🚀 go-pugleaf

Anne & Lynn Wheeler <ly...@garlic.com> writes:
> GE Just Signaled The Next Crisis (And Nobody's Paying Attention)
> https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-30/ge-just-signaled-next-crisis-and-nobodys-paying-attention
>
> Welch would regularly beat Wall Street's earnings estimates by a penny
> or two. And he was named manager of the century by Fortune Magazine for
> his ability to pump GE's stock.
>
> And while Welch is lauded for his "six sigma" management, it seems his
> real talent was using GE's many divisions to move assets around and
> goose earnings to hit short-term numbers.
>
> The creative accounting caught up with GE in 2009, when the company paid
> $50 million to settle SEC allegations it had used improper accounting
> methods to boost numbers in 2002 and 2003.
>
> Among the strategies GE used to make its 2003 numbers was selling
> railroad cars to banks, with side deals and verbal promises to assure
> the banks they couldn't lose money on the deal.
>
> Enron used the same trick in 1999 when it "sold" Nigerian barges to
> Merrill Lynch, allowing the company to fake a $12 million profit.
>
> GE's $31 billion pension nightmare
> http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/18/investing/ge-pension-immelt-breakup/index.html?iid=EL

on going financialization and financial innovation over last 30yrs

How GE Went From American Icon to Astonishing Mess; Famous for great
management, General Electric is staring down a plunging share price, a
federal investigation, and possible breakup.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-02-01/how-ge-went-from-american-icon-to-astonishing-mess

other recent refs on financialization
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017i.html#1 Any definitive reference for
why the PDP-11 was little-endian?
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2017i.html#71 When Working From Home Doesn't Work
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2018.html#25 Trump's Infrastructure Plan Is Actually Pence's--And It's All About Privatization