I am watching PBS's Charlie Rose interview GE CEO Jeff Immelt. The Cable Gamer has always liked Charlie, because he seems like a nice guy--and yet unlike Larry King , he has done his homework.
In the past few minutes, Rose has asked Immelt some polite but probing questions about GE's stock price--specifically, about CNBC, the prospect of spinning off NBC, and the fate of NBC-Universal prexy Jeff Zucker.
On CNBC, the context was sort of confused, at least to me, but it seemed that Immelt was criticizing the way that CNBC reports earnings, and how those reports affect stock prices--like his stock price. Immelt called the coverage "crazy."
As for NBC, Rose asked Immelt point blank about the possibility of GE selling off NBC after the 2008 Olympics. Immelt answered that he "never had a serious discussion." That leaves Immelt with some wiggle room, doesn't it?
As for Zucker, Immelt praised his NBC-U underling, but maybe he didn't praise him as much as one would expect. Said Immelt, "He still has a few things to learn."
TCG doesn't pretend to be a stock picker, or stock pricer, but it seems to me that Immelt left himself plenty of options.
I will be looking to the transcript when it appears on the CRS website.
