The equities markets may have recouped after their dip at thebeginning of March, but the nation's CFOs don't seem to be quite sosanguine about the health of the economy. According to a recentsurvey by Financial Executives International and Baruch College,37.7% of the 244 CFOs responding said they were more concernedabout the possibility of recession than they had been in the fourthquarter of 2006, with close to one-quarter describing themselves asquite and even very concerned.

Besides economic growth, which led the list of concerns, CFOsranked healthcare costs and consumer spending as their next twobiggest economic worries. A little more than one-third expect theFederal Reserve to lower interest rates, while half expect interestrates to remain the same, and 42.6% predicted that the dollar wouldcontinue to lose value against the euro for the rest of 2007.

An overwhelming number–68.7%–said that companies found guilty ofbackdating options should be fined. More than half of theCFOs–55.8%–told the FEI-Baruch survey that current financialreporting regulations in the U.S. “somewhat hinder” the ability ofU.S. capital markets to attract new listings.

Almost 74% of the CFOs surveyed worked at companies withrevenues of under $500 million and 67.8% were from companies withfewer than 1,000 workers.