Re: [A-List] US legitimation crisis: GE and other related garbage

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

GE has been a dead horse for more than two years. I was among the first
on the internet to focus on GE Capital on the New Forum list.  GE assets
are melting value fast. Without vendor financing, GE can't sell
anyhthing. It is the leader of a bunch of walking dead corporations that
are being keep from collapse by low  (actually negative real ) interest
rates.  The only thing worse than a dead company is one that refused to
lie down after it dies.

Henry

Sabri Oncu wrote:

> Henry,
>
> Anything you heard on the street about GE recently? Buffet seems
> to be playing a revenge game with GE in these days. What do you
> think?
>
> Sabri
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Top Financial News
>
> 11/11 17:20
> U.S. Stocks Slide as Growth Slows; General Electric Declines
> By Scarlet Fu
>
> New York, Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, pushing
> indexes to their first three-day slide in five weeks. General
> Electric Co. led the drop on speculation Warren Buffett will
> offer less for the company's reinsurance unit than it has sought.
>
> Hewlett-Packard Co. had its biggest decline in 14 months after
> President Michael Capellas, former chief executive officer of
> Compaq Computer Corp., resigned. His absence may make it more
> difficult for Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina to integrate
> Compaq, purchased in May.
>
> Some investors said reports this week on retail sales and
> industrial production will suggest the economy is slowing.
>
> "There's still a lot of growth expectations built into the
> market" that are likely to be lowered, said Marc Gabelli of
> Gabelli Asset Management Inc., which oversees $23 billion, on
> Bloomberg Television.
>
> The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 18.55, or 2.1 percent, to
> 876.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 178.18, or 2.1
> percent, to 8358.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 40.09, or 3
> percent, to 1319.19. The indexes hadn't fallen for three straight
> days since Oct. 3, 4 and 7.
>
> Some 1.11 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange,
> the fewest since Sept. 16, as some investors took off the
> Veterans Day holiday. More than two stocks fell for every one
> that rose on the Big Board and the Nasdaq Stock Market.
>
> Concern that the U.S. may go to war with Iraq also deterred some
> investors. Iraq may be unable to meet United Nations demands that
> it eliminate any weapons of mass destruction, the chairman of
> Iraq's parliament said.
>
> "Right now, the concern is Iraq," said Susan Malley, chief
> investment officer at Malley Associates Capital Management, which
> oversees $65 million. "That is a weight on the market."
>
> GE Declines
>
> General Electric dropped 89 cents to $24.21. Buffett's Berkshire
> Hathaway Inc. may buy the company's Employers Reinsurance Corp.
> for less than the $8 billion General Electric wants, people
> familiar with the situation said.
>
> The stock has lost 7.3 percent in the past two days. J.P. Morgan
> Securities Inc. on Friday said GE Capital, the company's
> financial unit, has a higher debt-equity ratio than expected and
> may require capital from General Electric to shore up its balance
> sheet.
>
> Hewlett-Packard slumped $1.83 to $14.85. Its 11 percent decline
> was the biggest since Sept. 4, 2001. Capellas, who had joined the
> company when it acquired Compaq, is the top candidate to become
> chief executive officer of WorldCom Inc., the Wall Street Journal
> reported earlier today.
>
> "The timing is terrible, since nothing's been accomplished since
> the merger," said Mark Herskovitz, who manages $1 billion in
> technology funds at Dreyfus Corp.
>
> Profit Outlook
>
> The S&P 500 last week snapped four straight weeks of gains after
> Cisco Systems Inc. said sales may decline this quarter and
> McDonald's Corp. cut profit forecasts. That trimmed the S&P 500's
> rally from a five-year low on Oct. 9 to 13 percent. For the year,
> the index has fallen 24 percent.
>
> Earnings at S&P 500 companies are forecast to rise an average 17
> percent this quarter and 15 percent next year, according to an
> analyst survey by Thomson First Call. Profit in the third quarter
> advanced 6.8 percent, based on results from 90 percent of the
> companies in the index. That's about two-thirds less than
> analysts projected at the start of the quarter.
>
> Retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Federated
> Department Stores Inc., Tiffany & Co. start reporting earnings
> this week.
>
> Thursday's report on retail sales and Friday's industrial
> production figures will probably provide more signs the economic
> recovery is slowing, economists said. Federal Reserve Chairman
> Alan Greenspan on Wednesday will also testify to Congress on the
> state of the economy.
>
> Slower Recovery
>
> "The economy is going to be slower to recover than people think,"
> said Mark Finn, president of Vantage Consulting Group, which
> advises on and helps manage $65 million in assets in Virginia
> Beach, Virginia.
>
> Retail sales probably fell 0.2 percent in October, marking the
> first back-to-back monthly decline in almost two years,
> economists said before the report. Industrial production declined
> 0.3 percent last month after slipping 0.1 percent in September, a
> Fed report is likely to show on Friday.
>
> Personal-computer makers fell after Barron's reported, citing
> analysts, that Wal-Mart may start its own brand of computers.
> Dell Computer Corp. fell 68 cents to $29.11. Gateway Inc.
> declined 54 cents to $3.72.
>
> Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, lost $1.03 to $53. The
> company, which reports earnings on Wednesday, said sales last
> week rose in line with its November forecast as consumers bought
> clothing and electronics and more people visited its stores.
>
> Oracle Falls
>
> Oracle Corp. shed 50 cents to $9.05. Deutsche Bank Securities
> Inc. analyst Timothy Dolan cut the shares to "hold" from "buy."
> While the stock has climbed as much as 28 percent since Oct. 9,
> the industry's prospects haven't similarly improved, he wrote in
> a report.
>
> Starbucks Corp. lost 80 cents to $21.77. Goldman, Sachs & Co.
> analyst Coralie Tournier Witter said investors' expectations for
> the largest chain of U.S. coffee shops are too high after
> Starbucks' 10 percent increase in same-store sales last month
> failed to lift its stock. Goldman cut its rating to "in-line"
> from "outperform."
>
> Duke Energy Corp. fell $1.55 to $18.41. The company -- along with
> Reliant Resources Inc., Mirant Corp. and AES Corp. --received
> subpoenas from a U.S. attorney's office in California as part of
> a grand jury investigation into the manipulation of power prices.
>
> Reliant Resources tumbled 31 cents to $1.94, Mirant declined 34
> cents to $1.91 and AES slumped 45 cents to $1.54.
>
> Teco Rises
>
> Teco Energy Inc. advanced $2.46 to $12.95, recouping some of its
> 35 percent tumble the previous two days. The owner of Tampa,
> Florida's utility said it's close to getting $650 million in new
> loans and will go ahead with a planned bond sale to reduce short-
> term debt.
>
> Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings shed $1.20 to $22.75.
> Standard & Poor's lowered LabCorp's credit rating after the
> company agreed to buy Dianon Systems Inc. for about $598 million
> in cash to increase its share of the market for diagnostic cancer
> tests. Dianon rallied $6.45 to $46.64.
>
> The Russell 2000 Index of smaller stocks fell 9.86, or 2.6
> percent, to 369.14. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, the
> broadest measure of U.S. shares, slid 174.19, or 2.1 percent, to
> 8264.65. Based on changes in the Wilshire, the market value of
> U.S. stocks decreased by $209 billion.