Exactly. The big issue here is that GE has been a very reliable company, very steady-eddie on earnings announcements, very forthcoming when there have been problems.
There were two problems here today:
First, GE surprise people with this clanger of a miss. GE hasn’t done this — ie, surprised people with this kind of miss — without giving analysts and investors a heads-up during the quarter.
Second big problem was GE saying that the ‘landscape’ had changed after the Bear Stearns problems. So, what are they saying? That they own highly speculative paper too? What bearing would Bear’s collapse have on GE’s assets? That’s what has me wondering what is on GE’s books.