald's was nearing the achievement of a three-year goal to return $30 billion to shareholders through stock repurchases and dividends (McDonald's returned $27.8 billion by the end of the third quarter). In the fourth quarter, McDonald's hiked its dividend by 6%, but stands to do more to attract people to a stock that has badly underperformed the red-hot Dow Jones Industrial Average during the past year (+4.5% vs. +22%).

Despite the efforts to restructure its business overseas, however, McDonald's still has a major problem in the U.S., its largest market, that can't be fixed so easily. That problem is soaring hourly wages across the country, a concern that was once again brought to light in the U.S. employment report for December. Average hourly wages rose by 10 cents, representing the fastest gain since 2009 and bringing the annual growth rate last year to roughly 3%.

Wage growth will likely quicken this month, presenting a risk to McDonald's sales.

Ronald has a lot to think about right now

Minimum wage increases went into effect in a record 20 states on New Year's Day. Some of the largest increases, many of which mark a beginning of gradual hikes toward $15 an hour extending to 2021, came in Washington (up $1.53, to $11 an hour), Arizona (up $1.93, to $10 an hour) and Washington, D.C. (up $1, to $12.50 an hour). In total, about 4.4 million low-wage workers across the U.S. scored a raise.

According to a study by Purdue University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 1.54 million people working in food preparation and serving-related occupations make at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Raising their hourly wages to $15 -- a 107% increase -- would cause prices to rise an estimated 4.3%. That means a $3.99 Big Mac would cost around $4.16, and an average fast food meal costing $7 would go up to $7.31.

"Many fast-food restaurants currently have a $1 menu, making it affordable for many lower-income earners to eat at these restaurants," said Michael Busler, Stockton University professor of finance. "The $1 menu would increase to the $1.39 menu, putting pressure on consumers, and many lower-income earners would not be able to afford to eat there," Busler added.

Even though $15 an hour wages are still off in the distance, McDonald's franchisees could raise prices this year in light of the increases that just went into effect and overall rising cost of doing business. The effect on sales is unknown.

But it's a hot-button issue I plan to discuss in my meetings with restaurant CEOs while at the ICR Conference this week. So stay glued to my Twitter feed for the latest and greatest from sunny Florida.

Cool Reads From Around the Web

The Detroit Auto Show is here, and it already looks awesome: From a self-driving minivan via a partnership between Alphabet's (GOOGL) - Get Report Waymo and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) - Get Report to the fastest Bentley ever made (see below), the big Detroit Auto Show has kicked off with a bang TheStreetreported.

Get ready for Starbucks to reinvent the egg sandwich:TheStreet also reported that on Tuesday, Starbucks will unveil two new products: Sous Vide Egg Bites (see below) and the Cascara Latte. We really want to see your photos of the egg bites -- which are egg whites with bacon and Gruyere cheese or with roasted red pepper and Monterey Jack cheese -- that are bread-less and made for the always-on-the-go millennial.

Be sure to tweet us your pics @TheStreet and @BrianSozzi.

Happy 10th anniversary to Apple's iPhone: Monday marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, which was launched at Macworld in 2007 by late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs (picture below). The iPhone has been a juggernaut for the tech giant, selling more than 1 billion units worldwide over its lifetime, reportedibtimes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement on Sunday that "the best is yet to come" for the iPhone. To be sure, the comment is likely spur speculation on Wall Street ( and fanboy blogs) that the upcoming iPhone will be more revolutionary instead of evolutionary.

It's unlikely 10 years from now we are sharing the same unit sales figure for the Apple Watch. Hey, just being real!

Starbucks quietly rolling something else out: The coffee giant hasn't made a big announcement on this, but it has been secretly putting organic avocado spread into stores since late last year, reportedCosmopolitan. We have to believe the stuff -- which comes in small packages and costs 95 cents -- has to taste better than guac from Taco Bell (though not Chipotle (CMG) - Get Report ).

People may not be buying clothes, but they are still buying home goods: On Monday, newly minted public company At Home Group (HOME) - Get Report lifted its full-year same-store sales growth guidance to 3% to 3.2%. Previously, it saw growth of 2.5% to 3%.

With folks investing in their homes amid a sustained rise in prices in the U.S. and continued low rates spurring home sales, the home-improvement space remains a good story inside an overall dismal retail sector. Macy's (M) - Get Report , Kohl's (KSS) - Get Report and J.C. Penney (JCP) - Get Report are fresh off announcing disastrous holiday seasons last week.

Said Macy's long-time Chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren to TheStreet, "Look, throughout last year we saw record automobile sales and strength in home goods, and I think people are still buying in other categories at the moment."

Here is our interview with At Home Group's CEO Lee Bird when the company went public in August. The company struck us as the Walmart (WMT) - Get Report for home goods.