CEOs More Optimistic

If you are trying to lure new business investments to your community, it's good to know whether the men and women running these companies are in a mood to invest.

Across a wide swath of Corporate America, optimism is breaking out again, and the shift in outlook couldn't be more dramatic. A year ago, CEOs of all stripes complained about having "no visibility" about the future of the economy and their businesses. Faced with so much uncertainty, execs shunned expansion. Instead, with the bursting of the stock market bubble, continued fears of terrorism, a spate of corporate scandals, and, finally, the war in Iraq, company honchos hunkered down to concentrate on cutting costs and hoarding cash as they hacked away at capital-spending budgets and payrolls.

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