General Electric Company (GE)

General Electric says its profit fell 6 per cent in the second quarter, as discontinued operations and loss provisions weighed on results.

Hartford, Conn.-based General Electric Co. says it earned $5.07-billion (U.S.), or 51 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $5.38-billion, or 52 cents per share. Total revenue has risen to $46.89-billion from $42.38-billion a year earlier.

On the basis of continuing operations, GE says it earned $5.39-billion, or 54 cents per share. Thomson Financial says analysts expected the company to report earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $45.31-billion.

In a statement, GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said the U.S. economy is “challenged” but many other markets are healthy.

GE's strategy of acquiring and selling companies could, if not executed perfectly, cause the company to lose money or miss out on booming industry trends.

GE's diversification reduces the impact of strong performance in any one market. For example, one of the primary bullish arguments for GE on wikinvest cites NBC's "hit shows." When it comes down to it, (even if these were actually big hits) these hit shows only compose a part of NBC and by extension, an even smaller part of GE.