Recent News: Steel Mill Financing, Commercial Paper Subsidies, Commercial Properties, Locomotives in Kazakhstan, China, and Jim Cramer - Warren Buffet

GE unit increases steel mill financing by $100M
GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending, a unit of General Electric Co., announced Wednesday it will increase its financing of a Mississippi steel mill by $100 million...

Fed Offers GE, Citigroup Commercial Paper Subsidies
The Federal Reserve may subsidize U.S. companies by buying their short-term debt at rates below those demanded by private investors in the $1.6 trillion commercial-paper market. Fed officials yesterday set the yield they will pay for commercial paper at about 1.1 percentage points less than the average cost for financial companies, weekly central bank data show. Policy makers last week announced emergency plans to buy the securities after the market shrank to a three-year low...

GE's 'Honey Pot' Properties Turn Sour
When the real-estate market was booming, General Electric Co.'s commercial-property business earned the nickname "the honey pot" among insiders because the company could increase earnings simply by selling a building or two. But now, the opposite is true: GE's difficulty selling its office buildings, shopping centers and other commercial property is dragging down its financial results....

GE plans to build trains in Kazakhstan
The Kazakh venture of General Electric Co. plans to produce as many as 200 locomotives a year starting in 2011. GE, the world's largest maker of locomotives, and AO Kazakhstan Temir Zholy National Co., the country's state-owned rail company, plan to produce up to 100 train engines a year starting in 2009 at a new $750 million plant in the capital Astana, Temir Zholy said Tuesday....

GE private equity arm holding off on new China buys
A private equity unit of General Electric said on Thursday that it would focus on its existing investment portfolio in China rather than investing in new projects over the next 2-3 years amid poor market conditions. Zhu Wenqian, head of private equity and business development, Greater China at GE Commercial Finance, said asset managers and investors would have to prepare for "a sustained war" before the markets start to recover....

Crisis stresses in-house lending of U.S. companies
Increasing signs of stress at the finance arm of General Electric Co has triggered some concerns about other companies with in-house lending units and their ability to weather the financial crisis....

Cramer: Sure, Buffett Can Afford to Buy Here
Great to see Warren Buffett buying here. Fabulous. He has a lot of firepower. He is right to buy American. And I want to go with him, except, he's been buying for awhile, and, more important, he can be down 20% to 30% and it doesn't matter...