FEI/Duke CFO Outlook Survey
December 2003

All information will be used only in aggregate form. No individual data is recorded or made public. Please respond by midnight Eastern, Tuesday, December 9th. 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 do you think annualized U.S. GDP growth will be during the next 12 months? (e.g., +3%, -2%, etc.)

4. On December 3, the annual yield on 10-yr treasury bonds was 4.4%. 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:

%

c. Relative to the typical investor, how would you rate your ability to predict future stock market returns?

Poor

Average

Excellent

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5a. 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)
% Overtime
% Advertising/Marketing spending
% Health care costs
% Inventory
%  Number of employees
%  Number of outsourced/temporary
                      employees

% Wages/Salaries
% M&A activity
% Dividends
% Technology spending
% Capital spending
% Earnings
% Revenues
% R&D spending

5b. What do you expect to be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE in earnings during the next 12 months?

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

%

Best Guess:
I expect the actual
change in earnings
to be:

%

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

%

5c. What do you expect to be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE in revenues during the next 12 months?

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

%

Best Guess:
I expect the actual
change in revenues
to be:

%

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

%

6. Which of the following factors will have the most important effect on your company's performance in 2004? (Check one answer on left for "most negative factor"; check one answer on right for "most positive factor")
MOST NEGATIVE		MOST POSITIVE
	Level of interest rates
	Depreciated U.S. dollar
	Trade disputes (e.g., with European Union, China)
	War on terror
	Federal budget deficit
	Health care costs
	U.S. employment
	Corporate investment
	Globalization
	Financial Reporting Environment (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley, signing financial reports, audit committee oversight, company code of ethics)
	Other:

7a. Relative to the past three years, in the near future will your company change the proportion of pay tied to stock option compensation for your employees?

Eliminate stock options
Reduce but not eliminate stock options
No change in use of options
Increase use of stock options
Do not know

7b. If the proportion of employee pay tied to stock options is decreasing, will another item be increased to replace the reduction in stock options? (Check all that apply)

Yes, salary will be increased
Yes, bonus will be increased
Yes, stock grants will increase (e.g., restricted stock)
Yes, something else will increase (Please list:)
No, nothing will be increased to replace the reduction in stock options

8. In response to the ongoing investigations in the mutual fund industry as it relates to your company's employee 401(k) plan, (select one):

We have made changes to our investment options
We have NOT made changes to investment options, but are considering doing so
We have no plans at this time to change investment options
We do not provide a 401(k) plan

9. Regarding capital investments, is your company:

Holding off on all or nearly all capital investments
Spending cautiously
Spending at normal rate
Making ambitious investments in capital expenditures

10. 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
      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 Over $5 billion	Fewer than 100 100-499 500-999 1000-2499 2500-4999 5000-9999 Over 10,000

d. Headquarters	e. Ownership
Northeast Mountain Midwest South Central South Atlantic Pacific	Public, NYSE Public, NASDAQ/AMEX Private

f. Foreign Sales

       0%
       1-24%
       25-50%
       Over 50%

To help us better understand the demographics of our survey population, please answer the following questions about yourself:

Age	Years as a financial exec	Gender	Education
<=39 40-49 50-59 60+	<4 years 4-9 years 10-14 years 15+ years	Male Female	High School Some college College degree MBA or other business grad. degree Non-business Masters >Masters degree

Approximately what portion of your compensation is incentive based? (e.g., stock option, bonus, etc.)

<10%
10-19%
20-29%
30-39%
40-49%
50% +

How would you rate your ability to pick which investment projects will be profitable for your firm?

Poor

Average

Excellent

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FEI/Duke CFO Outlook Survey December 2003

FEI/Duke CFO Outlook Survey
December 2003