Mafeking

Book Review: Jeff Immelt and the New GE Way, by David Magee

If Immelt is judged on GE performance alone he has done a mediocre job. An Ivy leaguer promoted for his background and pedigree rather than his street smarts.

And street smarts may be the missing ingredient. Apparently oblivious to criticism and concerns from share holders, Immelt plows on with his singular poor performance communicating poorly or not at all.

I presume Mason has attended a share holder meeting. I have, and they have been, until recently, rather high handed affairs where mere shareholders are permitted to be at the feet of the glittering GE executive team. But recent meeting have been more rowdy as it has become all too apparent that Immelt has feet of clay. And share holders have voiced there extreme dissatisfaction.

The book may or may not be a good read (the article left me equivocal), but on its subject, Jeffrey Immelt, there is no doubt: He has to go to restore the credibility of a once great company.

Cleantech Companies Will Stimulate Recovery

An overly rosy view of wind power for sure. Much of the wind power industry, not only in the US, but around the world relies heavily on government subsidies for viability.

Wind power is perhaps the least viable of all the alternate technologies because it is unpredictable and so power stations capable of handling the total load regardless of wind power need to be built.

Consider a situation where 10% of an area's power is wind generated. If there is no wind the local power grid has to handle the deficit or power has to be purchased from elsewhere. It works in Europe because they have the capacity via nuclear power stations to cover shortfalls.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Perhaps the funniest moment of the whole financial debacle so far was Barney Frank's demand that those responsible for the mess should be charged and jailed.

A Buy & Hold Forever Dividend Stock Portfolio

Why not buy a few of the dividend ETFs instead - there is no evidence that your ability to pick dividend payers is any better than the approach used by SDY and DVY