While General Electric (NYSE: GE) hemorrhages value, its iconic former CEO Jack Welch is blasting the very notion of shareholder value as a valid goal.

Because, ya know, public companies have much better things to focus on than making money for their owners.

"On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world," he told the Financial Times. "Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy . . . Your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products."

"It is a dumb idea," he said. "The idea that shareholder value is a strategy is insane. It is the product of your combined efforts – from the management to the employees."

The weekend is often the time when boards and the government decide the fates of companies and CEOs. It gives everyone involved at least two days, perhaps more, to weigh options and make decisions without the fury of stock market trading. A board of directors can start work on Friday at 4 PM and weigh options until 8 PM Sunday, when Asia opens, or 8 AM Monday if overseas trading is not an issue.

No one with any sense would believe that the board of Citigroup (NYSE: C), the FDIC, the Fed, and the Treasury are not working through this weekend, again. Most of the government people are so exhausted that those who leave with the current administration will be happy to have the rest.

A lot of options have been thrown around. But, the fate of Citi comes down to two things. At this point, the bank is believed to be in such bad shape that putting in a new CEO, even Jack Welch, would make no difference. Chapter 11 would wipe out too many firms that have non-insured deposits at Citi, too many companies that have loans with a bank that could be called, and too many common, preferred, and bond holders in the financial firm would lose everything.

That leaves the government taking over Citi the way it did AIG (NYSE: AIG) or forcing a sale as it did with WaMu or Wachovia (NYSE: WB).

Monday morning cold be quite a drama.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) will miss its earnings forecast by 6%. GE now estimates that its third quarter profits will range between "43 cents to 48 cents a share, less than its previous forecast of 50 cents to 54 cents." GE cited "difficult conditions in the financial services markets" for its decision to stop its stock buyback program.

The good news -- if it can be compared -- is that this latest downward guidance would be less in percentage terms than its first quarter earnings miss of 14%. That was when GE reported 44 cents a share, compared with the 51 cents that analysts had expected. That unpleasant surprise spurred former CEO Jack Welch into a homicidal rage. With its stock trading 58% below its all time high of $58.50 back in September 2000 and down 41% from the $41 it traded at when Jeffrey Immelt took over as CEO, I am beginning to wonder how close GE is to going the way of Lehman Brothers.

The thing about GE is that it gets 40% of its pretax profit from financial services. But it also sells stuff like jet engines, power plants, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and TV advertising. Unfortunately, many of these big-ticket items depend on healthy growth in infrastructure spending by countries like China, India and Middle Eastern oil producers.

Wall Street analysts are known for being too optimistic about earnings at the companies that they cover, but the problem may be getting out of control.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Collectively, analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to expand by 23.9% in 2009, according to Thomson Reuters. The index does include a number of banks."

The prediction may be why analysts do not have a very good reputation with many investors. Well-regarded experts from Warren Buffett to Jack Welch believe next year could be one of the worst economic periods in decades.

Part of the thinking among analysts is that spending for consumer durables will be good. Since gas and food prices are still fairly high and consumer spending is on life support, it is very difficult to see how that point of view could be justified.

Analysts cost big banks and brokerage firms a lot of money. If the financial trouble on Wall Street gets worse, they may be among the next wave of employees fired. If their forecasts are so ridiculous, that will make a lot of sense.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

The world's wealthiest man threw a baseball to the most respected CEO of his generation. And it all happened last night in Boston, home of the 2007 World Champion Red Sox, according to CNBC.com.

Who am I talking about? Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) CEO, Warren Buffett, was the pitcher, and retired General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) Chairman and CEO, Jack Welch played catcher at Boston's Fenway Park.

CNBC reports that the pitch "was 'a little high and outside,' but it certainly didn't bounce four or five times before reaching the plate, as [CNBC thought he predicted] when he first told [CNBC] he'd be making his Fenway debut."

No comment was available on Welch's catching skills.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE shares, is a lifelong Red Sox fan, and has no financial interest in Berkshire Hathaway.

Amidst all of the talk of hockey moms, jabs at Democrat Barack Obama, and media bashing, there was not much discussion of the weak economy at this week's Republican National Convention.

In fact, the Republican gathering was notably short on talk of the main issue on the minds of voters. Sure, there was "drill baby drill," but is that really an economic policy? Can Americans drill their way out of the credit crisis? Can we drill our way out of the housing slump? Can we drill our way to prosperity?

No less of a flaming liberal than CNBC's Larry Kudlow took note.

"As we head into the closing night in St. Paul, there has so far been no reference to the weak economy," Kudlow said on the network's blog before John McCain's acceptance speech last night. "There has been no economic-recovery message and no growth message."

Interestingly, the Republican platform contained language inserted by economic conservatives rejecting the Bush administration's rescue of Bear Stearns Cos., and possible bailouts of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), according to Bloomberg News. The document purposely did not mention the credit crunch because delegates were afraid that any solution that they would offer might make things worse, Bloomberg says. The GOP's embrace of free trade may sell well on Wall Street, but it won't win votes on Main Street where workers are fearful of their jobs being shipped to lower-cost countries overseas.

No wonder the GOP did not say much on the economy.

Most Americans are suffering because of high gas prices, a volatile stock market and plunging home prices. Though technically the economy may be strong and may not even be in a recession, most people and businesses believe they are worse off than they were a year ago.

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is scheduled to report second quarter earnings this Friday. Ten analysts that Zacks surveys expect GE to make 53 cents a share, the same as it did in 2007. Given that 0% growth rate, GE's forward Price/Earnings ratio of 12.1 seems a bit on the high side.

But after the spanking that CEO Jeff Immelt took after missing in the first quarter by 13.7%, he could be guiding analysts lower only to surprise them on the upside. This makes me wonder whether analysts have a higher, whisper number in mind. GE stock is down 32% since Immelt took over on September 7, 2001, but with the exception of the first quarter, over the last five years GE has increased earnings at an 8.1% annual rate.

If it got back on that track in the second quarter, then investors would expect GE to earn 57 cents a share, instead of the official 53 cents. In that case, GE stock would fall unless it exceeded 57 cents a share. I have not been able to determine whether there is such a whisper number floating around Wall Street, but there's no question in my mind that Immelt cannot afford to report a number less than 53 cents a share if he wants to keep his job.

Ever wonder why conventional wisdom is so conventional? It's because it's the same people repeating it over and over.

The reason why this happens is mostly laziness. Reporters and TV producers call on the same people to render their opinions because they are the ones who return calls and show up when they are needed. I have done it myself so I know the drill well. Yes, Woody Allen's claim that 80% of success is showing up continues to be proven right. These people can be summed up in several categories: wisemen -- they almost always are male -- whose every utterance is treated as if it was etched in stone tablets by the almighty, and insta-pundits -- who are able to give quotes on every topic imaginable. Finally, there are the personal finance gurus whose message is that by helping me make money, I can help you save money.

Below are my choices for the most overexposed business pundits and media personalities. They are in no particular order.

Wisemen: Alan Greenspan -- Don't you miss the days when no one understood what the former Fed Chairman was talking about? Now, his message is pretty clear: buy my book and the subprime mortgage crisis was not my fault. Honorable mentions: former General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Chief Executive Jack Welch, billionaire George Soros, and oilman Boone Pickens.

AP reports that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) CEO Jeff Immelt did quite a bit of whining at today's shareholder meeting in Erie, PA. But he did announce one piece of news that might help GE's stock: GE will increase its planned cost cutting from $2 billion to $3 billion. Yet I think he's still smarting from Jack Welch's threat to shoot Immelt on GE's CNBC last week.

Immelt whined on two fronts: the tough economy and how his buying and selling of GE business units is not appreciated. Here's what he said about the economy: "We are in the toughest economy since 2001 and the worst housing crisis since the Depression. Banks have written off more than $250 billion. . . . Days of easy credit have turned into months of no credit at all. While I am confident about the economy long term, we could see even more difficult times ahead."

And on the matter of GE's portfolio, Immelt exuded self-pity as he assailed his audience: "I would ask people to keep something in mind. In the last five or six years I've sold 50 or $60 billion of business. I've acquired 70 or $80 billion of business. This has probably been the most active portfolio change in the history of the company and it would be hard to find another industrial company that's done anything close to what we've done."

As so often happens, someone who played an instrumental role in a company for a long time can't seem to let go. The latest example is former General Electric (NYSE: GE) chief Jack Welch. The AP reported: "On Wednesday, Welch, who retired in 2001, said he would be "shocked beyond belief" if Chief Executive Jeff Immelt again missed an earnings target. He said he would "get out a gun and shoot" Immelt if GE missed an earnings target.

Welch, 72, also said Immelt had "credibility issues," but vigorously defended "GE's business model."

Even though he paid lip service to not wanting to bud in, he did. By shooting off his mouth he undermined the current CEO. Could it be possible that Welch should share the blame in GE's struggles? After all, he is the one who built up this huge conglomerate, only to leave before things starting getting tough. We saw the same thing over at Citigroup (NYSE: C), where Sandy Weill created a one-stop shop financial services company that has been crumbling before our very eyes.

Instead of being critical, Welch should keep quiet and continue to promote his book. Leave being the CEO to Immelt.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 4/17/08.

Forbes reports that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) ex-CEO Jack Welch is really angry with his successor Jeff Immelt. I don't know whether Welch still holds shares in GE but if he does, he can't be happy that they've fallen 20% since his hand-picked successor took over. But beyond the financial pain, Welch is suffering from a badly bruised ego -- that's because he prides himself on picking people. And he clearly blew it when he selected Immelt.

I saw Welch this morning sitting in the same spot I was in on GE's CNBC set last February during a stint on Squawk Box. And Welch had some choice words for Immelt. Forbes reports that Welch said "I'd be shocked beyond belief and I'd get a gun out and shoot him if he doesn't make what he promised now. Just deliver the earnings. Tell them you're going to grow 12 percent and deliver 12 percent."

I think the biggest problem for Welch is that it's become so obvious what a huge mistake he made in picking Immelt. As Welch said: "Here's the screw up: You made a promise that you'd deliver this and you missed three weeks later. Jeff has a credibility issue. He's getting his ass kicked. He apologized."

I've written about Immelt's mediocre performance since 2006. Maybe now that Jack Welch is chiming in, things will start to happen to boost GE's share price.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE shares.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) was a darling of Wall Street for a couple of decades under the tutelage of legendary CEO Jack Welch. Mr. Welch retired in September 2001 turning the reins over to hand-picked successor Jeffrey Immelt. Give Immelt a break for the first 18 months as he had to guide the company through the 9-11 tragedy and of course the normal honeymoon period. Since that grace period expired in early 2003, GE has severely under performed the market and time has come for Mr. Immelt to hand the reigns over to someone else.

It is very difficult following a "legend" as Jack Welch. Many business schools model a course or two on management based on Welch's methods of letting an executive run a division creatively and freely--just return the expected numbers and all is well. Jack Welch "raised" Jeffrey Immelt in this style and picked him as the CEO to replace himself. The styles however were not transferable. Times and the global landscape have changed since Welch's departure.

CNNMoney reports that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) missed earnings expectations by a mile. Its net income fell 12% to $4.4 billion, or 44 cents per share, seven cents less than what Thomson Financial's polling of analysts had estimated.

In February I analyzed GE's breakup value and concluded that the stock was probably a bit overvalued. The big problem with today's earnings announcement was GE's financial services unit. Like Wall Street banks, GE suffered from "extraordinary disruption in the capital markets in March [which] affected our ability to complete asset sales and resulted in higher mark-to-market losses and impairments."

But that's not all. GE missed on revenues and lowered its guidance. Sales rose 8% to $42.2 billion, $1.5 billion below analysts' forecast of $43.7 billion. GE lowered its full year guidance to between $2.20 and $2.30 per share, reflecting flat to 5% growth. GE is down 11% in pre-market.

Since its current CEO, Jeff Immelt took over in September 2001, GE stock has fallen 20% from $41 to $33. Remind me again of why the "great" Jack Welch chose Immelt to succeed him.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE shares.

The September short interest in General Electric (NYSE: GE) fell 7.6 million shares to 59.7 million. The move is unusual because GE now trades near a multi-year high. It should not take more than a bit of bad news to push it down.

But, after over five years of under-performing the market after Jack Welch retired, GE shares are up 20% in the last year.

What happened? GE has been slowly dumping the dogs in its portfolio of companies. It has parted company with its plastics unit. There is also a feeling that the company has disclosed any mortgage problems in its loan portfolio, and that they are modest.

More important, though, the company has been on a multi-month investor relations drive to try to convince Wall St. that the company is worthy of a better valuation. It would appear, at the very least, that the company is considered a good place to invest when the financial markets are troubled.

GE is unlikely to convince skeptics that it is not in too many businesses. Almost no one can divine why the conglomerate owns NBC Universal. But, the performance of its infrastructure and industrial businesses appear to make up for that concern.

The firm's shares still lag the S&P by a bit on a five year measurement, and perhaps not as many investors are willing to gamble that the disparity will continue.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 247wallst.com.