Once this level is hit, there's no coming back. It will only get worse and worse from here onward.
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2oyq - GE execs are tied at hip to WS. They hate pensions and like stock support. WS invests in cash on hand and ability to generate cash. Neither look good for GE. It's the IBM model - best product is a stock buyback. And they are not alone. Seems AAPL is starting to get this way now too, but they have so much cash it could last a while. Life cycle of a company. Founders are long gone and the bankers are in charge.
The only thing left is to plunder the pension fund and just wish everybody in it an apology and good luck. Dog eat dog for the survivors.
It is ironic that GE approved nearly $50 billion on stock buybacks over the last three years but neglected shoring up the Pension deficit. The buybacks only delayed the inevitable as we see now and the huge Pension deficit (perhaps getting worse?) will spook future investors. Paying off debt when business is good and profits are up makes better business sense. I believe the Power and Oil and Gas arms of GE are not going to be major contributors to the company as a whole for the next two years. Sell Transportation and Lighting? Good luck. I think Healthcare and Aviation could keep it afloat until the rest of the ship is righted, but the next two years are critical.
GE has a decent possibility of going under, as in bankrupt. I don't believe most people realize how close GE was to going bankrupt during the finical crisis several years ago. The company has a lot of debt and carries a lot of future debt. One of the current issues with GE is cash on hand. Without cash and proper management of cash, there have been many good companies that were forced in bankruptcy.
What is meant by coming back? If you think GE is going under that won't happen. If you mean GE will never be the size and number of employees as use to be that is probably the case. GE is in survival mode and will do what ever it can to increase share price. Unfortunately we should be positive that employees will be the casualties. But you can take a risk and stay at GE. But most will be much worse off than those that get out now.