General Electric (GE)

Stock is down over 9% since January 1 which presents a pretty decent buying opportunity. An industrial name, obviously on the cyclical side of things, and he does like the cyclicals. Thinks the company is pretty well-positioned for growth as the global economy goes higher and demand picks up in longer cycle things like infrastructure, power generation, aircraft engines, energy and water processing. 3.5% dividend yield should grow by 10% per year.

Surprised at the share price reaction this year. Thinks it looks very attractive where it sits today. A good barometer for global GDP growth. There is an aerospace component to it. He is working to decide if he should buy it here.

Infrastructure plays are now materializing. US and Cdn governments are forking out a lot of money to infrastructure. This company is now out of the financial, which was a fantastic move. Manufacture everything from light bulbs to large turbines. This is the place to be.

A good investment because they had been overly penalized due to the size of its financial services division. The company has been making acquisitions in the industrial and healthcare areas over the last few years. It plans to take its consumer finance division public and spin it out.

Just recently bought this because it was slowly being forgiven for its GE Capital problems. The multiple discount it was trading at compared to other industrials, would slowly be covered. That has started to happen. This month has been tough for them. Thinks they are going to be able to implement some good cost-cutting programs in concert with growth of their core businesses.

With the weaker Cdn$, General Electric (GE-N) or an ETF that is hedged to the Cdn$? He would argue against hedging the Cdn$. Hedging does not come free, it is very expensive. One of the real merits of global equities is that they are a volatility dampener in your asset allocations. If you are hedging the currency, you are not getting one of the key benefits. GE’s product portfolio is quite well-positioned because it has positions in aerospace, wind farms, turbines etc. One of the issues this company has had for several years is that it is so big that investors are not willing to give it a premier multiple because of its big exposure to GE Financial.

These companies have all done a very good job of managing investor expectations, so analysts have come out with wildly optimistic earnings expectations and the company slowly guides them down lower and lower as the quarter progresses, which allows the companies to make or beat estimates that are a week or 2 old. This company does that. They are making noises about continuing to de-emphasize the financial services aspect. Have some wonderful medical device businesses inside their operations. This is one you could own, but realize, it still has a substantial amount in their financial services component.

We are in a recovering global economy and this is a global company. Not trading at a very high multiple. Very nice yield. One of the issues has been GE Capital, which is less and less important to them on a revenue basis. This is never going to get the kind of returns on equity or the multiple they got when GE capital was a big part of the organization. Should do quite well with the way the global economy is moving. It could get to $30 in the next 1-1.5 years.

Has held this for quite a while coming out of financial crisis, because he believed the concerns on their financial division were overstated. Also, is a global supplier of many things that are needed, such as healthcare devices, energy, parts and components, etc. Good stable business model. Have been raising dividends consistently coming out of 2008.

For 13 years he has been saying this is a “dog”. Closed at $26.73 yesterday and his model price is $21.46, a negative 20%. All the industrials in the last 3 years have just gone crazy. This one is just a constant plodder. Look for a change. If there is a management change and/or a jettison of the finance division, giving a pure industrial that would be positive.

Has come back and reinstated their dividend and still have some very good businesses. A very hard company to analyze so he has not bought this yet. Not on his list of Buys right now.

(Market Call Minute.) A good play on the US economy. Diversified financial, and industrial.

Exposure to global growth. Sold Canadian helicopter business. You get exposure to the US and Europe. It is the biggest solar company in the world. Decent dividend.

There is a saying in the market that so goes the market, so goes GE. They cover almost every segment of the economy. If it under performs, people are taking money out of the broad economy. He doesn’t think we have to worry too much. He is not looking for a major correction yet. Today's acquisitions were small compared to the size of GE. Buy on dips but be careful because then there could be a correction.

He still sees some upside. His view is that it is more valuable dead than alive. If new management ever came in and broke the company up, your investment would double. Put together in a dog’s breakfast it is just a conglomerate that performs like the market.