GE is announcing a dividend cut from $0.31 to $0.10. As I’ve been saying for months this company is not AAA and has no business paying any dividend. In all likelihood, they will end up being forced to spin off the finance unit, but not before their AAA rating gets cut. It’s borderline criminal for the ratings agencies to maintain the AAA rating when the firm’s financial unit clearly puts the entire company at risk.
The market seems to like this news, but I don’t see how this is at all positive for shareholders. It’s a clear sign of distress. The AAA rating should certainly be cut in the coming months and the stock probably can’t begin to recover until they cut off the tumor that is impairing the entire company.
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.