Recent News: Jack Welch, Citigroup, Earnings, Jeffery Immelt, GE Retirees, Dubai and Middle East Growth

Welch backpedals, calls GE's Immelt "helluva CEO"
Former General Electric Co. chief Jack Welch changed his tune about Jeff Immelt, his successor as GE chairman and chief executive, on Thursday, calling him "a helluva CEO" in an appearance on CNBC business television...

Welch backtracks on diss of GE chief
Jack Welch admitted yesterday he “really stepped in it” by questioning the credibility of his successor at General Electric. Welch, the Boston homey and legendary former General Electric chief executive, backtracked yesterday from prior televised comments on CNBC that current GE chief, Jeffrey Immelt, had a “credibility issue” after the giant conglomerate recently surprised Wall Street with lower-than-expected profits...

GE Snags Citi Leasing Business
After disappointing shareholders with worse-than-expected first-quarter earnings, General Electric is seeking to grow out of its slump, buying a bunch of finance business lines from cash-strapped Citigroup....

The G7, the Banks and GE
This week, it’s tough to pick the most significant news. The G7 Finance Ministers Meeting was significant for what it didn’t do—something truly constructive about the credit crisis. Tired carpenters, the ministers and central bank chiefs hammered the same old nails. Their Financial Stabilities Forum report served up the same tired nostrums—extended capital requirements, transparency, closer international cooperation and the like....

GE’s Immelt to visit Erie school
General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt will visit Erie’s Harding Elementary School Tuesday morning while in town for GE’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, GE officials said today.During the half-hour visit. Immelt will spend time with students to see firsthand how a $15 million grant from the GE Foundation awarded to the district in April 2007 is paying off, according to a news release from GE Transportation, the Lawrence Park Township-based division of GE...

GE says paperwork issues snag airline parts
General Electric Co. said Friday that it is working with federal aviation officials to resolve paperwork issues involving as many as 50 commercial airplane engines that are not authorized to operate at a certain setting...

GE retirees want cost-of-living pay
General Electric Co. is holding its annual shareholders' meeting Tuesday and Wednesday at the Bayfront Convention Center.My retirement group, the Retirees Association of General Electric or R.A.G.E., is pleased and interested in what GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt has to say about the future of the business and our pensions and stock, particularly the widow's pension...

GE's green arm eyes Mideast for expansion
Dubai: Ecomagination, a green initiative of General Electric (GE), is looking to expand in the Middle East's construction and infrastructure sectors as the US firm seeks to bolster its credentials in energy-efficient and water conservation products....