Recent News: Annual Meeting, GE Sensing Inspection, Short Interest in GE, GE Money, Karan Bhatia, Airline Regulators - GE Aviation, Fluorescent Bulbs

Airport prepares for arrival of GE's jets, corporate pilots
Erie International Airport officials are trying to make sure the red carpet reaches all the way to the tarmac when visitors fly in for General Electric Co.'s annual shareholders meeting this month."Our service is going to be top-notch," said Joe Ceresa, line service manager at North Coast Air, the company that sells fuel and serves private planes at Erie International....

GE offering new humidity and temperature sensor
On April 3, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies announced ChipCap, a next-generation relative humidity and temperature sensor for the HVAC, automotive, medical and appliance industries. Overall, ChipCap can reduce the cost of humidity and temperature sensor integration by 50 percent or more. The product is fully factory calibrated, eliminating end user calibration, the costly calibration process and need for expensive calibration equipment. This can ultimately save the end user $30,000 to $50,000 in capital equipment costs and even more in calibration labor...

A short interest increase at GE, a bet against economy?
The short interest in General Electric rose sharply in the period ending March 31. The number compares to share short for March 14. GE's short interest rose 13 million shares to 57.9 million. GE's stock has been doing relatively well recently. It has moved up 3% over the past three months while the S&P has fallen over 5%. Shares in the company are still considered a "safe haven" for investors when the economy is in poor condition....

GE consumer finance unit gives up on U.S. consumer
GE Money, the consumer finance arm of U.S.- based based industrial stalwart General Electric, is pulling back from doing business in its homeland, where it sees scant growth opportunities, to further expand its global footprint. The subsidiary, founded in the 1930s to finance home appliances during the Great Depression, already operates in more than 55 countries. But with growth in the U.S. at a standstill, it has been forced to refocus on other areas to boost returns....

Karan Bhatia lands top job in GE
Former senior Bush administration official Karan Bhatia has landed a top job with General Electric. He has been named vice president and senior counsel in the conglomerate's international law and policy division...

Banco Santander to acquire GE Money’s UK motor finance and card businesses
The Spanish Banco Santander has agreed to buy GE Money’s automotive finance unit in the UK together with GE Money businesses in Germany, Finland and Austria. In turn, GE Commercial Finance will acquire Interbanca, the Italian commercial bank acquired by Santander as part of its joint acquisition of the Dutch bank ABN Amro with Fortis and RBS...

Airline Regulators Grapple With Engine-Shutdown Peril
As a Qatar Airways flight dodged thunderstorms on approach to Shanghai in 2006, it encountered a problem that, until recently, was considered virtually impossible: nearly four miles above the earth, both engines of the big Airbus A330 shut down at the same time.
The engines quickly restarted and the pilots managed a safe landing. But the incident, along with similar ones before it, set off alarm bells throughout the industry because of the cause: ice inside the engines....

FYI: GE says small fluorescent bulbs can be trashed
Fluorescent light bulbs (compact and long tube type) have become popular ways of saving money on the electric bill. How can they be disposed of safely?...