CEO Confidence Rebounds Slightly in April

MONTVALE, N.J., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Following two consecutive months of sharp declines, monthly Chief Executive magazine CEO Index, which surveyed 635 top U.S. executives, rebounded slightly in April, rising approximately 13 percent to 96.4 points. However, the Index still continues to hover around its lowest levels since 2003 and well below (63 percent) where it was this time last year.

All five component indices-current, future, business, investment and employment-experienced marginal growth, with the Future Confidence Index recording the sharpest increase, rising 15.7 percent to 84.4 points.

The relative strength of the Future Confidence Index suggests that CEOs may be thinking that the worst may be over. Andrew Cagnetta, CEO of Transworld Business Brokers, acknowledges boost and says, the economy "has slowed down, but the worst may be behind us. Watch for a flat second quarter, with improving profits by third and fourth."

In one of the other signs of slight improvement, CEOs, for the first time after three months of declines, increased their employment outlook over the next quarter: In April, 14 percent of CEOs indicated that they expect employment to increase over the next quarter, compared to nine percent in March.

"While far from confident, many CEOs are starting to wonder if the economy is at the low-point of past several months," says Edward M. Kopko, CEO and Publisher of Chief Executive magazine. "According to our research the economy is in a very precarious position right now. CEOs are torn over whether the worst is over, but when they do become more confident, they will add much-needed fuel to our economic engine."

As economic conditions continue to persist, CEOs respond to rising oil prices, a weak dollar, and economic crises in the credit and housing sectors and make efforts to sustain business through international opportunities. John Friedman of Darco Enterprises says, "We shipped most of our manufacturing capabilities offshore or to Mexico, so we cannot take full advantage of the weakening dollar." Moreover, CEO outlook remains grim, over half of CEOs polled (52 percent) said they would rate current economic conditions as "bad," compared with only eight percent who said they would rate them as "good."

Meanwhile some CEOs attribute the fall in confidence to external economic factors, including media speculation. "The media hypes the economy, preaches doom and gloom and uses scare tactics to bolster ratings and appeal to the incredibly short American attention span," says Bob Gutenfick, CEO of Gutenfick & Associates.

For additional information regarding the confidence of public- and private-company CEOs, details about CEO attitudes on employment, investment and business conditions, visit our full report at http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ceoindex.

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Chief Executive is a controlled circulation magazine that has been published since 1977. It reaches 42,000 chief executive officers and their peers, reaches a total readership of 228,000. Chief Executive Group facilitates "Chief Executive of the Year," a prestigious honor bestowed upon an outstanding corporate leader, nominated and selected by a group of his or her peers. Robert Ulrich, A. G. Lafley, George David, Fred Smith, Bill Gates, John Chambers, Michael Dell and Sandy Weill are just some of the leaders who have been honored during the award's 22-year history. Chief Executive also organizes roundtable meetings and conferences to foster opportunities for top corporate officers to discuss key subjects and share their experiences within a community of peers. Visit www.chiefexecutive.net for more information.

    CEO Index, April, 2008
    Respondents: 635

                    Index                 April, 2008     Monthly Change

    CEO Index                                   96.4             +12.3
    Current Confidence Index                   114.1              +7.1
    Future Confidence Index                     84.4             +15.7
    Business Condition Index                      85             +14.0
    Invest Confidence Index                    105.3              +9.2
    Employment Confidence Index                 97.7             +14.3