AGL Resources to Host Fourth-Quarter and Year-End 2008 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:ATG) will release its fourth-quarter and year-end 2008 earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, February 5, 2009. The company will hold a conference call to discuss its results on the same day at 9 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

The conference call will be webcast, and can be accessed via the investor relations section of the company's Web site (www.aglresources.com), or by dialing 866/730-5767 in the United States or 857/350-1591 outside the United States. The confirmation code is 97438877. A replay of the conference call will be available by dialing 888/286-8010 in the United States or 617/801-6888 outside the United States, with a confirmation code of 64630445. A replay of the call also will be available on the investor relations section of the company's Web site for seven days following the call.

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The Conference Board U.S. Leading Economic Index Edges Up Slightly

PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board reports today that the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators edged up 0.3 percent in September, following a 0.9 percent decline in August, and a 0.7 percent decline in July.

Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board: "This summer, before the financial market turmoil intensified, the overall economy was entering a period of decline. The extreme volatility in the financial market, and the near freeze-up of credit, will no doubt weaken the economy further. But latest data suggest that conditions in the non-financial economy are not falling apart. Data on hand reflect a contracting economy, but not one in free fall. More likely, what's going on in the financial market is a stretching of the recovery process - which could take a full year to develop."

The Conference Board reports that the Coincident Index fell by 0.5 percent in September, following no change in August, and a 0.2 percent decrease in July. The Lagging Index fell by 0.2 percent in September, following a 0.2 percent rise in August.

-- The leading index increased in September, the first increase in the
last five months. Real money supply, consumer expectations, the
interest rate spread, and the index of supplier deliveries all made
large positive contributions to the index in September, more than
offsetting the negative contributions from building permits, stock
prices, initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted) and the
average workweek in manufacturing. From March to September, the
leading index decreased 1.3 percent (a -2.5 percent annual rate),
declining modestly slower than the 1.7 percent decrease (a -3.4
percent annual rate) that prevailed in the previous six months.
However, the weaknesses among the leading indicators have remained
widespread over the past six months.

-- The coincident index decreased sharply in September and it has
declined or held steady since October 2007. Industrial production fell
steeply this month, while employment continued to decline. The
six-month decline in the coincident index has picked up to 0.8 percent
(a -1.7 percent annual rate), from a decrease of 0.3 percent (a -0.6
percent annual rate) in the previous six months, while the weaknesses
among the coincident indicators remained very widespread. In
September, the coincident index decreased more than the lagging index,
and the coincident-to-lagging ratio continued to decline as a result.

-- With consistently widespread weakness among its components, the
leading index has been falling since July 2007. Following the leading
index, the coincident index, a monthly measure of current economic
conditions, has also been decreasing, and its rate of decline has
accelerated in recent months. Meanwhile, real GDP growth slowed to a
1.8 percent average annual rate in the first half of the year, down
from an average annual rate of 2.3 percent in the second half of 2007.
Taken together, the behavior of the composite indexes suggests that
the economy is unlikely to improve in the near term.


LEADING INDICATORS

Six of the ten indicators that make up the leading index increased in September. The positive contributors - beginning with the largest positive contributor - were real money supply*, index of consumer expectations, interest rate spread, index of supplier deliveries (vendor performance), manufacturers' new orders for nondefense capital goods*, and manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials*. The negative contributors - beginning with the largest negative contributor - were building permits, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted), stock prices, and average weekly manufacturing hours.

The leading index now stands at 100.6 (2004=100). Based on revised data, this index decreased 0.9 percent in August and decreased 0.7 percent in July. During the six-month span through September, the leading index decreased 1.3 percent, with two out of ten components advancing (diffusion index, six-month span equals 20 percent).

COINCIDENT INDICATORS

Two of the four indicators that make up the coincident index increased in September. The positive contributors to the index - beginning with the larger positive contributor - were personal income less transfer payments* and manufacturing and trade sales*. The negative contributors were industrial production and employees on nonagricultural payrolls.

The coincident index now stands at 106 (2004=100). This index remained unchanged in August and decreased 0.2 percent in July. During the six-month period through September, the coincident index decreased 0.8 percent, with one out of four components advancing (diffusion index, six-month span equals 25 percent).

LAGGING INDICATORS

The lagging index stands at 112.2 (2004=100) in September, with two of the seven components advancing. The positive contributors to the index - beginning with the larger positive contributor - were commercial and industrial loans outstanding* and the ratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales*. The negative contributors - beginning with the largest negative contributor - were average duration of unemployment (inverted), change in CPI for services, and change in labor cost per unit of output*. The average prime rate charged by banks, and ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income* held steady in September. Based on revised data, the lagging index increased 0.2 percent in August and increased 0.5 percent in July.

DATA AVAILABILITY AND NOTES

The data series used by The Conference Board to compute the three composite indexes and reported in the tables in this release are those available "as of" 12 Noon on October 17, 2008. Some series are estimated as noted below.

* Series in the leading index that are based on The Conference Board estimates are manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials, manufacturers' new orders for nondefense capital goods, and the personal consumption expenditure used to deflate the money supply. Series in the coincident index that are based on The Conference Board estimates are personal income less transfer payments and manufacturing and trade sales. Series in the lagging index that are based on The Conference Board estimates are inventories to sales ratio, consumer installment credit to income ratio, change in labor cost per unit of output, the consumer price index, and the personal consumption expenditure used to deflate commercial and industrial loans outstanding.

The procedure used to estimate the current month's personal consumption expenditure deflator (used in the calculation of real money supply and commercial and industrial loans outstanding) now incorporates the current month's consumer price index when it is available before the release of the U.S. Leading Economic Indicators.

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Conference Examines State Tax Policy Proposals September 11

Towards a Better Understanding of Property Taxes & Proposed Policies
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008
Capitol Education Center, 180 Central Avenue, Atlanta, GA

When lawmakers convene for the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly in January, a number of new tax proposals could be on the table, including limits on levies and caps on assessment increases.

To wade through the proposals, and the current landscape of current Georgia tax policy, the Fiscal Research Center at Georgia State University will hold a conference on the property tax as it exists, and the likely effects of changes under consideration.

“Towards a Better Understanding of Property Taxes & Proposed Policies” will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Capitol Education Center, 180 Central Ave., Atlanta.

Including presentations from officials from Georgia’s Department of Revenue and economic experts from states that have implemented assessment limits and levy caps, Fiscal Research Center Director Dave Sjoquist said the seminar will provide objective information to lawmakers, local elected officials and fiscal policy watchers.

“People will have a much better understanding of how the property tax works and have information on these two policies and the consequences they might have for Georgia,” he said.
The Fiscal Research Center, housed in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State, is a nonpartisan fiscal policy and education center which provides technical assistance and information to state and local governments.

Vicki Lambert, director of the Local Government Services division of the state revenue department, will give an overview of the current Georgia tax structure. Sjoquist will discuss options for reducing and controlling property taxes.

Mark Haveman, executive director of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, will discuss property tax limitations, how they’re structured and their effects on local governments. Experts from Colorado, Michigan and Florida will discuss their states’ experiences with assessment limits and levy caps.

For more information about the conference, visit http://frcconference.gsu.edu/.

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