The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

GE +9% on plan to become a pure-play industrial company:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ge-prepared-to-exit-the-bulk-of-ge-capital-1428662109

General Electric Co. has decided it no longer needs to be a bank. In the conglomerate’s most significant strategic move in years, GE has resolved to part ways with the bulk of GE Capital, the giant finance business that long accounted for around half the company’s profits but whose risks have rattled investors and weighed on its stock.

GE said it would hang on to its aircraft leasing operations, as well as financing for the energy and health-care industries—smaller lending lines that support its core industrial operations. But the bulk of the $500 billion behemoth would be sold or spun off over the next two years…