Released on: September 14, 2008, 10:59 pm

Press Release Author: Richard Drake

Industry: Financial

Press Release Summary: Cornerstone Worldwide on why Europe may emerge from a
recession more quickly than the US.

Press Release Body: As German investor confidence increased more in August than
economists forecast after the euro declined and oil prices retreated from a record.
Cornerstone Worldwide reputedly suggested that Europe may be better placed to emerge
from a recession. It cited that consumers in Europe’s largest economy did not suffer
from the indebtedness of their counterparts in the US and the UK and German banks
didn’t have the same levels of exposure to the US housing market that had seen US
banks rushing to raise capital.

The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor
and analyst expectations rose to minus 55.5 from minus 63.9 in July, the lowest
since the survey began in 1991. Economists expected a gain to minus 62. Cornerstone
Worldwide concurred with suggestions in the report that the 24 percent drop in oil
prices from a July 11 record of $147.27 a barrel had left companies with more money
to spend just as a weaker euro underpins exports.

Cornerstone Worldwide Financial wouldn’t be drawn on speculating on a reversal of
fortunes for the European economy, as spokeswoman said the firm was more confident
in the ECB’s hawkish policy on dealing with the fallout from the credit crunch that
began just over a year ago after record defaults on US sub prime mortgages.

The drop in oil prices and the recent depreciation of the euro are widely credited
with the lower than expected decline in investor confidence.


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