Random observation on our second slow news morning in a row: In many ways, Bloomberg’s Ahmed Feteha captures the zeitgeist of the week with “Busy bankruptcy lawyers put Egypt economic overhaul on notice.” And yet in just about every meeting or call we’ve had with a business owner or big company CEO in the past month, the discussion has inevitably broken down as:

Us: “So, how’s business?”

Owner / CEO: “It’s crazy. The pound. Inflation. Gotta upsize / downsize / rightsize my products / services. Maybe cut back on spending. It’s hard to figure out where to price the USD in our budget for next year. What are the others telling you? They’ve got the same problems, right?”

Us: “Well, you’d be surprised at how optimistic folks are, in the main. So sales are suffering?”

Owner / CEO: “No, not really. Definitely not as much as I expected. And, I mean, Black Friday? Wow. But how much more can the market really take?”

Us: “So you’re cutting back on investment next year?”

Owner / CEO: “Cutting back on investment? No. Of course not. I’m investing as much or more. We’ve got some turbulence ahead of us — and policy developments like the impounding of sugar / lack of VAT regulations / grumbling about new taxes are really unsettling — but I’m very confident in my business and my industry. And I think I feel better about prospects for the economy at large than I have in years.”

We’re not going to rely on anecdotal evidence, though: Look on Sunday for the launch of our first Enterprise Business Confidence Gauge. We took your reaction to (and suggestions about) our first-ever reader survey to heart, and we’re making it a quarterly thing. The survey will run every day next week and results will appear in our year-in-review package during the week of 25 December.

GAFI will present the latest draft of the new Investment Law to business associations today for a review prior to sending to the Ismail cabinet on 14 December for sign-off.

Citi’s 2016 Global Healthcare Conference runs today and tomorrow in London.