GE and Nuclear Energy in India

GE Hitachi, Westinghouse Could Benefit From India's Shift on Nuclear Energy.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a partnership between General Electric and Hitachi, and Westinghouse Electric, a Toshiba unit are likely to benefit from the recently approved Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill in India.
On Monday, the Indian Parliament approved the compensation bill for nuclear accidents subsequent to tougher provisions on supplier liability. This move would end the two-year nuclear ban on India, whose atomic energy market is estimated between $150 billion and $175 billion.

It would enable U.S. companies to compete and invest almost $100 billion to $150 billion in India's nuclear power industry. Additionally, these companies would compete with European state- run rival companies as India boosts nuclear power generation to increase thirteen-fold by 2030 to spur economic growth.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress government had to rewrite the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill to accommodate all concerns and views of opposition parties as it seeks to ensure the passing of the bill before U.S president Barrack Obama visits India in November. The new law might lead to a significant increase in nuclear energy contribution to India's current power supply, which currently accounts for a meager 3%. 

GE Creates Page on Digg

GE, EA, Red Bull Are Digging In
Reasoning that an endless stream of content is required to engage fans, General Electric, Electronic Arts and Red Bull last week launched their own Digg pages, along with banner ads teasing Digg content.

The sites so far are built around common themes. GE's site, for its Ecomagination initiative, features links to green technology stories from Treehugger.com, Scientific American and Grist.org. Electronic Arts' site features stories about gaming from g4tv.com among others. Red Bull's Digg site recycles content from Redbullusa.com, which is mainly videos from action sporting events.
Each marketer will also run ads on Digg's network that tease such highlighted stories. Such content-enriched ads have been around for a while. In January, for instance, Intel ran banners with headlines from the Consumer Electronics Show in an attempt to increase click-through rates.

http://digg.com/ecomagination

GE Aviation Tests New Technology

Test flight signals larger GE, Boeing FAA role
An American Airlines flight last week became the first in the U.S. to land using an approach designed by a private company, which may lead to a larger role for business in crafting routes for the government.
 Flight 1916 from Dallas landed at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, on Thursday, guided by procedures written by General Electric Co.'s Naverus unit. The flight shows companies can speed the redesign of routes, helping carriers save time and fuel, said Brian Will, director of airspace modernization at AMR Corp.'s American.

"We will use this all the time," Will, who flew American's Boeing Co. 737-800 to Connecticut, said of the landing approach in an interview. "It's a benefit to us."

AIG and GE See Increase in Aircraft Leasing

GE, AIG See Air-Leasing Competition Heat Up
Just as established players in the aircraft-leasing business are getting back on their feet, scrappy start-ups are giving them a run for their money.
Given the disparity in size between the biggest and smallest competitors, it may not make much of a difference. The two key industry players, American International Group's (AIG) International Lease Finance Corp. and General Electric's (GE) GE Commercial Aviation Services, dominate the industry, with at least three times as many aircraft as their closest competitors.
The battle is interesting if only for the high-profile players -- as well as the profits involved in each leasing arrangement as demand has started to heat up.
GECAS and ILFC have been at the top of the aircraft-leasing space for a long time, making it difficult for new entrants to build a book of business. The two firms now boast 1,800 and 1,000 aircraft, respectively; the next largest competitors have 100 to 300 aircraft and smaller start-ups might have less than a dozen.

New GE Aviation Plant in Alabama

GE Aviation to open new plant in Alabama
GE Aviation plans establish a facility in Alabama to develop high-tech coatings for military engine components, the company announced Aug. 25 in conjunction with state officials. The exact location is being determined.
The plant is expected to employ from 300 to 400 people later in the decade when production of the F136 engine for the Joint Strike Fighter achieves full production, it said in a news release.
GE and Rolls-Royce are fighting to maintain government funding for development of their alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It would compete for orders with the primary F-35 engine being developed by Pratt & Whitney.

Big Spending on GE Lobbying

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Spent $8.3 Million on Q2 Lobbying
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) spent a total of $8.3 million lobbying the federal government during the second quarter, working on a wide range of issues including clean energy legislation and financial reform legislation.The conglomerate company spent more than the $7.2 million that it spent during the second quarter of 2009, as a number of major pieces worked their way through congress. The report came from a disclosure which was filed with the House’s clerk office on July 20th. The company also spent more than the $7.14 million it spent during the first quarter of 2010.

New Energy and Appliance Partnerships for GE

GE Teams with Major Utilities, Builders and Communities to Increase American Home Efficiency by 70%, Save Homeowners $100s/yr. on Energy Bills
A team of technologists from GE's Industrial Solutions, Appliances, Lighting and Research divisions is partnering with major utilities, builders and local communities in the western U.S. to evaluate and develop new strategies that reduce energy usage in new and existing homes by up to 70% or more. With the average U.S. household paying $1,240 per year in electricity costs, this program could save homeowners more than $850 per year on their electricity costs.

Nation's Third Largest Homebuilder Selects GE as Exclusive Appliance Supplier
GE Appliances & Lighting signed a contract to continue its role as the single-source appliance supplier for Lennar Homes, the third largest homebuilder in the country(1). GE was selected for the strength of its brand, homebuyer satisfaction, back room efficiencies, and the scope of its nationwide service and delivery network. In 2009, Lennar Homes built 11,478 homes in 17 states, from California to Massachusetts. GE will provide GE(R), GE Profile(TM), and GE Monogram(R) appliances for all new homes between now and Dec. 31, 2014.

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights

It appears that the strength of the dollar in recent months due to the Euro crisis is already starting to take its toll on U.S. international competitiveness. It is not just that our trade deficit with Europe is deteriorating, rising to $7.8 billion in June from $6.2 billion in May. Our companies compete directly with European companies in many third-world countries.

For example, General Electric (NYSE: GE - News) and Siemens (NYSE: SI - News) of Germany both make products like MRI machines. If the value of the euro falls 10% against the dollar, then Siemens can easily undercut the price it quotes to a Chinese hospital that is interested in upgrading its medical imaging department, and thus get sales that might have otherwise gone to GE. China is, of course, our largest bilateral trade deficit, and it increased to $26.2 billion from $22.3 billion in May.

Full Article Here

747s with GE Engines Included in FAA Order

US FAA orders fixes in Boeing 747s - WSJ

The U.S. air-safety regulator, last week, moved to require certain engine-related wiring changes to Boeing Co's model, the paper said.According to the agency, the fixes are necessary to avoid potentially dangerous retraction of flaps, or panels that deploy from the wings to provide extra lift during takeoffs.FAA said that the retracting flaps during critical early phases of flight could result in reduced climb performance and consequent collision with terrain and obstacles, the paper said.The regulators directive will cover nearly 100 Boeing 747s flown by U.S. carriers and equipped with engines manufactured by both General Electric Co. and the Pratt & Whitney unit of United Technologies Corp, the business daily said.

GE to Benefit from Credit Card Boom

Store-Brand Credit Cards Boom

The private-label corner of the U.S. credit-card market is enjoying a resurgence as fewer Americans fall behind on their payments.Like the broader credit-card industry, delinquencies on store-brand or private-label cards are slowing. That is good news for retailers such as Target Corp. and Nordstrom Inc. and issuers like Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co. with hefty holdings of store-brand cards.Such specialized retail credit cards differ from so-called general-purpose cards used at multiple-location stores. Store-brand cards are considered riskier because those bills often rank lower in the payment hierarchy of customers in financial distress. A chunk of the customer base for these cards is made up of low-income households and less credit-worthy borrowers. As a result, these cards typically carry higher interest rates and lower credit lines than general-purpose cards.

GE's Latest Healthcare Partnership

Immunomedics collaborates with GE Healthcare

Biopharmaceutical company Immunomedics Inc. said Wednesday it will work with GE Healthcare to evaluate an imaging agent that could be used in identifying cancers.
Immunomedics and GE Healthcare will collaborate to evaluate Immunomedics' method of attaching peptides to an imaging agent called F-18. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Immunomedics said the General Electric Co. unit will cover all costs related to the collaboration.

Ecomagination is Alive and Well

GE pushes Eco 2.0 innovation and collaboration
General Electric announced a renewed commitment to its five-year-old Ecomagination initiative, including $10 billion investment, a new campaign, and PR support.
The GE Ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid launched July 13 and runs for 10 weeks, promoting more engagement between GE and entrepreneurs.
"The Challenge exemplifies this open innovation and collaborative approach GE is taking with its big initiatives, particularly around SmartGrid for this one," said Leigh Farris, manager of corporate communications for GE.
Entrepreneurs, technology experts, and start-up companies can submit their ideas for building the next generation power grid, with the winning ideas announced in October. Since its launch, GE has received more than 750 ideas for the Challenge.

Recent GE Acquisition and Partnerships

G.E. and Intel Form Health Venture
General Electric and Intel said on Monday that they had formed a joint venture to create products for patients with chronic diseases and for elderly people at home or in assisted living.
The 50-50 venture is part of a collaboration begun last year, the companies said in a statement that did not elaborate on the terms. G.E. will contribute its home health unit’s assets and Intel will contribute its digital health group’s assets, the companies said.

GE acquires ECS from SNC-Lavalin
General Electric Co. bought Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin's Energy Control Systems business and its network management and control software for an undisclosed amount.ECS makes software to improve power efficiency and reliability. Its headquarters will remain in Montreal and it will keep its staff.

GE joint venture engine gets joint certification from FAA, Europe
The advanced engine developed by a GE Aviation venture for the Boeing Next Generation 737 aircraft received joint certification from U.S. and European safety agencies.

24/7 Wall St.: 2010 Becomes The Year of the Conglomerates

2010 may be a directionless year for the stock markets so far, but shares of conglomerates are outperforming and more upside is expected. The five largest conglomerates we follow are all higher for the year. We took a look at General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) to see which conglomerates were outperforming and why. With a mixed bag between the performance of the SPDRs (NYSE: SPY) and DIAMONDS (NYSE: DIA), the performance so far stands out significantly for all of these large companies.
Conglomerates are supposed to offer safety because of their diversification. That is the theory, and the theory seems to be working so far in 2010. They are also generally good for screens when it comes to value investors and dividend investors. We put together a small table here for comparison of the stocks and the performance. If there are any discrepancies over the “listed” December 31, 2010 versus the papers on official closes, it is because the figures below have accounted for the dividend effects in the stocks. We have also shown the year-to-date gains up to the close of Thursday, July 29, 2010 and we even gave an implied upside target to the consensus analyst price objective in the shares.

Read more: 2010 Becomes The Year of the Conglomerates (GE, MMM, HON, UTX, BRK-A, SPY, DIA)

GE Consumer Finance Cuts Operations in Japan

General Electric Consumer Finance Scales Way Back
GE Consumer Finance in Japan offers credit cards, housing loans and insurance services.
Because of the Tokyo's decision to crack down on lenders charging exorbitant rates, 30%….making the max 20% in two years, GE Consumer, a subsidiary of General Electric, will scale down its operations.

Source: Japanlyst

Dividend and Long Term Outlook for GE

Guru Stocks Raising Dividends: General Electric Company
General Electric is one of the largest and most diversified industrial corporations in the world. General Electric Company has a market cap of $172.11 billion; its shares were traded at around $16.12 with a P/E ratio of 14.8 and P/S ratio of 1.1. The company raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 12 cents/share on Friday. The news sent the stock over 3% higher for the day. Whether the company can rebuild its streak of consecutive dividend increases remains to be seen however.

GE announced today second-quarter 2010 earnings from revenues decreased 4% to $37.4 billion. GE Capital Services’ (GECS) revenues fell 2% versus last year to $13.1 billion. Industrial sales were $24.4 billion, down 6% from the second quarter of 2009. Continuing operations (attributable to GE) were $3.3 billion, with EPS of $0.30 per share up 15% from the second quarter of 2009. Revenues were $37.4 billion for the quarter, down 4% from a year ago, impacted by lower GE Capital assets, industrial dispositions and lower equipment sales as expected.

The Unusual Suspects For This Week
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is one that we’d want our readers to be involved in for a longer-term outlook. It has gotten through earnings season and is continuing to eliminate some of the finance unit’s dominance. NBC-Universal is still a deal under review but it is still in the process of being a stake divesting that will generate cash. With a 3% dividend yield after the hike and with its share buyback commencing immediately, there is probably more of a floor under the shares. After our review of conglomerates and their leadership over the broad market, we also found that G.E. is the conglomerate with the most implied upside for investors.

Continued Bond Bid-Rigging Indictments

U.S. Predicts More Indictments in Municipal Bond Bid-Rigging Investigation
More indictments are expected in a federal antitrust investigation of the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market, a prosecutor told a federal judge in New York.
Rebecca Meiklejohn, a lawyer with the Justice Department’s antitrust division, made the disclosure at a hearing in Manhattan in the criminal case of CDR Financial Products Inc. and three of its employees, charged as part of an ongoing probe of bid- and auction-rigging in the municipal market. Three ex- bankers with a General Electric Co. unit were indicted in same probe this week.
Lawyers for the CDR defendants went to court today to ask U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero to direct the government to give them early access to the prosecution’s evidence and identify any material that might help to clear their clients. Meiklejohn objected, saying the defendants weren’t entitled to early access and the government’s investigation is still moving ahead.
“This is a very expansive case,” Meikeljohn told Marrero, addressing the broader probe. “Just this week the government indicted more individuals in connection with this investigation. This is a continuing investigation and we expect there to be more indictments.”

More About Bond Bidding, from Amazon:
Electronic Bidding for Municipal Bonds: Technology Innovations for Competitive Bond Sales.: An article from: Government Finance ReviewRepetitive bidding for municipal bonds: A chance-constrained programming approach (Faculty working paper)