EconomicGreenfield

On December 14 the Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey was released for the 4th quarter.  The December Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey was also released on December 14.  Both contain a variety of statistics regarding how executives view business and economic conditions.

In the CEO survey, of particular interest is the CEO Economic Outlook Index, which increased to 101 from 86 in the 3rd quarter.  Also stated in the report, “In terms of the overall U.S. economy, member CEOs estimate real GDP will grow by 2.5 percent in 2011.”

In the CFO survey, “‘The current level of optimism has increased notably from last quarter,’ said Kate O’Sullivan, senior editor at CFO Magazine.”

Also, the survey states, “Top concerns for U.S. CFOs include weak consumer demand, the federal government’s agenda, and intense price pressure.”

The CFO survey contians the Optimism Index chart, as seen below:

It should be interesting to see how well the CEOs and CFOs predict business and economic conditions going forward.   I discussed various aspects of this, and the importance of these predictions, in the July 9 post.

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I post various economic forecasts because I believe they should be carefully monitored.  However, as those familiar with this blog are aware, I do not agree with many of the consensus estimates and much of the commentary in these forecast surveys.

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A Special Note concerning our economic situation is found here

SPX at 1256.77 as this post is written

On October 1, I wrote a post about the Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey and the Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey.

Subsequent to that post, the Conference Board released its 3rd Quarter CEO Confidence Survey.   The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 50, down from 62 in the second quarter.

There are a variety of notable survey results.  Here is an excerpt I find particularly interesting:

“Less than one-third say conditions have improved compared to six months ago, down from about two-thirds last quarter. In assessing their own industries, business leaders’ appraisal was also considerably less positive. Now, only 38 percent say conditions are better, compared with 61 percent last quarter.

CEOs are much more pessimistic about the short-term outlook. Only 22 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months, down from 48 percent last quarter. Expectations for their own industries are also downbeat, with about 28 percent of CEOs anticipating an improvement in the months ahead, down from 43 percent last quarter.”

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A Special Note concerning our economic situation is found here

SPX at 1173.71 as this post is written

On September 28 the Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey was released for Q3.  The Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey was released on September 15.

Both surveys are well worth looking at, and in general highlight a weakening outlook among executives.  In the CEO survey, of particular interest is the CEO Economic Outlook Index, which dropped to 86 from 94.6 in Q2.  As stated in the report, “In terms of the overall U.S. economy, member CEOs estimate real GDP will grow by 1.9 percent in 2010 – down significantly from the 2.7 percent increase in the previous survey.”

In the CFO survey, I believe the Optimism Index chart, as seen below, is notable:

It should be interesting to see how well the CEOs and CFOs predict business and economic conditions going forward.   I discussed various aspects of this, and the importance of these predictions, in the July 9 post.

A Special Note concerning our economic situation is found here

SPX at 1141.20 as this post is written