General Electric Company (GE)

nearly a 4% yield here after a 7 cent earnings miss. with the republican primary decided early advertising not as strong as it could be. international business booming. still a significant backlog for all things green in the industrial space. potential for asset write-ups on the financial side in the future. this may take a bit to move but we get paid to wait with the dividend.

There are too many companies out there with better fundamentals whose stock prices have fallen substantially farther than GE's. GE has massive debt, potentially crippling exposure to financial markets, and not nearly enough cash to insure against even a moderate financial crisis.

Much is made of the advantage GE's AAA rating gives it over other banks. However, that AAA rating is in serious danger, to say the least; it's difficult to fathom how a company with GE's balance sheet could ever warrant that kind of confidence. At any rate, it's increasingly clear that the credibility of Moody's and S&P's credit ratings is dubious at best.

GE is one financial hiccup away from having to go hat-in-hand to Congress, which would quickly consign them to the dollar-stock scrap heap along with the likes of GM and Fannie Mae. The source of such a hiccup could be macro, such as a new liquidity crisis in an asset class GE has exposure to, or micro, such as a rating downgrade. Since the latter is looking increasingly likely, a collapse of GE's financial business is a real possibility. GE seems to be trying hard to scale back that side of their business, but I have severe doubts as to whether they're in any position to get out fast enough.

If that happens, and I think it's fairly likely, then we're looking at the next big bailout story right here. Even if GE does manage to hold on, there are simply too many better places to put your money, no matter which of GE's many sectors you're trying to gain exposure in. Do yourself a favor and find a stock with a bigger upside and less risk; trust me, there are plenty out there.

General Electric's exposure to the capital markets often goes unrecognized. In reality GE has derived the majority of its profits from GE Capital for many years. Despite this fact, GE has outperformed most banks on a PE basis since the credit crisis began. Browsing through the "Underperform" pitches I was surprised that not one mentioned the pending possible bankrupcy of Metromedia, a corporate debtor of GE Capital. This situation may be a sign of the times, where poorly underwritten loans, originated during the debt boom of the early 2000's, may be coming home to roost. While energy conserving appliances may find a market in these difficult economic conditions, they will unlikely offset the decline in appliance sales for newly constructed homes. As such, these major business lines may see contraction over the coming year. Similarly, in the airline industry we are seeing a slow-down in orders for new planes as older planes are idled during the airline industry's race to reduce capacity. These are factors that I forsee weighing heavily on GE's earnings going forward.

GE is well positioned to advantage of government spending around the world on large scale infrastructure projects (desalination, nukes, and refrigerators big enough to hold the amount of beer required by construction teams).

GE has a large line of top rated products used by a wide range of industries. Their financial portion of their business will recover over time and the emphasis on other profitable parts of their business such as wind turbines will increase.

Great DIvidend. Great profits, but no one can quantify its value, so its unappreciated by the broader market. GE is the standard for blue chip companies, and in times of market uncertainty, I believe money will flow to it. GE is especially attractive after they released fourth quarter profits. Profits doubled, but investors are fearful after the CEO's commented that they weren't looking for aquisitions to drive growth.

GE is a bargin at it's current level of $13. Sure the dividend has been reduced but GE also isn't trading at $30+ anymore. Buy it and sell your covered calls every month while collecting dividends all the way to early retirement.

GE and Immelt impress me, although it is troubling they didn't give any forewarning of their declining quarter. Still, I recently read the WSJ's special on the "Green Energy Conference" they held, and Immelt's attitude was incredible. He was a leader calling for emmissions standards to be brought on the industry, saying since it's inevitable anyway, we might as well embrace it and get ahead of the curve. GE is preparing for wind, nuclear, and any/every type of power they can provide. Plus, they're investing billions in emerging markets. GE is a hungry company. They are positioning themselves not only to remain a titan of industry, but to continue to grow greatly as well. Today's 10% drop marks an incredible buying opportunity.

GE is riding out of town on a rail. Erie works can't build locomotives fast enough. Developing countries including China are driving the orders, even as domestic customers are calling for efficient and economic power delivered by the new units.

30+ years - General Electric (GE) No company has been successful longer than GE, No company has survived more management changes as well as GE, No company adapts to changing economies and technology better than GE. GE's management culture is so strong that GE is able to survive and thrive despite jettisoning core divisions. I can't tell you what business GE will be in 30 years from now but I can tell you how well it will be run :-)
per TastyLunch

The stock price has been stuck in a rut for a couple of years (pretty solid "support" at $33.) General Electric is a great place to be when (not if, when) the flight to quality resumes its migratory pattern.

Excluding the financial side of GE, I find a solid well-performing company with serious growth potential. The company has retrenched itself into its core business areas of expertise as any good company should be doing right now. Based on the above, the share price for this company has been beaten down so badly, that it is a steal at this price. You have to love panic when it can drive share prices this low.

Now, considering the financial side of the company, we have a company that got bit but not as badly as some other institutions (Citi, BofA, etc.). They are paying the price for bad investing by having a reduced share price for that mistake. Plus, the recent downgrade to AA+ has made for a nice slap in the face as a wakeup. With the possibility of a reduction in their rating for the company’s bonds may occur as well as a further wakeup. Granted, the likelihood of a downward bond rating has a 30% chance of that happening.

Even still, their share price should have not as far as it should. The financial side of the business constituted, at best, up to 50% of their business and the share price drop should have reflected that as well. Including a premium discount percentage for getting burned in the subprime market, the share price should have been around the $16-20 range. You have to love panic when it can drive share prices this low.

Granted, in the very very short term, share price will continue to fluctuate around the $8-12 range but over the next year or so, share price will recover nicely after the release of their quarterly statements. So, for the next year or more, I’m in.

edison refuses to acknowledge Tesla was right about his AC and light bulb-scheme; and over a century later and GE copies his work. everyone thinks GE invented or pioneered the brighter light with less energy usage, LED, or whatever you want to call it. It's too bad no know knows Westinghouse is actually Tesla's company. it's also too bad GE is still considered name brand while Westinghouse is a "knock-off". Tesla couldn't beat Edison, and neither can I. if you can't beat them, join them. reluctantly, GE will OP in the long run (as always); and Westinghouse will still be the company that sells "knock-off" flat panel tv's for under $300.

GE's diversified holdings in energy and healthcare are picking up the slack from losses in GE Capital. I started buying at $7 in March and will continue to buy until it hits the $20 range. This is a buy and hold stock for long term value and strong dividends (despite the recent dividend roll back). My plan is to keep GE as a legacy stock in my portfolio.

-A diverse industrial, finance, and media company that has been around since 1878. This company will not disappear overnight.
-GE has paid a quarterly dividend since 1899 including 32 consecutive years of dividend increases from 1976 to 2007.
-The only company to be still listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average since its creation in 1896.
-Its stock price has declined almost 60% due to under performance by the GE Capital division.
-Despite poor results from GE Capital, it industrial divisions continue to experience a $171 billion backlog in orders. There is also a bright future for its "ecomagination" initiative to develop solar & wind energy, hybrid locomotives, efficient lighting, and water purification technology.
-$0.10 Quarterly Dividend

GE is a giant that has been sleeping for many years now. The giant is about to wake up. They have been quietly building up "green" aspects of their business base as well as being poised to capitalize on the resurrection of nuclear energy. GE makes turbines used in everything from coal fired electric plants to nuclear and wind. They also have a good stake in water purification which is now only becoming a recognized world wide problem.

GE has a diverse selection of business units which support one another and also pays great dividends over time. GE is so huge that it would be nearly impossible for it to go under completely. The leadership of Jeff Immelt and GE's capability of outperforming each industry make it a perfect long term investment.

Bought some more of this with real money. I plan to hold for the extra long term, 10 plus years. This is a solid company and before they miss their earnings again they'll start dumping anything unprofitable and cut jobs. Maybe not for someone looking for big short term gains, but I like it and I'm young with some time to wait and let dividend reinvestment help me along.

I know, I know. The chances that I'm seeing something in as hi-profile a stock as GE, that the rest of the world is missing, are just about nil. Regardless, I'm looking at a dominant media and industrial titan here, selling for 10x trailing free cash flow, expected to grow at 11% going forward, and paying nearly a 4% dividend.

What can I say? It all looks very cheap to me, and I can't help but be a buyer here.