Thursday 23 June 2016

Blackstone Group has bought a stake in Marathon Asset Management

[Update: Simon has been in touch, and he reckons there are two Marathons. One in New York, the one in this post. And the bigger and better one in London, where he is. I don't know if I should believe him or not. 'Why would he lie, boss?' I don't know. Why have they got the same name then? 'There's a Snickers one in Germany, too.' Don't be ridiculous, Voice! / Let's give Simon the benefit of the doubt, reader(s) - even if it does ruin my post. I'm gutted about this!]

Why? Why?! Why?

Oh, I know why. My dear friend Simon Somerville works at Marathon now (well, soon, I think), and - 'Snickers, boss?' Yes, that's an old joke, Voice - and, uh, and ... EVERYONE loves our Simon. 'Do they?' Yes. 'Why?' Ha!

We all know why. It's the cheerful face with a hint of melancholy. 'Oh, not that again.' Yes, that again. Any soulless robot working in finance can be cheerful. It's easy when you're making good money and you have a bright future. But the melancholy! The melancholy creeps in ... when the sun is setting, you feel a bit lonely, you start thinking about the futility of everything, it's the death of another day in your life, the night is coming on ... it's a true humanity. And that's what Simon Somerville has. It's why we love him so much. It's why Blackstone wants a piece of the action.

...

Anything else? Politics? The referendum? If Leave wins today it won't be because of  "sovereignty" or "democracy" or any bullshit like that, it will be because the working classes have taken their revenge on the middle classes. Think about it, man. The comfortable middle classes in the south of England have supported the Tory austerity war against the poor. They don't give a shit if poor people are using food banks or their children are going to school with holes in their shoes. But today the working classes have a chance to crash property prices by 20 or even 30 per cent. / Unfortunately, a far more deranged government could replace the present one in the coming days. Hopefully, it won't happen. Let's wait and see.