Is GE Wagging the Dog with CNBC’s Bartiromo and Burnett?

OK, I give. I can’t friggin’ take it anymore. Smack dab in the middle of one of the world’s darkest financial hours the media feels the need to distract us with a “who’s hotter on CNBC; Maria Bartiromo or Erin Burnett?” That’s right, that’s all that is in the news these days, either it’s Paulson pulling another rabbit out of his ass, or who has a nicer…..”teeth” on CNBC.

While both ladies deny any direct involvement in the recent flare up and claim they have a fantastic working relationship, Page 6 says otherwise. This little pissing contest has only gotten worse since Maria and Erin were interviewed for the November issue of Vanity Fair by Suzanna Andrews. While I’m a red blooded American male who appreciates a good cat fight, I say this; who fucking cares? I mean, I really do have better things to do. By the way, the first one who calls me on the carpet for having better things to do, yet time enough to blog about it wins!

On the eve of one of the most important Presidential elections in our history, I find myself wanting to compare everything to something else, so why not these two. Let’s review our candidates:

• Both are hot
• Both are smart
• Both are making a killing
• Both are enjoying the attention
• Both have to put up with that annoying dickhead Rick Santelli every day
• Final analysis: Draw

The debate should end here, but it seems fuel has been added to the fire recently by Mrs. Bartiromo herself saying that she wouldn’t be surprised if the higher ups at General Electric were feeding the story. I suppose that’s possible and here are a few ways you could look at that scenario:

1. It’s true that anyone from a guy in the mail room all the way up to Jeff Immelt himself could be the perp in order to take some of the heat off GE considering the dismal press they have been getting in recent weeks.

2. The story is being kept alive by Maria or Erin (or both) in order to remain relevant in a crowded business news environment without actually having to “take it off” so to speak.

3. They could truly fucking hate each other with the white hot intensity of the Sun.

Whatever the reason, this salacious little story takes away from the journalistic integrity in the same way Fox News Channel (FNC) has never been considered journalistic. Because you can’t supplement hard hitting reporting with tits and ass. Well, you can, but not for long. Besides, if I had my way, Trish Regan would be on twenty-four hours a day, something about the dark hair and blue eyes.

IKEA - Solar Panels in Isle 4!

I remember saying to myself “here it comes,” the Green Wave! It was about five years or so ago when I started reading that the next big thing in corporate America was going to be “Going Green.”

I said great, let’s save the world and make a buck while we are at it. You can’t leave this type of philosophical shift up to the government can you? I mean, these are the same guys that lived through one oil nightmare and did nothing about it, right?

So, this time big companies instead of big government decided to take charge. Companies like General Electric, Toyota, and Green Mountain Energy all hopped on the Green bandwagon in their own special ways.

But that was all foreplay…

God bless IKEA! The company known for selling you low-priced, colorful, uncomfortable, furniture in flat cardboard boxes is going green in a different way!

Through an IKEA spin-off aptly named Greentech, IKEA plans to sell college kids and empty-nesters alike solar and water conservation products along with other environmentally friendly items sprinkled among the EKTORP sofas and the LEKSVIK coffee tables.

To that I say fantastic! Only problem is, if I can’t put together a bookshelf, how the hell am I going to hang solar panels?

General Electric on the Prowl for Financials

Let me start by saying that I have always been a fan of GE. It is a great American story. A behemoth of a conglomerate that has been as nimble as a startup. Jack Welch took General Electric to new heights during his rein as CEO. Sure, he made plenty of enemies in his day, but for the most part you cannot compare any modern era business leader to Jack.

Current CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt hasn’t fared as well. But this isn’t going to be a bitch session on Jeff. He has held his own in a completely different market than the one Jack operated in. For starters, it’s tough to be a major international manufacturing company when everyone is going green and Mr. Immelt has done a great job with the Ecomagination thing they are doing.

However, this post is about the financial side of GE, or more precisely, GE Capital. Mr. Immelt said yesterday that GE is going to be very active in making acquisitions in the troubled financial services industry. To that I say Amen brother!

Why?

Because it’s obvious these effing guys on Wall Street can’t figure out how to run a financial services company for more than a quarter without running the friggin thing into the ground. Here are some comments from Jeff yesterday on CNBC:

“We’re going to do deals right now in financial services that will fuel earnings for years,” Immelt told CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla in an exclusive interview from the Beijing Games, which NBC is broadcasting. “If you’ve got some cash, if you have a strong balance sheet, this is as good of a time you’re going to see.”

“We made more than anyone else in the fourth quarter last year,” he said. “We made more than anyone else in the first quarter last year; Bank of America was the only company that made more than us in the second quarter.”

Again Amen. This is how small companies think. Nimble, quick, strike while the iron is hot. When your competitors are shrinking violets, you expand, grab market share, and put them out of business.

That may sound a bit ruthless in this new age, room for everyone, don’t keep score at my kid’s soccer games world we live in, but that is fantasy and doesn’t portray the true realities of business life. But what the hell do I know; I am just a dumb sales guy.