@cnn

Saks Global, the parent company of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Tuesday. The company had struggled with a heavy debt load following its purchase of rival Neiman Marcus in 2024. #CNN #News

♬ original sound – CNN – CNN

Saks filed for bankruptcy after drowning in debt used to acquire Neiman Marcus. It’s a case of eyes bigger than your stomach or eating more than what you can chew.

Sounds like what happened to Del Monte. The Philippines-headquartered Del Monte Pacific, eventually became the Asia Pacific entity. It then acquired the US-based Del Monte Foods Corp, the former parent. It’s like David swallowing Goliath whole. The roles were reversed; the former parent becomes a unit — albeit a headache-inducing offspring.

And now the Philippines-based parent is raising USD 600m to pay debts… Eating more than it can chew.

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I can’t seem to stop buying lamps. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I don’t know why but I’m obsessed with ambient lighting. I only turn on the white ceiling lights when I cook or when we have company. Otherwise we just turn on the lamps to illuminate our house.

I attended a presscon to give me an excuse to go to Metro Manila so I can shop for a lamp. 🤦🏻‍♀️

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I had to get out of the house to dig myself out of the rut I was in. I was working on two analysis pieces today while coordinating another story that our PH reporter will write. I couldn’t afford to not be productive today.

So I went to a co-working space.

It was effective. I was halfway through my first piece when I got distracted by an editing job. I accomplished so much within the three hours I worked in that cold office. I knew I wouldn’t have achieved anything had I stayed at home. There were so many distractions (chores, cats, my bed) plus being locked up in my room for more than a week does *things* to my capacity for critical thinking.

Local stock market looks better this week compared to the past few months or years. This is the first time that my ETF was only negative PHP 300. In the past 10 yrs I was always bleeding. I partially cashed out my ETF at a loss when I was building my house.

This would continue until the market corrects/rebalances in February. Let’s see if the winning streak will continue until June — unless the US implodes before that.

@dena_mccoy

🇺🇸 A United States combat veteran’s perspective… #repost @kris.and.dave

♬ original sound – Dena McCoy

This song suddenly popped up in my head:

I was suddenly roused from my bed rotting by my mom yesterday because her laptop’s charger stopped working and she had a zoom meeting at 2 pm. I hopped from one shop to another trying to buy a replacement but that dang tiny Acer pin made it difficult to find a match. Even the Acer service center didn’t have it and it will take several weeks before Acer could ship an original charger.

I ended up racing to another city 23 km from home to get to SM Cyberzone. 50 mins to and 50 mins back.

So now I’m off to a good start, going to the community weekend market on Sunday January morning.

Hope that this a good start for the week. Let’s see if Washington will throw more bombs (figurative and literal) to cause a world economic meltdown.

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I finally taught Twin A how to use the sewing machine.

After the sewing lesson, I made a new table cloth, which Twin A also chose.

I really fear for my relatives in the US. Good thing my mentally impaired uncle already went back to the Philippines. My cousins, my aunt and uncles…even the super MAGA uncle…

@jalvarez840

♬ original sound – JAlvarez

And this is where Putin and Xi wants the US.

Jesse Ventura is right here. What is happening in America is reminiscent of the martial law years under Marcos Sr.

@fox9mn

Former Minnesota Governor and professional wrestling icon Jesse Ventura shared his thoughts about the deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

♬ original sound – FOX 9 | KMSP – FOX 9 | KMSP

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His invasion of Venezuela is no different from what Bush did to Iraq. It’s all about greed for oil, for power — it’s America’s old bullying ways again. And you know how Iraq ended up, right?

Denmark recently declared that it is ready to defend Greenland should Trump invade that large inhospitable land.

The US creates wars to prop up its economy, which won’t be doing great in the long term. Right now, the US economy is propped up by the corporates (mostly tech doing the heavy lifting) and the high-income households. This is what the economists call the K-shaped growth — only certain segments of the economy are growing or different segments have different rates of growth. Given that only the rich are advancing, that means the middle class and low-income segments are left behind. They are the ones feeling the full brunt of the higher prices due to tariffs and slowing jobs market.

High-income households spend aggressively, boosted by soaring wealth, while middle and lower-income households remain worried about job security and the impact of tariffs on their spending power.  — ING

The next six months are precarious given the geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns. Japan has recently raised interest rates, the highest in 30 years, while other central banks remain cautious despite the cooling inflation in their respective markets. Jobs and wages are uneven.

I’m currently working on my own economic and public and private markets outlook and I’m racing against the clock. The expert comments are just coming in trickles. I HAVE A DEADLINE, PLEASE!!!

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I’m bored. It’s probably the reason why I am endlessly procrastinating this week. I haven’t produced anything and my mind keeps wandering off — like I want to do something else. I need to get out of this funk because I cannot afford to just pick up my bags and leave.

My bff/business partner is so busy with their startup logistics company after they purchased two cargo trucks a month ago. We couldn’t get our business idea off the ground because we both are busy with other things.

I need to have my brain working overtime tomorrow to make up for the slack this week.