Says, says, says ... says who?! 'Let me guess, boss!' Go on then, Voice. 'Er ... Keith Busby.' What?! That idiot?! He's dead, isn't he? 'No, I don't think so. I think you let him escape with his life.' Really?
Well, well ...
Anyway, it's GlobalData. A PR email. See if you can dig this, dear reader(s) -
Sweden's retail investment mix is well diversified compared to other markets, meaning high allocations in equities and mutual funds will lead to significant contractions in 2020, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Oh God. More bad news.
GlobalData expects the overall retail savings and investments market to decline by 5.4% in 2020, compared to the company's pre-The Thing forecast of 5.5% growth. This decline will be led by GlobalData's retail equities holdings forecast which is set to decline by 21% in 2020, from a 6.2% growth projection prior to The Thing.
It's so depressing. / Cheer us up, Andy!
Andrew Haslip, Head of Wealth Management at GlobalData, commented: "The relatively stable deposit holding of Swedes is expected to grow faster in 2020 than previously forecast, as investors prioritize wealth conservation in light of the volatile securities markets. Previous recessions, such as after the global financial crisis of 2008, saw a marked turn towards deposits by Swedish households. A similar trend is expected in 2020 even though the extremely low interest rates on offer in the Swedish banking system means money parked in almost any type of bank account will earn very little return."
Er ... ‘Unbelievable! Very little return? Is this guy thick or something?! You told him to cheer us up, boss.' Yeah, yeah. It was, uh ... a request more than anything, Voice. Not really an order. 'Well, order him!' Okay.
Right. Come on, Andy, finish with something positive, for Christ's sake. And that is an order.
"The relatively large fiscal packages passed by the Swedish government to mitigate the effects of The Thing (amounting to up to 14.9% of GDP), along with the lack of a severe lockdown - should ensure household savings are relatively insulated from some of the damage expected in other countries."
Well, that's all right, ain't it? Nice one, Andy! 'Yeah, well done, son.'
ENDS
...
Anything else, kook(s)? It's the end of the week. Laters! 'Give them some music news, Mikey. An update.' Uh, Jesus. I just want to rest.
Okay, okay. I've decided I won't ever have B-sides or bonus tracks. I'll just tell the record companies I want to maintain high standards in all my writing, so ... 'What about gigs after your first album? You won't have enough songs.' No problem, Voice. I'll do loads of cover versions ... Louie, Louie ... Susie Q ... whatever! That's what The Beatles did in the early days. Dylan, too. And by the second album I'll have enough material.
This means that She Loves Me, It's Just a Joke, Man, and You're Lying from the 2016 demo aren't needed any more. Which is for the best, really.
Go big or go home!
The devil take the hindmost!
Actually, I was rehearsing my best songs yesterday - And Rain Came Down, Stella, Malibu, etc, etc - and I was playing the guitar and singing ... so smoooooth, man, yes ... and I thought about the, uh ... one thousand takes of You're Lying which were all rubbish, even the one that got on the demo ... ... ...
The moral of the story? Keep on rockin' in the free world!
Laters!
