General Electric: Regaining Iconic Stature

By Tom Armistead:When reporting 3Q 2011 earnings, Prudential Financial (PRU) provided an outlook for 2012 that was less than analyst estimates. Immediate market reaction was negative, with shares closing down 1% on an up day. At Thursday's close of $53.05, the company is undervalued based on historical metrics applied to 2012 guidance.

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.

ByJosh Arnold:Bank Of America's (BAC) epic turnaround from the depths of the financial crisis has caused a meteoric rise in its common shares. While patient investors have been rewarded with large gains off the bottom the common share dividend is still stuck at what is essentially zero.

By Richard Bloch:Yield to cost basis is one of those concepts important to dividend investors, or at least it should be, because that's where your retirement income is going to come from. And although you have to be patient, it really adds up over time.Here's an example, Procter & Gamble (PG), a stock that hasn't exactly been on fire lately, but has rewarded investors quite nicely over the years.* * *

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.

On the surface, despite concerns about the adverse impact from the strong dollar and crashing energy earnings, so far the fourth quarter is shaping up quite strong. Indeed, as CNBC won't stop repeating, with 7% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting actual results for Q4 to date, more companies are reporting both actual EPS above estimates (84%) and actual sales above estimates (60%) compared to recent historical averages.

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.

President Barack Obama's approval rating has fallen 8 points in the past two months, putting him underwater for the first time in more than a year, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.