Concluded October 9, the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index optimism score came in at negative 15 (-15), a net six-point increase from the previous survey (conducted in July, 2009), and 129 points lower than the Index high of 114 (conducted December, 2006).A score of zero indicates that small business owners, as a group, are neutral -- neither optimistic nor pessimistic -- about their companies' situations.

The Index is the sum of "present situation" and "future expectations" of small business owners for six key measures, including financial situation, cash flow, revenues, capital allocation spending, job hiring and credit availability. The "present situation" score stayed relatively stable, down one point to negative 24 (-24), the lowest present situation score in the history of the Index. "Future expectations" increased seven points, from two to nine.

 Index Score: Q4 2009 vs. Q3 2009                                                                                           
                                                                                                                            
                                    Overall Index Small Business Owner Optimism    Present Situation    Future Expectations 
 Q4 2009 (surveyed October 2009)    -15                                            -24                  9                   
 Q3 2009 (surveyed July 2009)       -21                                            -23                  2                   


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Of the six key measures, the following measures contributed to the increase of this quarter's Index:

Revenues -- 20 percent (vs. 28 percent in Q3 2009) expect revenues to "decrease a little" or "decrease a lot" over the next 12 months

Capital Spending -- 33 percent (vs. 38 percent in Q3 2009) expect capital spending to "decrease a little" or "decrease a lot" over the next 12 months

Hiring -- 18 percent (vs. 14 percent in Q3 2009) expect the number of jobs or positions to "increase a little" or "increase a lot" over the next 12 months

About the Small Business Index

For the last 26 quarters, the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index has surveyed small business owners on current and future perceptions of their business financial situation.