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-SubTopic 10
-Section 35
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6956420&loc=d3e24584-111560

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TradingSecuritiesUnrealizedHoldingLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

Investment Securities (Investment) (Details) (USD $) In Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries [Member] Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries [Member] Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Domestic Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] US States and Political Subdivisions Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] US States and Political Subdivisions Debt Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Asset-backed Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Asset-backed Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Foreign Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Foreign Corporate Debt Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] US Treasury and Government [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] US Treasury and Government [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Retained Interest [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Retained Interest [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries [Member] Available-for-sale Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries [Member] Available-for-sale Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Available-for-sale Securities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Available-for-sale Securities [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Trading Securities [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Trading Securities [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Trading Securities [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Trading Securities [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidation, Eliminations [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidation, Eliminations [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidation, Eliminations [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Consolidation, Eliminations [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Sub Total [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Sub Total [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Sub Total [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Sub Total [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Sub Total [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Sub Total [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Total [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Total [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Total [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Total [Member] Amortized Cost [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Total [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries GECS [Member] Total [Member] Estimated Fair Value [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Subsidiaries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Subsidiaries [Member]
Investment [Line Items]
Investment securities amortized cost						$ 1	$ 1	$ 20,818	$ 21,233					$ 3,182	$ 2,961	$ 2,876	$ 3,092	$ 2,881	$ 3,009	$ 3,853	$ 3,407	$ 2,810	$ 2,883	$ 2,693	$ 2,242	$ 3,302	$ 3,358	$ 32	$ 55	$ 18	$ 18	$ 886	$ 500																							$ 19	$ 19
Investment securities gross unrealized gains						0	0	1,809	1,576					120	45	131	95	172	145	33	16	133	116	88	82	62	57	16	10	0	0	224	213					0	0					2,788	2,355					2,788	2,355					0	0
Investment securities gross unrealized loss						0	0	(116)	(237)					(244)	(282)	(319)	(378)	(203)	(230)	(145)	(193)	(91)	(132)	(85)	(58)	(28)	(47)	(3)	(26)	0	0	(31)	(8)					0	0					(1,265)	(1,591)					(1,265)	(1,591)					0	0
Investment securities estimated fair value						1	1	22,511	22,572					3,058	2,724	2,688	2,809	2,850	2,924	3,741	3,230	2,852	2,867	2,696	2,266	3,336	3,368	45	39	18	18	1,079	705																							19	19
Trading Securities																																		475	417
Gross unrealized gains	0
Gross unrealized loss	0				0
Trading Securities, Fair Value Disclosure																																				475	417
Marketable Securities																																								(10)	(2)	(10)	(2)			43,808	43,157	45,331	43,921			43,817	43,174	45,340	43,938
Net pre-tax gains (loss) on trading securities	52	4	55	19
Marketable securities OTTI amounts	113	101	184	259
Cumulative impairments recognized in earnings associated with debt securities										536	500	381	340
Marketable securities OTTI recorded in AOCI	59	45	66	124
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments	54	56	118	135
Incremental Charges On Previously Impaired Investment Securities	24	17	81	35
Other Than Temporary Impairment Related To Equity Securities	5		10	1
Other Than Temporary First Time Impairments Of Investment Securities Recognized In Earnings	19	36	20	92
Other Than Temporary Impairment Related To Securities Subsequently Sold	18	7	41	39
Proceeds from Sale of Available-for-sale Securities	$ 4,833	$ 3,524	$ 9,972	$ 7,315