CEO Confidence

On October 4, The Conference Board released its 3rd Quarter CEO Confidence Survey.   The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 42, down from 47 in the second quarter.

Notable excerpts from this October 4 Press Release include:

Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “This latest report reflects ongoing concern about the strength of the economy. CEOs’ assessment of current conditions remains weak and they have grown increasingly pessimistic about the short-term outlook. Sluggish growth and a persistent cloud of uncertainty have played a role in CEOs curtailing spending plans this year.”

also:

CEOs’ optimism about the short-term outlook has also declined. Currently, less than 12 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve over the next six months, down from 20 percent last quarter. Expectations for their own industries are also more pessimistic, with just 15 percent of CEOs anticipating an improvement in conditions in the months ahead, down from 25 percent in the second quarter.

The Business Roundtable also recently released its CEO Economic Outlook Survey for the 3rd Quarter of 2012.   Notable excerpts from the September 26 release, titled “America’s CEOs Sharply Reduce Expectations for U.S. Economy” include the following:

The results of Business Roundtable’s (BRT) third quarter CEO Economic Outlook Survey for 2012 show a further downturn in CEOs’ expectations for sales, capital spending and hiring for the next six months. The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Survey Index decreased to 66.0 in the third quarter of 2012 from 89.1 in the second quarter of 2012, the lowest reading since the third quarter of 2009 and the third largest single quarter drop in the survey’s history.

also:

In terms of the overall U.S. economy, Business Roundtable members estimate real GDP will grow by 1.9 percent in 2012, down from last quarter’s estimate of 2.1 percent.

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Please note:  This was reprinted from the EconomicGreenfield.com (published by StratX, LLC) post of October 8, 2012, titled “CEO Confidence Surveys 3Q 2012 – Notable Excerpts”

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StratX, LLC offers the above commentary for informational purposes only, and does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by these outside parties.

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StratX, LLC is a management consulting firm and strategic advisory that focuses on the analysis of current and future weak(ening) economic conditions, and offers businesses and other entities advice, strategies, and actionable methods on how to optimally adapt to such challenging, complex conditions.