Has General Electric conquered the business cycle

Has General Electric conquered the business cycle? According to the companies past three financial statements it appeared as if they have indeed done so. Looking at GE's 1996 Annual Report, Letter To Share Holders, the first phrase of the 14 page document was "In 1996, your Company had its best year ever." Companies such as GE spend millions if not billions of dollars per year to ensure they can include this nine-worded phrase in their Annual Report. Those …

…PepsiCo, Disney, Merck and Co., as well as General Electric. Investors look for these companies not for growth but for long term securities these companies are as stable as the U.S. Government yet yield better than T-Bills even after taxes. These Corporations are promoting the way of J. D. Rockefeller yet still maintains the ability to continue without threat of breaking antitrust laws. Again, investors view these Corporations with envy ensuring tomorrows business today.