General Electric (NYSE: GE) is a household name, but that doesn't mean it's a good stock to buy. In fact, the industrial icon has been working on a turnaround since the 2008-09 Great Recession. It hasn't been a particularly smooth ride, and while some parts of its operations are improving, others are still pretty bad.
Here are four key risks you need to think about before you consider buying GE stock.
When the financial crisis struck in the late aughts, General Electric was hit particularly hard. The reason is that the company had allowed its financial services arm to spread well beyond its original purpose of helping customers buy GE products. Having leveraged itself heavily in such areas as mortgages and insurance, the company got itself into a whole when the economy turned south and was forced to accept a government bailout, sell assets, take write-downs, and cut its dividend.
Source Fool.com