Buying a stock for the long term implies a high degree of confidence in the security of the underlying company's market position and growth prospects. In that context, General Electric's (NYSE: GE) breakup plans will leave investors with companies that are leading players in their fields. Likewise, Stanley Black & Decker's (NYSE: SWK) leadership in the tools and hardware market and its host of growth opportunities make it a very attractive stock, and coatings company PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) has a leading position in a consolidating marketplace. Here's why all three are attractive stocks.

The plan to separate GE into three different companies makes sense on several fronts. First, a sum-of-the-parts analysis of GE  suggests that, based on market valuations of its peers, the separate businesses will be worth more as stand-alone companies than they would as part of GE.

Second, the evidence from GE's industrial peers is that a more focused approach to running each separate business -- implied in the breakup plans -- does result in improved operating performance. In short, GE's companies will be more profitable. 

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Source Fool.com