54% of CEO's shipped jobs overseas last year...only 31%

only 31% of CEO's say that they will 'hire beyond replacement needs' in 04. This is where new jobs come from...so don't look for many.

ONLY 8% have enough forward indicators to suggest that they will hire beyond replacement needs in 05! Never been this low. Usually the 2 year picture is ALWAYS optimistic and runs in the 40% range....but not this year.

And lastly, 88% of CEO's expect that 'wage pressure' will be 30% less in 04. That means that they expect a 'surplus' of workers such that they can offer 30% less in wages/benes for the same job and find takers.....now that is scary...

Also they see NO increase in cap utils in 04 OR 05! Which means they see NO manufacturing coming back....


from a faxed page of the results of the CEO survey's coming out of the CEO conference at Boca Raton (mouth of the Rat) FL where the Bushies have their fort/compound.....and that is a whole 'nother story...

anyway, gotta get my truck running (starter replacement now that I know it is NOT the alternator draining the battery, think the starter coils have grounded out) so can't stick around and locate a link. I will get back to it late this afternoon/evening, but if someone else could locate appropriate links, I would be obliged. All I have is a fax from a buddy (currently in Rat's Mouth where he is trying to get a job which coincidently is offered at about a third less than the last job he had a year ago)...so it goes.

eom

looking.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040202/nym161_1.html

Two-Thirds of U.S. CEOs Say Current Environment Is Making Them Risk Averse, According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Seventh Annual Global CEO Survey
Monday February 2, 10:16 am ET
- Compliance Focus Inhibiting Risk Taking -


NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Although U.S. CEOs remain confident about their prospects for revenue growth this year, more than two-thirds (68 percent) believe the current environment is making companies risk averse, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Seventh Annual Global CEO Survey.

More than 9 in 10 U.S. CEOs are confident about their prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months -- with 37 percent saying they are "very confident" -- and 85 percent say they will meet or exceed their profit targets this year.

But almost four in ten (39 percent) think the business environment is riskier now than it was a year ago. And a large minority (44 percent) acknowledges that their own companies are less risk-oriented than they were 12 months ago. In fact, only 5 percent of U.S. CEOs say they are taking significantly more risks, with fewer than 4 in 10 (39 percent) saying they are taking "somewhat" more risks.

The survey also found that U.S. CEOs see overregulation as a big threat, with almost half (49 percent) voicing that concern.