Signs of life in the economy and an increase of business activity has led to an increase in confidence of small and midsize business CEOs. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index rebounded to 82.8 in Q3 from 62.5 in Q2.
Source: myvistage.com
Factors that contributed to the rebound from last quarter include (#5 is a double edged sword):

1. 32.5% improvements in revenue expectations
2. 29.2% improvement in profitability expectations
3. 28.3% increase in investment plans, largely driven by a significant decline in contraction
4. 25.4% improvement in workforce plans
5. 10.1% improvement in expectations for the U.S. economy – from 93% of CEOs being pessimistic to 83% (still a worryingly high number)