General Electric Co

General Electric Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt declined a 2008 bonus and millions of dollars in performance awards, saying Wednesday that the company's falling profit and share price prompted him to forgo the payments. The Fairfield, Conn.-based conglomerate, which makes locomotives, appliances and many other goods, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Immelt would not receive his $11.7-million long-term performance award.

The on-screen and behind-scenes feuding between rivals Fox News and MSNBC, which has erupted in recent months like two kids squabbling, has gotten so loud that their parents are trying to tell them to knock it off. Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., which owns Fox News, and Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of General Electric Co., which owns MSNBC, met up at the Microsoft CEO summit in Redmond, Wash.

NEW YORK -- Stocks fell sharply early today after a bigger-than-expected loss at Bank of America and a weak report from General Electric reminded investors that businesses and consumers are still struggling to pay off their debts. Bank of America Corp. said it lost more than $2 billion after preferred dividends in the third quarter, steeper than what analysts had been expecting. One of the largest recipients of government bailout funds, the bank said its losses from failed loans came to almost $10 billion.

General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, sounding less committed to the entertainment business, said Friday that his company was getting its peacocks in a row for a possible change in ownership at NBC Universal. The industrial giant has mostly kept quiet about plans to sell part of its stake in NBC Universal as its broadcast TV and movie studio have faltered amid an advertising recession, its programming has missed at the network, and a string of costly box-office duds has prompted the ouster of two top film executives.

General Electric Co. called a Fox News Channel report about the company supplying terrorists with material used in bombs "irresponsible and maliciously false" on Wednesday, as a feud between Fox's Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann kept sizzling. It was the first time that GE, the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC, had publicly responded to accusations made by O'Reilly on his Fox show. Olbermann also kept up his attacks, naming O'Reilly one of his "worst persons in the world" on Tuesday's show.

After two decades as owner of one of America's storied broadcasters, and five years operating a fabled movie studio, General Electric Co. appears ready to take a smaller part in show business. The industrial giant, maker of jet engines and wind turbines, is in talks to have cable TV leader Comcast Corp. assume management of NBC Universal, which includes NBC; more than 10 cable channels including Bravo, MSNBC and USA Network; the Universal Pictures movie studio; and the Universal Studios theme parks.

Vivendi is being un peu mysterieuse . The board of the French media and telecommunications company met in Paris on Wednesday, but the company refused to say whether it had voted to shed its 20% stake in NBC Universal -- or whether the subject was even discussed. Vivendi has time to decide. On Nov. 15, a three-week window opens for Vivendi to notify its partner, General Electric Co., whether it will exercise an option to sell its interest in NBC Universal. That window reopens each year.