General Electric keeps on marching

I decided to look at some of the most widely held stocks to see how they're doing. General Electric (GE) is always at the top of that list.  The key to success at GE is that it is so big and in so many sectors that it's revenue almost mirrors the whole economy in general.  Where it shines is that most of its divisions seem to me managed better than most of their competitors, which equates to the bottom line.  The price has enjoyed momentum on Barchart as the economy recovers. The leading divisions are expected to be in consumer products, lending and leasing and of course, the aviation division.

General Electric (GE) is one of the largest and most diversified industrial corporations in the world. GE is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products for the generation, transmission, distribution, control and utilization of electricity. Some of GE's products include major appliances; lighting products; industrial automation products; medical diagnostic imaging equipment; motors; electrical distribution and control equipment; locomotives; power generation and delivery products.

Technical Factors:

• 56% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Trading above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• Relative Strength Index is 52.86%
• Trades around 20.29 which is above its 50 day moving average of 20.15

Fundamental Factors:

• This is a Wall Street sweetheart and a core holding at most firms
• Brokerage analysts have published 3 strong buy, 9 buy and 6 hold recommendations
• Sales project are slightly under being flat with sales projections for this year to be down 4.50% and still down by another .20% next year
• Earnings are where great management shows its head
• Earnings are estimated to increase by 16.50% this year, another 23.10% next year and continue increasing by 16.64% annually for the next 5 years
• I love 5 year double digit increased earnings projections.

General Investor Sentiment:

• To say it is a widely followed stock is an understatement with over 19,238 investors voting opinions on Motley Fool
• CAPS members vote 14,911 to 1,032 that the stock will beat the market
• The All Stars are more experienced but agree 3,171 to 124

Summary:  It's hard for any company this large to have growth in sales that beat the growth in the GDP but they should be able to attract a management staff that is at least slightly above average.  As the economy recovers a good management team should how to milk the assets for earnings.

Jim Van Meerten is an analyst for  Marketocracy Capital Management.  He shares his knowledge and experience from over 40 years of investing in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs on  Barchart.com  in his daily blog -- Barchart Portfolio Blogs.