INSTANT VIEW: Buffett to invest $3 billion in GE shares

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co said on Wednesday that it would sell $3 billion of preferred shares to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, with another $12 billion in common shares going to the public.

The news erased an earlier fall in GE shares. The following are market comments on the move:

COMMENTS:

PAT BECKER, JR., CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT BECKER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT:

"This is a win-win situation for Warren and GE. We own GE shares and we like the company's diversified business model. Long term, we feel this is a great place to put your capital.

"And since we don't know how long this credit crisis will last, if you have the ability to raise capital you better do it today than six months down the road."

TOM SOWANICK, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT CLEARBROOK FINANCIAL

"He is the only major financial institution that has ready cash to buy cheap assets. You could actually call Buffett a mid-western vulture fund who is eating off the debris of the financial chaos."

JOE SALUZZI, CO-MANAGER OF TRADING AT THEMIS TRADING IN CHATHAM, NEW JERSEY:

"He bought (Goldman Sachs) GS, now it's GE. Is he going to go for GM next? These are one of those signs when you are looking for a market bottom. You want smart money to come in and say 'I'm coming in there and putting my money down'.

"The thing with Buffett he always get a better deal than everybody else. GE was getting hammered on some fears of them not getting access to money.

"There were rumors they were having trouble overnight. I guess this squashes those rumors. Even if they were true, they're getting money."

CAMPBELL HARVEY, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE AT DUKE UNIVERSITY, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

"This means that we are near the trough. Some people will take it as a negative sign that GE is in trouble. I take it as a time when a very smart investor decides 'I am going to buy low, and this is it.'

"It is not a time to issue common stock. But in their particular case they are at least able to do it, given this deal they have swung with Buffett. Without this deal it would have been questionable."

JAMES SWANSON, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, MFS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, BOSTON