"Our portfolio has been notably light on pharmaceuticals and consumer products; we're rectifying that by buying Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)," says Gregory Dorsey in Leeb's Income Performance Letter.

"Getting a handle on exactly what the 122 year-old company markets is no easy task, given the broad scope of its product line-up. And to say that J&J has been a resounding success on the corporate
stage would be an understatement.

"Through its more than 250 operating businesses, the parent company lays claim to being, among other things: the world's premier consumer health company, the largest medical devices and diagnostics company, the third-largest biologics company and the sixth-largest pharmaceuticals company.

"While acquisitions have played an important role in making the company what it is today, J&J has also achieved these milestones through internal growth. It boasts 75 consecutive years of rising sales.

Back in April, I announced that I bought some shares of General Electric (NYSE: GE) for a trade. How has my trade been going? Pretty lousy.

I was amazed when I read a recent article by Melly Alazraki. She discussed GE's recent accomplishment (if you can call it an accomplishment) of hitting a price level not seen since May 2004. That price was $30.39. Yesterday, the intra-day low was $30.21, which was also the new 52-week low. What was the price I paid when I began my trading position? $32.09. As can be seen, I'm losing money on paper at the moment. Of course, when I bought GE at that price, I was not necessarily looking to be out of the stock the next day. I realized that it might be a few months, maybe more, before it rebounded back to perhaps $37 or $38 per share. So, my definition of trading in this case might be a little different than that of the typical trader.

However, I have to admit that, in the back of my mind, I thought the stock would have been higher by at least a couple bucks at this point. Why? Well, the dividend yield seemed too attractive to me. I mean, even now, isn't it slightly crazy that GE is yielding over 4%? How long will Wall Street allow it to exist at this level?

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) today reported better-than-expected third quarter results and raised their earnings guidance. But Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) disappointed Wall Street and offered a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy. That bad news pulled down 3M and Honeywell's shares, as well as pulling down the Dow Jones Industrial Average by triple digits.

"The third-quarter earnings that are coming out are the worst but we don't see a sharp bounce-back,'' Christina Bank & Trust's Scott Arminger told Bloomberg News. "Financial earnings will be pretty mediocre for a couple of quarters going forward.''

The maker of Post-It notes and countless other products reported net income of $960 million, or $1.32 per share, compared with $894 million, or $1.18 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 5.5% to $6.2 billion. Excluding one-time earnings, profit was $1.29 compared with $1.17 a year earlier. Analysts expected profit of $1.28 and revenue of $6.29 billion, according to Thomson Financial. 3M raised its earnings forecast to $5.54 to $5.62 for this year, compared with previous guidance of $5.40 to $5.60. It expects full year sales growth excluding the divestiture of the branded pharmaceutical business of 7% to 8%.

Honeywell's profit rose 14% to $618 million, or 81 cents per share and revenue rose 10 percent to $8.74 billion, helped by strength in its commercial aviation, defense and space markets. The results beat Wall Street consensus expectations of 82 cents on revenue of $8.59 billion.

GE ended the day at $34.78, down 6 cents and 0.17%. Reuters points out that fears of inflation are pushing US blue chip stocks down, of which GE is a most prominent member.

GE shows signs of beginning to bow to shareholder pressure with its recent $3.8 billion sale of its Advanced Materials Unit. GE doesn't seem to be in any spot that it needs the money for, so it is clearly a large sign to investors that GE is trying to focus more strongly on its fundamental sections. Don't look for GE to start selling off its energy and industrial sections anytime soon, but if the price doesn't come up, GE may consider selling off more non-aligned sections.