I always glance through this to get a quick feel for how business is doing. Optimism is slowly rising, even though still at dismal levels. But still, in the right direction. (And it is cool to be able to post from a plane!) “Four percent reported financing as their #1 business problem, not an issue compared to weakness in sales or taxes or the cost of regulation. Ninety-three percent reported that all their credit needs were met or that they were not interested in borrowing. Seven percent reported that not all of their credit needs were satisfied. The record low is 4 percent reached in 2000. Fifty percent said they did not want a loan but increases to 64 percent when including those who did not answer the question, presumably uninterested in borrowing as well. Twenty-three percent of the owners reported that weak sales continued to be their top business problem, so investments in new equipment or new workers are not likely to “pay off’ by generating enough additional earnings to repay the loan required to finance the investment.… "Interestingly, the rate paid on short-term loans dropped 40 bps from November to December at 5.90%. Yet, 64% still were not interested even in cheaper money. High rate was April at 6.5%; 5.9% is the low and it has been seen during 3 months in 2011."