General Electric: Regaining Iconic Stature

BofA Merrill Lynch equity strategist Savita Subramanian is bullish on the stock market.

By Steven Bauer: General Electric (GE) is one of the Dow Jones 30 companies that do not valuate well. It certainly is not the company it used to be and has little chance of a future recovery.

Tom Armistead submits:General Electric (GE) was for many years an iconic company, considered good as gold in the glory days when Jack Welch was at the helm. The company's strength was seriously questioned during the meltdown in early 2009, and the last time I looked into buying it, shares were trading at 6.66, on 3/6/09. I didn't buy any. It has since recovered to close Friday at 16.35.

LONDON/NEW YORK — Britain looked poised to lose its AAA rating from a second ratings agency after Fitch Ratings warned on Friday it was likely to downgrade the country in the coming weeks, citing high government debt levels and weak growth. A month since Britain was downgraded by Moody’s, Fitch put the country on review and said a downgrade was a heightened possibility. A decision is due by the end of April, Fitch said in a statement. Sterling fell sharply, dropping half a cent against the dollar.

By David Zanoni:General Electric (GE) has gone from bright to dim and back to bright again since hitting its peak in 2000. The company's largest headwinds have stemmed from its financial segment, GE Capital with the fallout from the financial crisis. However, this segment and the company have been on the road to recovery in the past few years. (click to enlarge)

By Turnkey Analyst:General Electric Company (GE) was at one time the bluest of blue chip companies. Most in the business world are familiar with one of GE's recent blue chip managers, Jack Welch, the legendary CEO who ran GE for 20 years, through the 1980s and 1990s, nearly quadrupling the company’s revenue over the period.

Tom Armistead submits:Harris Corp. (HRS), at recent prices in the 49 area, is attractive as a GARP investment in the Communications Equipment sector. Despite 5 year revenue growth of 10.4% and 5 year EPS growth of 23%, the company trades at a TTM P/E of 9.9. Because more than half of its revenue is dependent on the US government, it has been punished as a defense contractor.

Madhusudan Rao submits: It comes as no surprise to me that Warren Buffett sent a Thank You note on November 16th to Uncle Sam. Unfortunately, his “Thank You” note seems to indicate that Uncle Sam actually bailed out the American Economy and not Warren Buffett’s investments. Mr. Buffett suggests that a lack of intervention would have brought the whole US Economy to a standstill. Sure, a lot of companies would have suffered and many Americans would have lost jobs.