Some of the counter points to the report holds water. The interest of Markopolos isn't neutral. And some long time observers have pointed out mistakes in his report. Accusation of accounting issues with GE isn't entirely new. GE is a beast and it's not transparent enough so that leaves a lot of room for speculation. It's probably one of the most divisive stocks out there (strong opinions on both sides). I think people with an interest in shorting it assumes the worst and vice versa.

Also, the CEO purchased a whole bunch of shares before the report and again after the report. He is probably well positioned to know GE fairly well. It's not a necessary move on his part but it does signal some confidence in GE. Also, having watched him, I can see some inflection points. If you were to graph "sentiment" of news for GE for the past couple of years, it would be kind of a parabola: lots of negatives, then less negative, then it's mixed, and now it's more of "not good enough" (although today was a hugely negative one).

In the end it's still a gamble. I'm not betting the house on it -- it's in fact a tiny percentage of my portfolio (I generally stick with index funds) but sometimes I like to keep myself honest by putting some skin in the game along with my opinions.