Small business owner optimism rose to levels near last year's record highs in the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index. The Index registered at 113 for Q2 2007, nearly matching the high-score of 114 in Q4 2006. The Index tracks six key measures for both current and future expectations: financial situation, cash flow, revenues, capital allocation, job hiring and credit availability.

For the past three quarters, all six measures have remained consistently strong, demonstrating an optimistic outlook. In fact, 95 percent of respondents report feeling successful as a small bsiness owner.

"Small business optimism increased in the second quarter to levels not significantly different from December 2006's all-time high of 114," said Dr. Scott Anderson, Wells Fargo senior economist. "Despite fears that higher gasoline prices would weaken small business demand, steady job and income growth have helped sustain robust revenues and cash flows for small businesses. These survey results are consistent with our forecasts of a moderate rebound in economic activity in the second quarter of 2007."

The Q2 2007 results show more respondents "extremely satisfied or very satisfied" as small business owners compared to Q1 2007 (60 percent versus 50 percent, respectively). Additionally, 83 percent of small business owners said they would do it all over again if given the opportunity, up five points from 78 percent in Q1 2007.