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General Electric reported quarterly earnings that rose from a year earlier and said its finance arm, GE Capital, continues to show signs of stabilization.

The Fairfield, Conn.-based company said net income jumped 16% to $3.1 billion. Earnings from continuing operations rose 14% to $3.3 billion, pushing earnings per share to 30 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a profit of 27 cents per share for the quarter.

Sales fell 4% to $37.4 billion in the quarter, missing the $38.4 billion in revenue expected by analysts.

"GE’s economic environment continues to improve," said GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt in a statement, adding that the company is "on track for solid earnings growth."

The company said "losses have peaked" at its closely watched GE Capital division, which accounts for more than a third of overall revenue. The lending unit saw sales slip 3% to $12.3 billion, but profit surged 93% from a year earlier to $830 million.

The commercial real estate business remained "the one tough area in GE Capital," losing another $524 million in the second quarter, which GE said was in line with expectations.

But based on the unit’s overall recovery in the quarter, GE Capital won’t need contributions from the industrial side of the business, the Immelt said druing a post-earnings call with investors.

NBC Universal’s revenue rose 5% to $3.75 billion, while profit jumped 13% to $607 million in the quarter. At its home and business division, sales climbed 4% to $2.25 billion as profit rose 59% to $143 million.

Orders on the rise: The company cited growth in orders as another bright spot in the quarter, with total orders up 8% to $19.2 billion, boosted by improved demand for oil and gas, and health care equipment. Equipment orders jumped 17%, with a 20% increase in orders at the energy infrastructure division and a 14% rise in technology infrastructure orders.

The company saw its first growth in commercial orders since the third quarter of 2008, and GE expects there will be single-digit orders growth in the second half of the year, Immelt said.

Dividend hike on the way: GE reiterated its expectations to grow earnings and dividends "in 2011 and beyond." In February of 2009, the company cut its dividend by 68% to 10 cents per share, and investors have been looking for clues about when it will be raised.

Immelt said on the conference call that GE expects to pay a "normal" dividend of 45% of earnings in 2012 but he didn’t give a specifc per-share figure.

"We’re trying to be thoughtful about it and cautious about it," he said. "We do believe we’ll have the capital flexibility in the years to come."

Cash on hand: The company continued to build up its cash reserves, putting aside another $74 billion during the quarter.

"The cash story and the balance sheet shrinking story is a very positive story for GE and our investors," said Immelt.

By the end of the year, GE expects to have $25 billion in cash at the parent level. But on the company’s earnings call, UBS analyst Jason Feldman asked how much of a "backstop" GE really needs.

"Clearly we are going to have more cash in the future than we did in the crisis," Immelt answered. "We are going to have the flexibility to do what we want with the company."

GE brought in $3.8 billion in cash from industrial operations and said it is on track to generate $13 billion to $15 billion this year. But at the same time, industrial sales fell 6% to $24.4 billion in the quarter.

Shares of GE (GE, Fortune 500) slid 3.3% after the market open. The stock had jumped 3.5% immediately after the company released its results.  

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Continental Airlines is recalling some of the pilots it furloughed several years ago, as the company ramps up international flights and replaces retiring older pilots.

Continental (CAL, Fortune 500) spokeswoman Julie King said the airline is recalling 15 of the 147 pilots it furloughed in 2008. In addition, it is putting more than 100 pilots back on active status from the voluntary leaves of absence that they took in 2008.

Some of these pilots will be flying the company’s two recently acquired Boeing 777s, which will be used for international flights, King said.

Continental furloughed the pilots during a particularly tough year for the airline industry, which has struggled to cope with stagnant business and vacation travel thanks to the recession, as well as volatile fuel prices.

"We are pleased to see our pilots returning," said Capt. Jay Pierce, a Continental pilot and a chairman for the Continental chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association. "With the anticipated delivery of new aircraft, the improvements in the economy and the expectations for increased passenger travel during the upcoming summer vacation season, the return of our furloughed pilots — all of them — is needed to maintain the level of service that Continental is known for."

Hunter Keay, senior airline analyst for Stifel Nicolaus & Co payday lenders., said the recall is a small but positive sign for the airline industry.

"Clearly, the industry is recovering, but I think certain regions are performing better than others, and certain airlines are outperforming others," said Keay. "I think that’s a bullish indicator for the demand that Continental sees in its core markets."

The recall is occurring as Continental prepares to merge with UAL Corp.’s United Airlines.

UAL Corp. (UAUA, Fortune 500) announced on May 3 that United will merge with Continental in a deal worth $3.2 billion, creating the world’s largest airline.

The combined company, which will fly under the United moniker and Continental logo, will be larger than Delta Air Lines (DAL, Fortune 500), which became the country’s largest airline when it merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008.

Helane Becker, airline analyst for Jesup & Lamont Securities Corp., said the airlines pledged that they would not lay off pilots as part of the merger.

She cast Continental’s pilot recall as a sign that the airline recognized that its latest staff cuts were "more muscle than fat." 

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SSM Health Care Corp. will receive $16.5 million in tax-exempt bonds to renovate and equip its hospitals and health care facilities, the Missouri Department of Economic Development announced Wednesday.

SSM Health Care a Catholic, not-for-profit health system will make improvements to Cardinal Glennon Children Medical Center in St. Louis, St. Clare Health Center in Fenton, St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis, DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton and St. Mary’s Health Center in Jefferson City.

The state’s private activity bonds, provided by the federal government, are part of a greater bond issue of $581 million that will be sold in Wisconsin and Missouri, said SSM spokesman Chris Sutton.

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A new report from the measurement company Nielsen shows that ads on outside-the-house video screens — in places like health clubs, gas stations and elevators — can reach many more people than ads on prime-time television.

The report, called the “Fourth Screen Network Audience Report,” (Nielsen is calling it the “fourth screen” after television, the computer and mobile), is expected to be released on Monday. The company researched 10 screen networks, from companies like NCM Media Networks and Screenvision, which run ads in movie theaters, to Gas Station TV, which places screens on gas pumps.

“If you took the 10 networks that we measured and put a spot on each of the 10” for a month, “you’d draw more exposures than having a spot on every one of the top 20 programs in prime time” in a given week, said Paul Lindstrom, senior vice president of the Nielsen Co.

The screens are part of a phenomenon of place-based advertising that has gained popularity as consumers move away from traditional media. The networks try to capture people as they are about to buy something, or when they are bored and undistracted — waiting for a movie to start, for instance.

The networks have been pushing Nielsen to create a standard measurement so that they can better sell their ad time to agencies.

“The agencies ask, ‘Why are you better, why should I take some money and not run it on traditional television or somewhere else, and run it with you?’ ” said David Leider, chief executive of Gas Station TV. “If there’s no legitimate measurement behind it, there’s no point for an agency or client to look at it.”

“They were measured all differently by each of the venues, so there was no consistency in the marketplace and no third-party, independent view of it,” said Terrie Brennan, senior vice president for new business development at Nielsen.

To get the ratings, Nielsen looked at variables like how long people spent in front of the screens and the proximity to the screen — “so in the health clubs, it’s not going to be everybody who swipes in, it’s going to be people in that cardio room that can see those televisions,” Lindstrom said. It then interviewed viewers to get demographic information. The number of people interviewed per screen network was as low as 298, for the bar/restaurant TV network Zoom Media & Marketing’s Social Network, and as high as 26,052 for NCM and Screenvision.

Nielsen found that the screen networks reached a broad audience. For example, ads on Screenvision and NCM’s networks in October had 61.7 million exposures. That compared with an average of 3 million viewers 18 years and older for a typical prime-time commercial on broadcast television in the same period. So an advertiser could either take out a monthlong series of ads on the theater networks, or buy about 20 prime-time commercials, to reach the same audience size.

However, some agencies and networks raised questions about Nielsen’s approach. Jack Sullivan, senior vice president and out-of-home activation director at Starcom USA, part of the Starcom MediaVest Group division of the Publicis Groupe, said he was not certain that Nielsen took into account all the differences in these networks.

“A doctor’s office is different than a grocery store is different than an airport is different than an elevator,” he said. “So the consumer is different in every one of those categories, and the screens are different sizes.

”There’s really no common denominator,“ he said.

By measuring out-of-home screens with the same tools it uses to measure television, Nielsen lets these networks try to be included among the big broadcast ad purchases.

”More and more, now that we have these results, at least in 2010, we’re starting to get looked at from a broadcast budget,“ said Scott Marden, research director for Captivate Network, which runs video screens in elevators. ”The budgets, and the dollars, are really in the TV world.“

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Peabody Energy Corp. is taking its bid for Macarthur Coal Ltd. to the company’s major shareholders after the Australian coal producer’s board rejected a $3 billion cash takeover bid.

"Peabody’s proposal is highly conditional and does not fully value Macarthur and its significant growth prospects," Macarthur Chairman Keith DeLacy said Wednesday in a statement.

Peabody, the world’s largest private-sector coal company, has rapidly expanded operations in Australia since buying its first mine there six years ago. Last year, the company said it plans to double coal exports from the country by 2014.

The company on Wednesday said it is "disappointed" with the initial rejection and believes Macarthur’s assets and growth prospects are a good fit with its existing Australian operations.

Brisbane-based Macarthur produced about 4.6 million tons of so-called metallurgical coal last year from two Queensland mines and is in the midst of an expansion. The company, which owns 145 million tons of reserves, supplies coal to steel mills in Asia, Europe and Brazil.

Peabody’s offer values Macarthur at about $680 per ton of production and $21 per ton of reserves, according to Jefferies & Co. analyst Michael Dudas.

"We believe the initial bid is the first step in a long, complex negotiating process involving numerous players in the coal and steel industry," Dudas said in a research note.

Peabody said it is currently in discussions with Macarthur’s three largest shareholders, who collectively own 47 percent of the company.

Peabody said its offer is conditional on Macarthur calling off an earlier agreement to purchase rival Gloucester Coal Ltd., which is 88-percent owned by Asian commodities firm Noble Group Ltd.

Macarthur is holding a meeting on April 12 for shareholders to vote on whether to issue shares to complete the Gloucester deal.

Peabody said its bid is 34 percent higher than the price of Macarthur shares to be issued to Noble as part of the Gloucester agreement. It is also higher than a February valuation by an independent expert hired by Macarthur, Peabody said.

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GRANDVIEW, Mo. — Don Carroll, a former financial analyst with a master’s degree in business administration from a top university, was clearly overqualified for the job running the claims department for Cartwright International, a small, family-owned moving company south of Kansas City, Mo.

But he had been out of work for six months, and the department badly needed modernization after several decades of benign neglect. It turned out to be a perfect match.

After being hired in December, Carroll, 31, quickly set about revamping the four-person department, which settles damage claims from moves, and creating tracking tools so the company could better understand its spending.

Conventional wisdom warns against hiring overqualified candidates like Carroll, who often find themselves chafing at their new roles. (The posting for his job had specified “bachelor’s degree preferred but not required.”) But four months into his employment, it seems to be working out well for all involved.

It is a situation being repeated across the country as the aspirations of many workers have been recalibrated amid the recession, enabling some companies to reap unexpected rewards.

“They’re trying to really professionalize this company,” said Carroll, who is the sole breadwinner for his family of four and had lost his home to foreclosure. “I’ve been able to play a big role in that.”

The result of the shift is a new cadre of underemployed workers dotting American companies, occupying slots several rungs below where they are accustomed to working.

These are not the more drastic examples of former professionals toiling away at “survival jobs” at Home Depot or Starbucks. They are the former chief financial officer working as comptroller, the onetime marketing director who is back to being an analyst, the former manager who is once again an “individual contributor.”

The phenomenon was probably inevitable in a labor market in which job seekers outnumber openings five to one. Employers are seizing the opportunity to stock up on discounted talent, despite the obvious risks that the new hires will become dissatisfied and leave.

In some cases, of course, the new employees fail to work out, forcing the company through the process of hiring and training someone anew. But Carroll is just one of several recent hires at Cartwright who would be considered overqualified, including a billing clerk who is a certified public accountant and a human resources director who once oversaw that domain for 5,000 employees but is now dealing with just 65.

They represent marked upgrades for Cartwright, a modest-size business with expanding ambitions. The company is benefiting from an influx of talent it probably never would have been able to attract in a better economic climate.

“There’s a nice free-agent market right now,” said Randy Woehl, the human resources director. “The best it’s ever been.”

Exact numbers for workers toiling in positions where their experience or education exceed their job descriptions are hard to come by, in part because the concept is difficult to measure and can be quite subjective. But economists and sociologists agree that the frequency inevitably increases in hard times.

Nevertheless, an overriding complaint among many job seekers, particularly professionals, is how often they are rejected for lower-level positions that they desperately want and believe they could practically do in their sleep.

Academic research on the subject confirms that workers who perceive themselves as overqualified do, in fact, report lower job satisfaction and higher rates of turnover bad credit pay day loans. But the studies also indicate that those workers tend to perform better. Moreover, there is evidence that many of the negatives that come with overqualified hires can be mitigated if they are given autonomy and made to feel valued and respected.

The new variable in all of this is the continuing grim economic climate. Many workers’ ambitions have evolved, after all, from climbing the ladder to simply holding on to a job, any job. Turnover would also seem to be less of a concern amid predictions that it could be years before unemployment returns to pre-recession levels.

Jackie Swanson, 44, accepted a part-time job in May as a facilities manager at Conservation Services Group, a Massachusetts company that delivers energy-efficiency programs and training across the country. She had been laid off after 16 years at another company, where she had handled more than 50 offices as a corporate facilities planner.

In her previous position, she had been more of a project manager, whereas the new job was mostly about the upkeep of the headquarters building. Swanson managed to convince the company’s recruiter that she was excited about the organization and that her priorities for a job had changed.

“I was willing to take a drastic cut in pay just to have stability,” she said.

Since then, Swanson has been promoted to full time. Even though her job still represents a step down in responsibilities, she has no plans to leave anytime soon.

“I’m happy here,” she said. “I actually feel respected.”

At Cartwright, Carroll said he had so far found enough to keep him engaged because he had mostly been given free rein in the department. He has also volunteered to help the company’s finance and accounting managers with anything they might need. Whenever he gets a request from someone higher up the ladder, he consciously tries to overdeliver.

Nevertheless, there are signs of angst. He is being paid a third less than he used to make. He and his wife realize that many of their financial goals could be set back years by this period. He is still paying attention to what is happening in the job market but is not actively looking.

Carroll’s cubicle-mate, Mindy William, a former graphic designer and single mother who had been working at Target before she was recently hired as a claims adjuster, said she had noticed that he seemed to talk about his old job a lot.

“I know it’s been an adjustment for him,” she said. “He’s just making the best of it like the rest of us are. We’re glad to have jobs in this recession.”

For his part, Carroll admitted that he had caught himself often trying to drop his credentials into conversations at his new workplace.

“Obviously that stems from maybe some embarrassment at the level that I’m at,” he said. “I do want people to know that, to some extent, this isn’t who I am.”

It helps somewhat that most of his former business school classmates are hardly becoming masters of the universe.

“It’s not like anyone else is tearing it up,” he said.

While he is happy for now, Carroll worries about what will happen once he has finished the more interesting work of overhauling the department. He wonders how long simply having a job will be enough.

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Former U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall — uncle of U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, father of another senator and patriarch of one of the West's leading political families — died Saturday at his Santa Fe home. He was 90.

Stewart Udall was Interior secretary from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Previously, he was a congressman from Arizona.

Udall helped shape federal policies that have steered development of the West for half a century.

He was involved in crafting the Wilderness Act, under which millions of acres of the West are preserved in their natural state, and an early version of the Endangered Species Act. He also presided over a major expansion of the national park system, including sprawling Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah.

But he also presided over an unprecedented period of development of the West's water resources, including completion of Glen Canyon Dam, which created Lake Powell on the Colorado River.

After leaving office, he led legal battles on behalf of American Indian miners and others sickened by uranium mining and above-ground nuclear tests.

He was the brother of Mark Udall's father, the late Morris "Mo" Udall, who served 15 terms in Congress and ran for president; and was the father of U payday loan no faxing.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.

In a statement, Mark Udall called his uncle "a great public servant, and a wonderful writer and storyteller. He was passionate about conservation, and he was a champion of Native peoples. All those who care about our national parks and the environment will miss his voice.

"Beyond his life in public service, he was the patriarch of our family, a great mentor and role model," the senator added. "The Udall family will not be the same without him."

Current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a former Colorado senator, called Udall "one of the greatest secretaries of the Interior in my lifetime … a pioneer and a visionary in protecting America's natural resources and cultural heritage."

"Stewart Udall left an indelible mark on this nation and inspired countless Americans who will continue his fight for clean air, clean water and to maintain our many natural treasures," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

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Consumer complaints about how Hewlett-Packard Co. is treating flaws in some of its personal computers are reportedly being looked into by China's product-quality agency.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision appears to be a response to a complaint by a group of Chinese consumers who claim HP discriminated against them. They say HP is not offering them the same warranty extension given to customers in the U.S. in its handling of a problem with faulty Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) graphics components in some of its laptop PCs.

The Chinese consumers have requested compensation, a public apology by HP and a recall of the affected computers.

HP has denied the consumers' claims, blaming them on confusion over the terms of an enhanced service program offered to customers world-wide whose warranties only lasted one year. HP (NYSE:HPQ) said it doesn't plan a recall of the affected PCs in China.

The Journal reported that only about 170 people in China complained about the flaws, a very small percentage of the total number of computers it has sold in the county.

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Thailand’s consumer confidence fell for the first time in four months on concern political tensions may derail the nation’s economic recovery.

An index measuring sentiment fell to 70.9 last month from 71.9 in January, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said in Bangkok today. The gauge tracks a nationwide survey of 2,232 respondents.

The Bank of Thailand kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a five-year low of 1.25 percent yesterday ahead of a mass rally by anti-government protesters this weekend. The government invoked an internal security law from today until March 23 to control the situation and maintain order.

“Politics is the key concern weighing on confidence,” said Sauwanee Thairungroj, an economist at the university. “We are watching the protest this weekend closely as it will be the key for economic conditions in the next period.”

The government predicted last month the economy may grow as much as 4.5 percent this year after contracting 2.3 percent in 2009. The forecast didn’t take into account any further street protests or violence, and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said Feb. 22 any political unrest that hurts investor confidence may disrupt the recovery.

The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, whose members wear red shirts and support ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, has pledged to rally peacefully. Similar demonstrations by the group last year led to riots that were quashed by the military.

Grenade Attacks

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who canceled a trip to Australia because of the planned rally, said yesterday the government is ready to handle the situation and won’t agree to the protesters’ demand for a fresh election totally free credit score.

All commercial banks have tightened their security after grenade attacks at four branches of Bangkok Bank Pcl, the nation’s largest, on Feb. 27, a day after a court seized $1.4 billion of Thaksin’s fortune. A small bomb exploded near Abhisit’s office on Feb. 13.

Thailand’s economy exited a yearlong recession last quarter and may grow 5 percent in the three months through March, driven by rising exports and stronger local consumption, Korn said last month.

Exports, which are equivalent to about 60 percent of the economy, surged 31.4 percent in January, the biggest gain in 18 months. Industrial production rose for a fifth straight month, the central bank said Feb. 26.

This weekend’s protests may cause economic damage of 3 billion baht ($92 million) to 5 billion baht, according to estimates from the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. That may rise to more than 10 billion baht if the demonstrations last a week.

“If the situation turns violent and badly hurts confidence, it may shave GDP growth this year,” Sauwanee said. “The economy may grow only 2 to 3 percent from 3 to 4 percent forecast earlier.”

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New Zealand’s budget cash deficit was wider than the government forecast after departments made payments for services earlier than they expected.

The cash deficit was NZ$8.85 billion ($6.2 billion) in the six months ended Dec. 31, or NZ$934 million wider than forecast in December’s fiscal update, the Treasury Department said in a statement released in Wellington today.

New Zealand’s budget showed a cash deficit for the first time in nine years in the 12 months ended June 30, and Finance Minister Bill English has projected six years of deficits as debt increases. Tax receipts fell and government welfare spending increased last year as New Zealand faced its worst recession in three decades.

Payments of NZ$1.3 billion occurred in late December which had been forecast in January, the Treasury said. The variance from forecast is expected to reverse in January, it said.

Tax receipts broadly matched forecast in the six months to December, the Treasury said. Company tax exceeded estimates after inclusion of the government’s settlement with banks over tax on structured finance transactions.

Excluding these transactions, company tax receipts were lower than forecast as firms lowered their tax assessments, suggesting “current-year profitability was weaker than expected in the December forecast and it is possible this will persist until the end of the year,” the department said.

The government’s budget operating deficit was NZ$1.04 billion, which was NZ$1.45 billion narrower than forecast.

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