JBL: A Market of Stocks

Whatever the past is for GE and its insurance company, it is the past. GE sold it to get away from a pesky business. Investors should be applauding the move; instead, they are punishing the company.

GE even raised the lower end of its 2006 estimates. GE is a company that trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of around 15 (based on consensus numbers of $1.98), close to the market multiple, and has growth prospects greater than the market. This is a great company to own, which I do, because of its exposure and leading position in the growing water and alternative energy markets.

As I wrote in a previous article for The Street.com, I believe water will be the hot commodity worldwide over the next few decades. GE is in the forefront on desalination plants, building the first in Mexico. I was recently in Mexico performing for the WWE; the need for pure water there is huge to say the least. GE has been making acquisitions of water companies.

Meanwhile, as oil and gas prices are becoming a drag on the consumer, GE has entered into the wind, solar, and nuclear businesses. GE has positioned itself for the future, yet it has been dead money for quite some time. With a 3% dividend yield and NBC Universal being the only segment under double-digit growth, this stock looks like a buy.

Tired of the Dog Biting You?

Another company I like that has a new and needed technology is Itron (ITRI Quote). Itron is making the meter reader look very much like the eight track.

In a high-tech world, 70% of electricity meters are still read manually. Itron has a product that allows meter readers to simply be in a van on the same street, hence no more dogs chasing them. Itron also has a product that, with the customers' consent, allows the utilities to trim back power to certain houses and reduce the stress on the grid.