Ticker Shock: Three Reasons Why GE Will Still Electrify

I was originally supposed to be on jury duty today. While my juror number wasn't called, I’m not out of the woods yet: I have the privilege of calling the 800 number at the court again tonight to see if tomorrow's my lucky day. This is one lottery I hope I don’t win.

Asian market soared overnight. The Hang Seng was up nearly 5%, and the Nikkei was up more than 3%. Meanwhile European stocks were in positive territory earlier this morning. And here in the US, we're currently trading more than 100 points higher.

This is what I’m focused on this morning:

General Electric (GE):
 Has anyone else noticed that there's still a lot of hand-wringing going on - mostly about GE Capital?

Over the weekend, a BernsteinResearch analyst trimmed his earnings estimate for 2009 from $1.18 to $0.81. In addition, Deutsche Bank lowered its estimate for the year from $1.20 to $0.97.

Obviously, I don’t think that's good news - especially since we're not talking about a couple of bucks here. But m I the only guy who sees value here and thinks the bad-mouthing the company's been receiving is overdone? To wit:

1. These guys trade under $10, or at least closed there on Friday.

2. Insiders have been buying the shares, and -- even if it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.10 -- its forward yield (based on Friday’s closing price) would still be north of 4%, by my math.

3. Although my dad will never be confused with Warren Buffett or Ben Graham, the man is no slouch: In a phone call last night, he asked me, “Glenn, what do you care if you buy this stock at $10, $8 or $6? What’s the point in trying to time the exact bottom if you think it’s eventually going to $30?”

Good question.

Tiffany (TIF):
 There’s still some sparkle here, as far as I’m concerned. Take a gander at the ritzy jeweler’s fourth-quarter results.

In the period ended January 31, 2008, it earned $0.85 a share, excluding items. That was a nickel north of expectations. Moreover, its revenue line (of $841.1 million) topped expectations, as well.

The “downside,” however -- or what I think will be perceived as the downside -- is that it’s looking for $1.50 to $1.60 a share from continuing ops in ‘09. The estimate I’m seeing for the year is $1.66.

But this isn’t the end of the world: Even in these tough times, Tiffany is still a stand-out. And it's expected to kick off solid earnings. I can only imagine how it will fare when the domestic economy makes a comeback.

By the way - look at all the red ink Zales (ZLC) -- another big-name jeweler -- is expected to generate this year and next.

The bottom line here: Though the shares have certainly lost some luster in recent months, I sense that they'll shine once again.

With all that in mind, one thing I’m wondering is where the insiders are. And why aren’t they lining up to buy shares at this point?