GE Gets It: Slimming Down, Buying Back Shares

General Electric (GE) reported earnings Friday (see conference call transcript). The stock is now up to $39.50. That's about 14% since I started buying GE back in March.

What am I doing now? I'm still holding General Electric. Would I add to my position at this price? I don't own as much GE as I'd like, but I'll wait to add to my position a bit. If I didn't have any GE in my portfolio at all, YOU BET I'd have to add to my position.

I think GE gets it. They get that they can make money by making products that will solve some of the planet's problems. They have behaved very badly in the past (I'm talking about you GE Plastics and the Turbine Coolant PCBs) but going forward they are looking a little better. Beside, I'd love to own shares just so I can vote at the shareholder meeting.

And that stock buyback they announced today? Here's a link to a list of recently announced buybacks at TheStreet.com. You might also notice Neubert Top Ten Position Amgen (AMGN) ($56.93) is on that list too.

Disclosures: I own GE. I may buy more GE. I am also short Jan 2008, 37.50 Puts on GE. I own AMGN and am at my full position. I'm holding onto AMGN too.

I took this photo of the GE lightbulb package. Yes, it's the non-efficient kind. I'm embarrassed, but I think it's been in my closet for a while. I've been pretty good about getting the efficient bulbs. I don't like paying Con Edison for all that expensive electricity.

GE 1-yr chart:

Comments

[Tom B:]

The Idiots in Washington are pushing nonsense like coal-to-oil and corn-based ethanol, but the fact remains, we could pretty easily meet all or most of our electricity needs using off-shore and prairie-based wind (replace those ugly offshore oil rigs with graceful wind mills!). GE has committed a lot of sins, but they are currently a great big cap supplier of wind generators.

2007 Jul 16 09:02 AM

[Long-Short Guy:]

Compare:
<blockquote>
<b>Is G.E. Too Big for Its Own Good?</b>

...Even so, the clock is ticking. There is growing pressure on Mr. Immelt to do something — anything — to get G.E.’s stock moving after six years of stagnation. Despite a 15 percent rally over the last two months, G.E. shares are still down 30 percent from their Welch-era peak. And in April, the analyst Jeffrey T. Sprague of Citigroup Investment Research stunned Wall Street by calling for a breakup of the company, urging Mr. Immelt to sell off NBC Universal, as well as the consumer finance and real estate units...
</blockquote>

Source:
www.nytimes.com/2007/0...

2007 Jul 22 09:04 AM