GE Reports

Keep the facts coming. Leave no time between false reports and a response. Also as part of the President’s economic advisory council, consider pushing for the elimination of the practice of option buying. The stock market is a place for investors and not gamblers.

I’ll say it here too:

I understand frustrations are high, but to label Mr. Immelt a failure (after one of the worst environments the company has ever seen) is pushing it and unjustified in my opinion.

10 year track record of GE the company:

Revenues (in millions):
1999 – 111,630
2000 – 129,853
2001 – 125,913 (Mr. Immelt takes over)
2002 – 131,698
2003 – 134,187
2004 – 152,363
2005 – 149,702
2006 – 163,391
2007 – 172,738
2008 – 182,515 (even with the environment it faced)

Net income:

1999 – 10,717
2000 – 12,735
2001 – 14,128 (Mr. Immelt takes over)
2002 – 15,133
2003 – 15,589
2004 – 16,593
2005 – 18,275
2006 – 20,666
2007 – 22,468
2008 – 18,089 (still made a profit in a serious economic collapse in the market as a whole)

ROE:

1999 – 26.3
2000 – 27.4
2001 – 26.8 (Mr. Immelt takes over)
2002 – 25.5
2003 – 21.8
2004 – 17.5
2005 – 16.6
2006 – 18.6
2007 – 19.7
2008 – 16.4

Pretty good and consistent ROE (especially when you consider all that GE has to manage)

Dividends:

1999 – 0.49
2000 – 0.57
2001 – 0.66 (Mr. Immelt takes over)
2002 – 0.73
2003 – 0.77
2004 – 0.82
2005 – 0.91
2006 – 1.03
2007 – 1.15
2008 – 0.93 (still paid a dividend in one of, if not the, worst years in GE’s history due to the environment)

What I think people are upset with, equity price in the market (which Mr. Immelt doesn’t set) — using high prices for each year as reference point as well as P/Es at the time for a measuring stick:

1999 – $53.17 P/E 50 (at or near tech bubble high)
2000 – $60.50 P/E 48 (at or near tech bubble high)
2001 – $53.55 P/E 38 (unwinding of market begins; Mr. Immelt takes over)
2002 – $41.84 P/E 28 (still too high of a P/E)
2003 – $32.42 P/E 21 (still too high of a P/E)
2004 – $37.75 P/E 24 (still too high of a P/E)
2005 – $37.34 P/E 22 (still too high of a P/E)
2006 – $38.49 P/E 19 (P/E more reasonable)
2007 – $42.15 P/E 19 (P/E more reasonable)
2008 – $38.52 P/E 20 (E in P/E can’t be measured do to unruly market conditions; not a good indicator of pricing at this time)

I think if people take a realistic look at the numbers, Mr. Immelt has actually done a good job of leading this company. It’s not Mr. Immelt’s fault that the market overvalued the stocks in the late 90s and through the early part of this century; the market did that and the market dropped it back to within reason.

Look where Mr. Immelt has positioned this company for the future. In every areas that GE does business, they will see profits going forward because the world needs what GE provides (and that need will pick up strength again as this economic fiasco subsides). U.S., China, India, Brazil, former parts of the Soviet Union, the Middle East — they are/were/will all expanding in the way of infrastructure/energy, medical, rail, airlines, and they will need financing for all of it. What has Mr. Immelt built this company to do over the last decade, serve those areas and serve them well.

People can bash Mr. Immelt and this management team all they want, but the facts simply don’t represent reality. You’re mad because the stock price is down and dividends might need readjusting for legitimate business reasons and I get that. However, hold on, and GE will make its shareholders happy going forward.

I guess I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t do this today:

BUY 75 GE $11.5098 $870.24 XMA5########### CASH 2/12/2009 3:40:39 PM
2/18/2009

The janitor is more qualified to manage GE then the guy running it into the bankruptcy courts commonly known as the CEO

When GM is a better buy then GE what the heck is this world coming too.

In fact my kids piggy bank is worth more then GE

Guess the bum has better management skills then Immelt

When I’m carrying more cash in my pocket then GE’s capitalization . Look out below

My dear Mr./Mrs A I am neither employed by GE nor employed any where else, I’m retired living on a fixed income with some of that income from GE. So as a shareholder needless to say, management from the upper echelon of GE remain inept, when a company is run with a diminishing asset since 2001 and realizing the ups and downs over the time frame, GE managed to and continuously faulted.

Mr./Mrs. A I am an owner or better, part owner of GE with Immelt as my surrogate whose fiduciary requirements are/is to provide reasonable valuation to the shareholders unquestionably, not reduce a 300 billion company into the ashes of the abyss.

For a brief moment GE was 1/2 point from the aybess; meaning under 10$ a share, every fund would be REQUIRED to sell, further devaluing GE to 5 dollars a share or worse. Not good for me, not good for GE and not good for hard working GE employees whose 401 are in the abyess as I write.

I am thinking of investing in GE, as I am new to buying stocks, what do you think? I’m looking at $5K