GE Recoups Most Markopolos Losses as Wall Street Rallies Support

(Bloomberg) -- The sky may not be falling on General Electric Co. after all.

The shares climbed Thursday after a Morgan Stanley analyst cited “early progress’’ in Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp’s efforts to turn around the ailing manufacturer. The report echoed notes from Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc. and Wolfe Research this week, putting GE on pace for its sixth straight advance.

GE is looking to rebound from a bruising stretch after financial investigator Harry Markopolos skewered the company’s accounting last month. The shares plunged the most in 11 years after Markopolos, best known for blowing the whistle on Bernie Madoff, accused GE of fraud over the handling of its insurance and oil businesses.

The Boston-based company has pushed back against the claims, with Culp labeling them “market manipulation -- pure and simple.” GE has gotten support this week from Wall Street, with Deutsche Bank analyst Nicole DeBlase calling the Markopolos report “poorly reasoned.’’

GE rose 1.9% to $8.97 at 12:17 p.m. in New York. The shares climbed as high as $9.23, topping the closing price on Aug. 14, the day before the Markopolos report.

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