GE Posts Lower 1st Quarter Profit

Normally reliable General Electric Co. shocked investors with a nearly 6 percent decline in its first quarter profit and slashed its earnings forecast for the full year. That sent its own shares down 10 percent and the broader market sharply lower on renewed worries about the weakening economy. GE blamed disruptions in its financial business late in the quarter for its inability to advise Wall Street ahead of time about the deterioration in its earnings. But analysts unaccustomed to being surprised by the industrial, financial and media conglomerate were rattled by the magnitude and breadth of the decline.