CEO's Pessimistic on Future and Investment

The Chief Executive magazine's CEO Confidence Index continued its streak of losses in July and fell 2.3 points to 82.2, reaching its lowest point since 2002, when it started at 100 points. The survey was conducted among 338 top executives.

All component indices fell in July as well except for the Employment Confidence Index, which rose by just 2.0 points. Even though this index was in the black, a high level of C-Suite pessimism persists. Over half (52 percent) of CEOs polled said they expected employment to decrease over the next quarter.

Reflecting on the economy and the job market, Mark Renkert, chairman of Fairhaven Crowne, said: "As providers of Executive Search our clients are asking us to find seasoned executives who know how to cut payrolls, spin off divisions, and outsource services. No one is seeking executives who know how to grow sales. They are looking for people who know how to make do with soft sales and terminate expensive personnel -- that is those with 15+ years of experience who are operations oriented and not part of the revenue generating process."

The Investment Confidence Index, which measures CEO confidence in domestic investment conditions, hit a new historic low in July. CEOs expect the economy to gradually decline rather than gradually grow by a margin of 3:2. Furthermore, five percent of respondents expect rapid decline, while none expect rapid growth.

"Our respondents have been presciently aware of the difficulties facing the American economy," said Edward M. Kopko, CEO and Publisher of Chief Executive Magazine. "They have been stressing over and over again the continued need for economic dynamism, because healthy companies create jobs."

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 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, July 2008
  Respondents: 338

  Index                                      July,        June,      Monthly
                                             2008         2008        Change
  CEO Index                                  82.2         84.5        -2.3
  Current Confidence Index                   96.0         99.6        -3.6
  Future Confidence Index                    72.9         74.3        -1.4
  Business Condition Index                   73.8         81.2        -7.4
  Invest Confidence Index                    91.9         93.1        -1.2
  Employment Confidence Index                79.1         77.1        +2.0

Source: Chief Executive Magazine

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