Monday 1 March 2021

Investor confidence decreased in February by ...

By what? By 8.9 points to 91.9. So there! 'Who says, boss?' I say, Voice. 'Yeah, sure. / No, seriously ... who says?' They do. 'Who?!' State Street Global Markets. 'Oh, okay.' So ...

LONDON, February 25, 2021 - State Street Global Markets has released the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index® (ICI) for February 2021.

'Yippee!' Take it easy.

The Global Investor Confidence Index decreased to 91.9, down 8.9 points from January's revised reading of 100.8. The decline in Investor Confidence was driven by large drops in European and Asian ICI, which fell by 16.6 points to 78.1 and 17.5 points to 98.2, respectively. The North American ICI also declined, but by a smaller magnitude, falling 2.8 points to 93.3.

Investors are idiots, of course. As are other people. 'Gogol, boss!' Ha, ha, ha!

The Investor Confidence Index was developed at State Street Associates, State Street Global Markets' research and advisory services business, in partnership with FDO Partners. It measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors.

The Investor Confidence Index assigns a precise meaning to changes in investor risk appetite: the greater the percentage allocation to equities, the higher risk appetite or confidence. A reading of 100 is neutral; it is the level at which investors are neither increasing nor decreasing their long-term allocations to risky assets. The index differs from survey-based measures in that it is based on the actual trades, as opposed to opinions, of institutional investors.

Okay, okay.

Rajeev? Is there ... anything you want to say, son? I mean, you don't have to, if you're not in the mood. I was just -

"The Global Investor Confidence Index contracted 8.9 points in February, driven primarily by sharp declines in risk appetite from Europe's and Asia's intuitional investors," comments Rajeev Bhargava, head of Investor Behavior Research, State Street Associates. "The slower than expected vaccine rollout combined with the added complexity of new, potentially more infectious variants are elevating growth fears, particularly in Europe where official growth forecasts have recently been lowered. And while Asia continues to experience a rebound in activity on the back of strong exports, concerns over tightening credit conditions out of China may have dampened enthusiasm for the region, evident by the much weaker sentiment expressed by institutions this month."

Well, okay. I mean ... 'That was all right, boss.' I suppose, Voice.

I don't know.

There are things I could say.

But ...

Never mind.

ENDS

...

Anything else?

I'm watching something on YouTube, while writing this, well ... finishing this. I'm nearly finished.

There's not much else to say.

Watching the video though ... I don't fit in to this world. I can't relate to people. I can relate to Julius Caesar. 'Elon?' I don't like his Twitter, Voice. In fact, I really hate it. So ... just Julius.

The video is amusing. Normally, I like these guys. But not today, really. I'm in a serious mood today.

I went to the park earlier. But as soon as I got there ... I decided to go home. I don't enjoy such nonsense.

Just walking around and staring at things ... what's the point? 'The swans are nice, boss.' Yeah, I know.

I like the swans.