Yet again… The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse© dropped six-plus-points from its previous all-time low at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Today, CEO Confidence has never been lower than 63.8 (not since the inception of the Nicolet Bank Business Pulse, anyway).

The Business Pulse reached its all-time high in the 4th Quarter, 2003; its previous low was at the end of Q3/08 = 70.

Q4/08 marks the 6th consecutive quarter The Index is below 100.

The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse measures current conditions compared to three months ago. It also measures Future Economic Expectations of CEOs over the next three months. The Current Economic Index and The Future Expectations Index are combined to create the overall Business Pulse Index.

Current Conditions Index dropped from 66.8 last Quarter to 53.6; Future Expectations Index inched up slightly from 73.1-to-73.9.

This study was conducted over the past 2 weeks.