Polling Conducted Prior to Collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bailout Plan
Announcement
NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Chief Executive magazine's CEO Confidence
Index, which is a compilation of broad executive economic sentiment, rose by
7.9 points to 100.5 according to 766 top executives surveyed in the first week
of September, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the following turmoil
in financial markets.
All five indices, with the exception of the Investment Confidence Index, rose
in September. The Business Condition Index experienced the highest gains,
increasing 18.1 points to 102.5, followed by the Employment Confidence Index,
which increased 13.6 points to 100.9.
The Investment Confidence Index, which tracks capital spending at corporations
as well as CEO market confidence, dropped by 5.6 points to 98.3. Additionally,
while 21% of respondents said they had plans to increase capital spending at
their companies, 26% said they plan to decrease spending.
While CEO confidence recoded increases both in August and September, polling
shows that CEOs are far from confident in the economy, as the Index lingers at
100.5 points, 30 points down from a year ago.
Edward M. Kopko, CEO and Publisher of Chief Executive magazine, said, "Our
polling was done when most business were still trying to make sense of the
credit crisis that currently engulfs this country. Now that so much has
changed, there is little doubt that confidence will be corrected downwards
next polling cycle."
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.
About Chief Executive Magazine
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 170,000. 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. Bob 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, September 2008
Respondents: 766
Index September, August, Monthly
2008 2008 Change
CEO Index 100.5 92.6 7.9
Current Confidence Index 104.9 104.3 0.6
Future Confidence Index 97.5 84.8 12.7
Business Condition Index 102.5 84.4 18.1
Invest Confidence Index 98.3 103.9 -5.6
Employment Confidence Index 100.9 87.3 13.6
SOURCE Chief Executive Magazine
Robin Uhl, Chief Executive Magazine, +1-212-697-0390 ext. 5927,
ruhl@butler.net; or Sanuber Bilguvar, MWW Group, +1-212-827-3764,
sbilguvar@mww.com
