Recent News: NBC Olympics, Earnings, Stock Performance, Finance Arm, and Warren Buffett

NBC loses money on Beijing Olympics
NBC Universal lost money on the Beijing Olympics, executives of parent company General Electric said Friday....

GE’s Quality of Earnings Problems
General Electric, a bellwether stock for the US economy, reported a 12% drop in third quarter earnings, as the credit crisis continues to hammer its finance unit, GE Capital, a big profit driver for the industrial conglomerate. On closer examination, GE’s earnings report has a number quality of earnings issues. Investors should sit up and take notice of the danger zones...

GE Rises Most Since 1980 as Profit Meets Estimates
General Electric Co. rose 13 percent in New York trading, the most in at least 28 years, after its third-quarter profit matched analysts' estimates during the worst U.S. financial crisis since the Great Depression. Profit from continuing operations fell 12 percent to $4.48 billion, or 45 cents a share, from $5.11 billion, or 50 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 11 percent to $47.2 billion, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said today. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said GE will meet its 2008 forecast...

GE profit battered by finance arm
General Electric profit declined for a third straight quarter because of lower earnings at its finance arm during the ongoing financial crisis. Profit from continuing operations fell 12% to $US4.48 billion ($6.9 billion), or 45 cents a share, from $US5.11 billion, or 50 cents, a year earlier, matching analysts' average estimate. Sales rose 11% to $US47.2 billion, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said Friday. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said GE will meet its 2008 profit forecast....

GE's Financial Dead Arm
General Electric reported its earnings Friday, and the results were unsurprising. They met Wall Street's expectations and were defined by weakness in its financial arm, which has been hit by problems globally and in the credit markets. GE's profit dropped 23.2% to $4.3 billion, or 43 cents per share, from $5.6 billion, or 54 cents per share, reported in last year's corresponding quarter. The results were just short of Wall Street's expected 45 cents per share....

Investing Like Buffett
IF this were the 1930s, we might go to the movies and see a gaudy, escapist musical to feel better again. Instead, let’s pretend we’re Warren Buffett...

Bad News Is Good News For GE
General Electric had primed the market for a crummy third-quarter earnings report, so investors weren't too surprised when one came on Friday. There was some unexpected good news from its media division, but the cloud inside that silver lining was that the better-than-expected results were a direct reflection of the direr-than-expected global economy....

GE makes a profit, but it's lower
General Electric Co.’s third-quarter net income fell by 22 percent amid a decrease in earnings in its GE Capital financial services unit, which has been affected by the ongoing credit crunch.
Fairfield, Conn.-based GE (NYSE: GE) today reported that net income declined to $4.3 billion, or 43 cents a share, compared with $5.6 billion, or 54 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier...

What Does Warren Buffett See in General Electric?
By all accounts, the legendary investor has entered less-than-familiar territory. General Electric (GE) and Goldman Sachs (GS) will most certainly determine whether Mr. Buffett's unique ability to pick business models with substantial inherent upside is still intact or whether the dramatic changes in the global economy are forcing him to fish in troubled waters. GE's Keith Sherin has just announced a worldwide upgrading of lending standards. But he did not clarify two important and related issues. Will this upgrading, or tightening, of GE's portfolio be founded in a revaluation of the assets which triggered the loans in the first place? And, if so, how will the almost-certain degradation of such assets impact upon GE's AAA rating?...