Duke University/CFO Magazine
Business Outlook Survey
Summer 2005

No individual firms are identified and only aggregate data are made public. Please respond by Sunday, August 28. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact us.

1. Are you more or less optimistic about the U.S. economy compared to last quarter?
More optimistic Less optimistic No change	Rate your optimism about the U.S. economy on a scale from 0-100, with 0 being the least optimistic and 100 being the most optimistic.

2. Are you more or less optimistic about the financial prospects for your company compared to last quarter?
More optimistic Less optimistic No change	Rate your optimism about the financial prospects for your own company on a scale from 0-100, with 0 being the least optimistic and 100 being the most optimistic.

3. What are the top three concerns your company faces in 2005? (rank #1, #2, #3)

   World economic stability
   Availability/cost of capital
   High fuel prices
   High non-fuel commodity prices
   Political risk
   Reduced pricing power
   Inflation
   Increased interest rates

   Increased regulation
   Salaries and wages
   Health care costs
   Distribution problems
   Increased global competition
   Terrorism
   U.S. dollar weakness
   Other:

4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months? (e.g., +3%, -2%, etc.) [Leave blank if not applicable]

   % Prices of your products
   % Productivity (output per hour worked)
   % Technology spending
   % Number of domestic employees
   % Number of foreign/off-shore
                          outsourced employees
   % Wages/Salaries
   % Health care costs

   % Capital spending
   % Earnings
   % Inventory
   % Cash on the balance sheet
   % Dividends
   % Advertising/marketing

    M&A activity

5a. Does your company pay a dividend now?

5b. Did your company pay a dividend three years ago?

Yes
No

5c. Rank the three most important factors that affect your company's thinking about whether to pay a dividend, and the amount to pay. (#1, #2, #3)

   Long-term stability of cash flows
   Amount of cash on balance sheet
   Desire to jump-start stock price
   Dividend tax rate
   Attracting institutional investors
   Attracting retail investors
   Historic level of our company’s dividend payment
   Availability of profitable investment opportunities
   Indicating that our firm is mature

5d. Relative to what your firm would have paid out if dividend tax rates had not fallen, how much did the 2003 reduction in dividend tax rates affect your firm’s decision to increase/initiate dividend payments?

  None
  A little
  Moderately
  Greatly

6. Some economists believe that the U.S. housing market is due for a correction. If the housing market declines, do you think the resulting effect on the economy would be big enough to harm your company's business prospects?

  No
  Yes, a little
  Yes, moderately
  Yes, greatly

7a. On a scale of 0 to 100, how do you rank the negative impact that the threat of terrorism is having on your business? (0 means no impact, 100 means maximum negative impact from threat of terrorism.)

0-100

7b. What number on this scale would indicate that the threat of terrorism is affecting your bottom line? (If your answer in 7a is greater than this number, it means that the threat of terrorism is affecting your bottom line.)

0-100

7c. What specific actions has your company taken in response to the threat of terrorism? (Check all that apply)

  Reduced employee travel
  Changed mode of employee travel (e.g., less public transportation)
  Increased security at facilities
  Increased security for key personnel
  Appointed chief security officer
  Establish redundant operating systems
  Establish redundant financial systems
  Check backpacks/bags
  Other
  We have not taken specific actions

8. How important are individual (i.e., retail) investors to your company’s value or stock price?

  Not important
  Somewhat important
  Moderately important
  Very important

9. On August 22, 2005 the annual yield on 10-yr treasury bonds was 4.2%. Please complete the following:

a. Over the next 10 years, I expect the average annual S&P 500 return will be:

Worst Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual average
return will be less than:

%

Best Guess:
I expect the
return to be:

%

Best Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual average
return will be greater than:

%

b. During the next year, I expect the S&P 500 return will be:

Worst Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual return will
be less than:

%

Best Guess:
I expect the
return to be:

%

Best Case: There is a 1-in-10
chance the actual return will
be greater than:

%

Please check one from each category that best describes your company:

a. Industry

       Retail/Wholesale
       Mining/Construction
       Manufacturing
       Transportation/Energy
       Communications/Media

      Tech [Software/Biotech]
      Banking/Finance/Insurance
      Service/Consulting
      Healthcare/Pharmaceutical
      Other

b. Sales Revenue	c. Number of Employees
Less than $25 million $25-$99 million $100-$499 million $500-$999 million $1-$4.9 billion $5-$9.9 billion More than $10 billion	Fewer than 100 100-499 500-999 1,000-2,499 2,500-4,999 5,000-9,999 More than 10,000

d. Headquarters	e. Ownership
Northeast U.S. Mountain U.S. Midwest U.S. South Central U.S. South Atlantic U.S. Pacific U.S. Canada Central/Latin America Europe Asia	Public, NYSE Public, NASDAQ/AMEX Private Government Nonprofit

f. Foreign Sales	g. Your job title (e.g., CFO, Asst. Treasurer, etc):
0% 1-24% 25-50% More than 50%

Duke University/CFO MagazineBusiness Outlook Survey Summer 2005

Duke University/CFO Magazine
Business Outlook Survey
Summer 2005