The General Electric Company is one of the largest companies in the world and it has often been a bellwether stock used as a gauge of the overall healthiness of the stock market.
One of the reasons for this is the diversity of General Electric's products and services.
The company is involved in nearly every market segment from lighting, to financial products, to the aviation industry, to healthcare, to the television industry, and finally to the energy sector.
As a result, often General Electric's profits coincide with the overall health of the economy.
Since 1975, GE has had five stock splits, with the most recent one being a 3 for 1 split in 2000.
During that time, the General Electric Company has posted 22 positive returning years and 10 negative returning years.
Over half of the positive years resulted in returns greater than 25%, with the highest three being 65% in 1982, 52% in 1999, and 48% in 1997.
The worst three performing years were (-39%) in 2002, (-16%) in 2001, and (-11%) in 1990.
All the remaining losing years were (-10%) or less.
A nice example of the similarity of General Electric's stock performance and the overall stock market can be done through a simple comparison of the yearly returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) and the yearly returns of GE.
Since 1975, GE and the DJIA have moved in the same direction every year except for 1994, when GE lost 3% and the DJIA gained 2%.
Therefore, as an investor it is a good idea to keep a close watch on the performance of General Electric's stock.
Through its diverse range of products, GE almost becomes a mini index itself.
Its diversity provides protection against many of the volatile ups and downs that plague many individual stocks.
Of course, even GE should be part of a well balance portfolio rather than an individual holding.
While it may be "safer" and more stable than many individual stocks, it still has more risk than a well diversified portfolio.
As always, do your own due diligence and best of luck with all your financial endeavors.