It was the latter two concerns that led ITT to decide recently it should spin off its defense operations in response to investor pressure.

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Analysts are split on ITT, but three of eight analysts rate it hold.

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These gigs are lucrative, but ITT takes on more risk--by not only selling the hardware, but sometimes installing it and guaranteeing the quality of the effluent and the power usage.

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ITT, Westinghouse and other conglomerates failed to make sense of their disparate mishmash of businesses, but GE has made it all work, in the sense that it carries a very rich multiple on Wall Street (44 times trailing earnings).

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