GE is one of the core holdings in my personal stock portfolio. Even though this past year has not been kind to their stock price or their investors, I still believe the company has a bright future (no pun intended). Recently they announced improvement in their Capital division, which was largely responsible for their poor performance of late. While loan losses are expected to continue into 2010, they're predicting the division will show a profit by 2011. In the mean time, I'm looking to add additional shares to my stake while the price is low ($15.66 currently). Their dividend yield of 2.55% is well below the average yield of my current investments, however I'm expecting to make up for that through growth in stock value. If Warren Buffett feels confident enough to loan GE $3 billion, then I feel pretty safe investing my money with them. Bottom line, it's a magnificent company with a fantastic pedigree, strong management, great product line and a franchise name. You can't really ask for much more than that. On an entirely unrelated subject, Obama recently announced tax incentives for small businesses who hire new workers. I have to say I think this is the smartest move the man has made since being elected. Getting people back to work is the key to getting the economy moving again. When the government gives business incentives to put people back to work, it's a win win situation for everyone concerned. The businesses save money due to tax incentives, the workers gain jobs and paychecks which they spend, in turn benefiting other businesses. With sales of goods and services going up and more people working, tax revenues increase for local, state and federal governments. So jobs should be JOB 1 for our political leaders right now.
