CEO & CFO Surveys 4Q 2010

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