TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Stocks finished their worst two-year period in 23 years on New Year's Eve, many Enron stockholders have been wiped out, credit card debt is soaring, and economic recovery is expected to be slow at best.

All of which makes the 2002 Economic Outlook Conference, presented by The University of Alabama's Center for Business and Economic Research, all the more important to the state's business community. The conference is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Montgomery.

"During the past year, almost nothing went right from an economic standpoint," said Dr. Carl Ferguson, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.

"Technology, which had been pummeled, rebounded a little toward the end of the year, the retail sector has been mixed, the energy sector has been decimated, telecommunications stocks have suffered and repeated interest rate cuts by the Fed had little impact. So where do we go from here? We think our lineup of speakers might be able to shed some light on these and other issues," Ferguson said.

David Bronner, chief executive officer of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, will be the luncheon speaker.

In addition to Bronner, speakers include:

Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for DRI-WEFA, who will give the U.S. Outlook.

Ferguson, who will address the Alabama Outlook.

Ira Harvey, education consultant, who will present the Alabama Revenue Outlook.

Conference sponsors this year include Alabama Power; The Boeing Co.; the Business Council of Alabama; Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc.; United Parcel Service; and Vulcan Materials Co.

Registration deadline is Jan.10, 2002. The conference registration fee is $95, which includes the Alabama Economic Outlook 2002, conference materials and lunch.

For more information call 205-348-6191 or email uacber@cba.ua.edu.

CBER is Alabama's central reservoir for business, economic and demographic data. Since its creation in 1930, CBER has engaged in research programs to promote economic development in the state, while continuously expanding and refining its broad base of socioeconomic information. To forecast the level of activity in Alabama, CBER developed an econometric model of the state. Beginning in 1980, output from the model has been published in the annual Alabama Economic Outlook series.

Visit CBER on the web at: http://cber.cba.ua.edu.