STUTTGART, Germany (AP) -- The best thing Volkswagen AG can do when it carries through its proposed merger with Porsche is this: Leave Porsche alone and reap the revenue from a glossy brand with loyal, rich customers, analysts say.

Having emerged Thursday atop a power struggle among members of the Piech and Porsche families -- who control Porsche Autombil Holding SE -- and cost Wendelin Wiedeking his job as chief executive, Volkswagen is left to gather the spoils, namely the marquee Porsche name that will soon be counted with Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, already among its stable of luxury brands.

"I don't think Volkswagen will change it much, Porsche is such a brand," Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners told The Associated Press. "There's huge value in just the brand, it'd be best to leave it alone."

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who ran luxury brand Audi under VW ownership, said that is just what Europe's biggest automaker by sales plans to do.

"Like Audi today, Porsche can also continue its independent development under the aegis of Volkswagen and preserve its own identity," he said after announcing plans to put the luxury sports car maker under VW's umbrella through a merger.

Porsche also saw its board agree to seek a capital increase of at least euro5 billion ($7.1 billion) and throw its weight behind talks with a Qatar investment fund.

"We welcome the involvement of the Qatar fund, and assume that they will take 17 percent of Volkswagen shares from the options of Porsche SE, which will make them the third biggest shareholder in

NEW YORK (AP) -- AT&T Inc.'s earnings fell 15 percent in the second quarter as it subsidized a record-setting launch of the newest iPhone. The weak economy also continued to sap its landline business.

The profit beat Wall Street estimates, however, and investors sent AT&T's shares up.

Cutting-edge products like the iPhone and AT&T's new cable TV service continue to do well, said Rick Lindner, AT&T's chief financial officer. But with businesses laying off workers and shutting down offices, AT&T's business services division has suffered.

"The sectors where we've seen the most impact, as you would expect, are finance, transportation and manufacturing," Lindner said.

AT&T has tried to keep pace by cutting its own costs, and reduced its employment by 6,000 workers in the quarter. That followed 8,000 cuts in the first quarter. It now has 289,000 employees.

The country's largest telecommunications provider said Thursday it earned $3.20 billion, or 54 cents per share, in the April to June period. That was down from $3.77 billion, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 51 cents per share.

Dallas-based AT&T's revenue fell 0.6 percent to $30.7 billion, matching analyst expectations.

In midday trading, AT&T shares rose 94 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $25.78. While the stock held up well in

NEW YORK (AP) -- McDonald's Corp. said Thursday the stronger dollar and a gain that boosted results a year ago led its second-quarter profit to dip 8 percent.

The company also said its new espresso-based McCafe drinks had added to sales and help boost market share in the U.S. The drinks are being rolled out to all 14,000 of the company's U.S. locations -- a move the company began heavily promoting in ads nationwide during the quarter.

The earnings dip was expected because the company had predicted a hit to profit from exchange rates earlier this year.

Most U.S. companies that sell goods internationally convert those sales from foreign currencies into dollars when they report their financial results. If the dollar is stronger than those currencies, the translation results in fewer dollars in revenue.

Excluding that and the gain a year ago, operating income rose and sales at established locations continued to grow despite as consumers continued to turn to fast food to save cash.

Still, shares fell $2.11, or 3.6 percent, to $56.71 in morning trading.

The Oak Brook, Illinois-based fast-food chain said net income fell to $1.09 billion, or 98 cents per share, from $1.19 billion, or $1.04 per share in last year's quarter.

Excluding a 10-cent-per-share gain a year ago from the sale of McDonald's minority interest in Pret A