G.E.--Suzanne (slow)
>> welcome back. hom depots will slow the pace of new store openings over the next five years. it is the world’s biggest home improvement retailer. wants to concentrate on increasing sales to professional builders. chief executive outlined the company’s long-term targets of meeting with investors in atlanta today. he said home depot will open 400 to 500 stores through 2010. annual sales may rise as much as 12% over five years. and also raise the dividend 50%. he also said home depot will enter china by acquisition. it’s been closely anticipated and closely watched. how the company will enter china kwla. as for the stock at the close, down 1.5%. meantime, royal phillips electronics, the biggest maker of patient monitoring systems is going to buy life line systems for $750 million. the deal means phillips will be expanding into the u.s. market for home health care services. phillips agreed to pay $47.75 for each share of lifer line. it is a 21% premium to the closing price. you see the price surging 19% today. life line systems hadded 1ds50 million in sales last year. it is the first purchase for the phillips unit set up in 2004. that focuses on consumer health and wellness products. general electric’s property report due out tomorrow and the company may record its slowest growth since 2004. should investors be concerned? sounds like it. perhaps the answer is not necessarily. let’s find out the details from suzanne.
>> that’s right. when general electronic c.e.o. jeff em eliminate sold the company’s insurance unit last november, he said fourth quarter profit will probably rise about 3% as a result. tomorrow the company is expected to say fourth quarter profits rose to 55 cents a share that is according to analysts surveyed by thompson financial. revenue is expected to decline 4% to $42 billion. the sale of the insurance unit is part of em eliminate’s strategy to revive profit growth by focusing on faster growing businesses. investors such as stephen hoit of national city say the sale allows g.e. to focus on the finance, industrial, and health care units. u.b.s. strategist likes g.e. for two other reasons --
>> it is the fact that g.e. is such a well-run company. we do have a preference for large cap over small cap.
>> and emselt concentrating on the more profitable faster growing businesses such as consumer lending. this should help g.e.’s profits which lagged since 2001 grow 10% annually starting this year. em eliminate says profits are expected to rise between 12% and 17%. higher energies may boost the stock which is down about 1% this year. analyst dean gray of goldman sachs says the market has not fully priced in g.e.’s profit and revenue growth. she believes the stock can rise more than 18% from current levels. as for fourth quarter results, g.e. says gains in the finance and industrial and health care units will help offset declines at nbc universal, the network is being hurt by the declining performance at nbc which felt a third place last year in the ratings game. shares of g.e. were a little changed today. closing at the $3 4 level. the fourth quarter results will be released tomorrow morning before the start of the new york trading. ellen, back to you.
>> along with citigroup, a very busy morning. thanks so much. we’ll take a quick break. when we come back, getting you caught up on the latest world and national headlines and the latest on the tape from osama bin laden. also, the world’s biggest mover today, the norwegian bond mark. you’re watching “after the bell.”
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Listen World & national News--- Mark (slow)
>> in world and national news, the c.i.a. confirms that the voice on an audiotape released today is that of osama bin laden. mark crumpton has more.
>> on that tape which aired on al-jazeera, bin laden calls for “a long-term truce which would be linked to the withdrawal of u.s. forces from iraq and afghanistan.” however, bin laden also warns of more al qaeda attacks against the u.s., saying “you’ll see them sooner rather than later as iraq isn’t the only battleground, as you have seen with other recent attacks in european territory.” despite the latest threats from bin laden, the associated press reports the department of homeland security says it has no plans to raise the national terror alert. the kidnappers of journalist jill carroll have said they want the release of u.s. women in custody. an iraqi official says six detained iraqi women are scheduled for release by the u.s. military though they say it’s not connected to the kidnapping. vice president cheney says progress in iraq has not come easy, but it has been steady. the vice president told an audience in new york there’s still hard work ahead because, in his words, we’re dealing with enemies who have declared an intention to bring great harm to any nation that opposes their aims. mr. cheney said that in the war on terror, the west faces what he called a loose network of committed fanatics found in many countries operating under different commanders. their aim, he said, is the destruction of israel and mass death in the united states. supreme court nominee samuel alito faces opposition from two members of the senate judiciary committee. the ranking democrat, patrick leahy of vermont, and massachusetts senator edward kennedy. senator leahy says he won’t support alito because he has “no confidence in the judge being independent of the executive branch in future rulings.” that’s the latest world and national news, back to you.
>> thanks so much. gold surged $14.50 an ounce, the most we’ve seen since trading resumed after the 9/11 terror attacks. the move today came on investor demand for a haven after the release of the bin laden address. gold futures for february delivery up 2.7%, ending the day at $559 an ounce, the highest closing price since january 21, 1981. so we’re at a 25-year high. in the meantime, let’s look at crude oil prices, at their highest level in four months. nymex crude futures ending the session at $66.83, up 1.7%. heating oil and natural gas futures eased up about 2.4%. they rebounded from yesterday’s decline. the latest energy department report showed there’s plenty of crude and gas, but oil investors are focused elsewhere. potential disruptions to exports from iran, now developing that nuclear program, also nigeria, where rebels have attacked oil facilities. russia also a focus. it’s withheld natural gas from european customers braving a very cold winter. man financial’s analyst says a statement by french president jacques chirac about using nuclear weapons against terrorist attacks is increasing pressure. ray carbone of paramount options says it makes for a bullish scenario even though january has been one of the warmest on record, hurting demand for fuel.
