But it still is on the pessimistic side of the half-full or half-empty glass of water question. According to Chief Executive Magazine’s ongoing pulse-taking project, the confidence index in August hit 92.6, leaving it well below the par-100 score, but a far cry better than the 82.2 nadir hit in July. There were even some positives underneath the top-line score. CEOs confidence in current conditions was at 104.3, and their investment confidence was at 103.9—this after every possible number was below par in July. However, remaining very low were the future confidence index, at 84.8, and the business condition index, at 84.4. However, both of those improved compared to July, when the numbers were 72.9 and 73.8 respectively. Employment confidence was also low but improved, moving from 79.1 to 87.3.
"This is the lowest level of bearish CEOs we’ve seen over the past six months," said Edward M. Kopko, CEO and Publisher of Chief Executive magazine. "However, while the index numbers are encouraging, the market remains soft and CEOs remain pessimistic about what the future holds."
RBR/TVBR observation: According to this study, slump fever is showing signs of subsiding, but the men and women in the corner offices are still running a temperature. There are still a lot of nervous CEOs out there, and nervous CEOs tend to start watching their pennies. It is the job of broadcasters to constantly remind them that a penny saved on advertising may lead to two pennies of lost income. And on the flip side the value of that same penny spent on advertising may be doubled in an environment where other CEOs are panicking and leaving the airwaves exclusively to the bold and visionary CEOs who use the slump to increase market share.
