Analysts and service companies eagerly await the end of the year, which is when some of the biggest companies in the world start to announce how they plan to spend their money the following year. When capital expenditure forecasts are low, everyone sighs in anticipation of another lean year. When forecasts are up, service companies kick into high gear to ready themselves for more business and greater returns. This year things are kind of, well, flat. Reading from a couple of multinationals' press releases, I get a sense of deja vu, as if the same public relations firm constructs slightly different versions of the same message for a multitude of clients.
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