General Electric posts profit

HARTFORD, Conn. -- General Electric Co. delivered some cheer Friday to investors worried about a slowing economy, saying its quarterly profit rose 4 percent and reaffirming its outlook for 2008. The conglomerate's big-ticket business -- jet engines, railroad locomotives and water treatment plants -- powered GE's profit, posting $3.4 billion, or 26 percent more than the fourth quarter of 2006.