LA TImes "GE has been working to shed parts of its commercial lending business since April, part of a strategy by Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt to return the company's focus to its industrial roots. Former CEO Jack Welch turned GE into a financial services giant, but that strategy came back to haunt the company during the financial crisis."

I read a different article the other day about GE that explained the majority of their business had been in financing. The problem was they fell under some new law after the financial fiasco that limited their entire business to protect them/us from being "too big to fail". By divesting itself of its financial businesses and returning to manufacturing as its core, they will apparently no longer fall under the restrictions.