Got laid off and had major expenses at the same time. Can't get approved for personal loan because I was buying a car before layoff, so recent credit is bad (640 with recent hard pulls). I've made job hunting a full time job for the past month, even jobs outside my field. Even unskilled food service jobs are either flaky or hyper competitive here.
I'm in southern California, USA.
What are my (ethical) options, if any?

I’ve been lurking in this sub for a bit and I see a lot of people who come on and mention how their bankruptcies have been smooth and the best decision they’ve made.
Is there anyone who hasn’t had a favorable experience like me? What did you do?
Let me start with we (my spouse and I) began a payment plan with the firm we chose in Arizona. I wish we had done more research on lawyers because the stress that’s come with our entire process has been a complete nightmare and it’s still on-going.
We filed in Dec of 2022 and it’s been an absolute nightmare of a mess. Our lawyer advised against reaffirming our car loan and instead of sending my spouse the paperwork, a complete stranger was CC’d with me giving that stranger access to our personal information. We got a single email response stating that they cc’d the wrong person and gave a very impersonal apology.
Our 341 meeting, we had a completely different lawyer that had spoken to us once and then almost didn’t show up for the meeting because they called into the wrong clients call.
Now, we get to the trustee portion and not only has our lawyer been adamant about us keeping our CTC and ACTC (it’s in our contract and in our filing forms), $5000(ish) and $900(ish) the trustee agreed to said amount (according to the lawyer). Getting ahold of our lawyer has been the most infuriating experience because they either give vague answers or none at all, take days to respond. The trustees assistant tried saying we’d only be receiving $1K (which is wrong) and our lawyer says they sent an email but we would receive a check next week. We received our discharge yesterday as well as a check from the trustee for a whole $80.
After calling our lawyer and emailing, they finally responded stating they’d been out of office and would send over the trustees explanation tomorrow.
This entire process has been exhausting and we still have no idea what is happening or even what to do. We’re depending on that money because we’ve been told since the start it would be protected.
Anyways, all this to say do your research and it isn’t always a relief filing for bankruptcy.

My wife is selling her business (at a loss, details to be worked out soon) and to close out some revolving debt I’m taking out a 401k loan. She needs it to bring her balance with a wholesaler to zero, just doesn’t have the cash to cover the time difference in accounts receivables. Using this money is/was necessary and feels about as low risk as possible.
As she pays me back, which I’d imagine would be a matter of 1-3 weeks, I was considering parking the balance somewhere for a few weeks to give me some time to earn interest against myself (9% is the current loan rate) and pick some up on the taxable side as well- maybe pay it back as a lump sum very soon or might sit on it a few months depending on what market conditions look like.
I was thinking of using my HYSA at current 4.0% but also considering $SGOV or a money market fund ($SPRXX at Fidelity).
Any better ideas? I’m still able to contribute and get match with my 401k. I feel like the market has a little room to drop and I’m willing to risk a small time block to scoop up a little advantage in an overall not-so-great situation.

STEP #7: BREAK DOWN INTO SMALLER GOALS
When I set out on my first goal of getting $10k it seemed very big and overwhelming. When you are living paycheck to paycheck and struggling that is A LOT of money and a big shift from the current situation
Thinking about $10k would get me excited but after working really hard for a couple weeks and barely seeing any progress I would get discouraged and would fall off.
What I found was that you need to break down these goals into daily, weekly, and monthly challenges or goals.
I would create challenges such as "let's see if we could spend $20 less this week?" or "I wonder if I could save $50 this week by cutting some things out"
I would also set small goals such as getting my first 100, 250, 500, 1k, and so on. Having smaller goals that are just out of reach makes it much easier to follow through because you are getting little victories along the way.
Before you know it you'll have 10k in the bank.
✅ Checkout my full video on 7 Ways To Go From $0 To $10K (Saving Your First $10,000 Fast, Easy, And Guaranteed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sur8NHM3_0I
You can also find me at:
Website: https://www.shaunsurgener.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShaunSurgener
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✓ Don't forget to subscribe to my channel https://www.youtube.com/c/ShaunSurgenevideos for more videos on personal finance, entrepreneurship, and investing
Let's build that dream!
#FinancialFreedom #FinancialIndependence #PersonalFinance #FinanceTips #Investment #PassiveIncome #Entrepreneurship #Stockmarket #Wealth #RealEstate #SuccessfulMindset #Goals

So I researched a bit and want to know it the build I have planned makes any sense,
So first things first, I'm on the lower budget side of things so I was thinking about a 3060 ti or a 3070 would be enough for my renders (my logic for buying this over a higher end GPU is because I was thinking in the future if I need more VRAM I can buy the same card (maybe even cheeper since it would be in the future)
Oviously I will need a mobo that supports two GPUs, but I'm not sure if I should get a 1700 and a 12700 (so in the future I can upgrade to a 13900) or just go for a 1200 and a 10700 (and maybe upgrade to a 11900 if that's even worth doing)
I'm thinking 32gb of ram 2x 16gb sticks ( so I can add another 2x 16gb sticks if I need to) Whether the sticks are ddr4 or ddr5 would depend on the mobo I choose, I'm not sure if I should keep that into consideration.
And I'm thinking about going for a 1000w PSU so I don't have to change it when I get another GPU, or a 850w for now.
I have the feeling I might be going to hard on some aspects while neglecting others, Please let me know if I can maybe save some money on some components and use it on others (if that makes sense)
Thanks for reading

I made this comment on another post, but I'll just past it here as the answer to why I believe Lor Lor ay.
The obsession with food and how good the food actually is in Lahore compared to other cities is addicting to me. During COVID lockdown years, I started freelancing and had a friend who was a freelancer too. We both worked in the morning, had money, and nothing to do for the rest of the day, so for literally every night, we'd go out someplace new to eat to kill boredom and socialize. I tried almost every fast food place there was near Johar Town, Gulberg, and Androon Lahore. The variety and taste of food in Lahore is too much. I never see such food varieties in other cities and neither see people of other cities so much interested in food like Lahories are lol.
Lahories are a bit unhinged, funny and have that "eazz scene hai bawa jee" way of looking at things. Lahories focus on enjoyment a bit more than others imo. No hate for people from other cities but majority of the friends I had from Islamabad were a bit too civilized and it got boring at a point.
Lahore also has that blend of living history especially in Androon Lahore. If you explore Lahore a lot, you feel like you're loving in a mix of modern and old civilization. Like I'm from PUCIT, the old campus in Anarkali is literally a century old building. Same is NCA. Then there are other buildings on Mall road. Buildins aside people near Akbari Mandi are still living in those century old houses, there's masjid Wazir khan and the surrounding area near it like Shahi Hamam is pretty rich in culture, especially Gali Surjan Singh and from there you can go on foot to Lahore fort and there's sooo much culture to be absorbed that you love it.
Being born and raised in Lahore and having had a chance to explore it, I'd say I feel really lucky to be born here.

1. I have an home loan variable account at 6.19% with BoM. My loan amount is $305,541 in residential loan. But I have $46,393 in my offset. According do the BoM calculator for my fortnightly repayments should be $793. But my actual payment’s over $900 per fortnight. I did talk to the home loan but I’m hard of hearing and didn’t understand her completely. She did say to use the BoM calculator instead of moneysmart which I did and it’s almost the same.

Hi all,
Bit confused as to what to do about my current situation. Here is the relevant background:

• August 2021 purchased at 2012 Kia Soul used from a used car dealer in Massachusetts. Had done about 115k miles. Did a background check using car VIN and the car seemed to be fine, no red flags.
• Had the car inspected by a mobile mechanic, he seemed fine and noticed nothing seriously wrong with the car, though for reasons below I think he must have done a terrible job.
• My wife and I were out of the country for 6 months and loaned the car to some friends. They probably drove about 5000 miles in that time.
• Our friends had two issues, which apparently both related to a knock sensor issue. They had the knock sensor replaced twice.
• We recently spent $1700 on the car having a rack replaced.
• Car is up to date with all recalls etc.
• My wife was driving through Mass this weekend and the car wouldn't go above 2000 rpm. She pulled off the highway as car couldn't get above 30mph or so.
• On Monday she took it to the mechanic in the town where she broke down. And they wrote, among other things,
  • Found writing on engine conclusive to engine being replaced at some point. Writing looks like it states used engine has around 80k miles on it. ELB is also written on the engine stating it came from a salvage yard... Car will nee a new engine; and
  • found code P1326 for Knock sensor
  • oil was a little low
  • recommendation to replace engine
• I understand from googling that a P1326 has to do with wearing of certain joints.
• None of the background checks revealed if the engine had been changed.
• Neither Kia dealer we know the car has been to has any info on replacement of engine.

Questions

• is it possible that the engine was replaced in order to rip us off? As in, the car was sold to us at 115k miles but the 80k mile engine was actually older than the car. Is this some sort of common scam?
• I read that a knock sensor can cause issues if it is playing up and causing the engine to misfire. Is it possible therefore that it is not our entire engine that needs to be replaced but something more minor?
• I'm guessing it's not really worth replacing a new or refurbed engine in a car that is more than 10 years old. But interested to hear your thoughts. Particularly bummed about having sunk money in for the new rack given that it seems we may have been sold a lemon without knowing it.

Would really appreciate any possible info you're happy to share. And please let me know if I should be posting this elsewhere.

When I started my business I was at the lowest point in my life. I had given every penny I had to my ex, lost who I thought was the love of my life and her daughter that I raised like my own. I was living in my little brothers basement broke, depressed and alone. All I had to my name at the time was a Nissan Murano worth about $1,000.
One day I woke up and decided enough was enough it was time to take action, within a day I found someone who believed in me to help me financially start Versa Business Systems.
To be completely honest I had no clue what I was doing. At the time I had only sold credit card processing, boats, cars, real estate, fidget spinners and cell phones. The plan was to sell credit card processing over the phone. 6 years ago no one was doing it so we were going to be the first and the best!
What I didn’t realize is that we didn’t have a reputation yet, no one knew us. We didn’t have testimonials, we didn’t have reviews, we weren’t doing much social media at the time. So the first 30 days we fell flat on our face and didn’t sell a single deal!
All I knew is I did not want to go back down to my little brothers basement and waste away! So I thought about it and realized well most business owners will take a loan from someone as long as we can get them approved. Over the next few days I learned everything I could about business loans. Partnered up with the largest business lending broker at the time and started closing deals almost immediately. About a year later I bought out the partners and started to take Versa to where it is today and beyond.
My point is this. I could have waited for the right time, but there is no such thing. Honestly the right time is if you aren’t where you want to be in life right now what do you have to lose? It’s taking action and just doing and failing forward that got me to where I am today! Not making excuses that “I dont have the money” or “i don’t have the expertise” nowadays you can learn anything online and as long as you have the passion and the whatever it takes attitude you will be successful!
If you wait for the right time or good times to start a business you will wait all your life!

-The Republic of Florence will issue a payment plan with the choice of 100,000 florins for a period of 20 years. The money will be transferred to the Casa de Contratacion’s treasury which will be utilized for purposes of the New World.
-The Bank of Florence owned by the magnanimous Medici family will provide loans in the contracting and purchasing of indentured laborers by Spanish merchants and the government office of La Casa de Contratacion to be transferred over to New World holdings. The Bank of Medici reserves the right of choosing who to conduct business with but is given contract obligations to La Casa to help fund the trade of indentured labor. Interest payments may prove very lucrative to the Bank of Medici with favorable returns in the slave trade.
-Florence will receive a slight reduction in export duties of New World Goods from Seville to Florence gaining a competitive edge in trade of these exotic goods compared to it’s partners and rivals.
-Florence is permitted to send prospective settlers, personnel, prospectors, and soldiers willing to travel to the New World on the condition that they swear loyalty to the Crown of Castille and serve as agents of the crown. Should they wish to keep their loyalties to Florence, a tax of admission will be levied and they are to spend one year in Castille to acclimatize to the language and culture to better adapt to the colonial environment.
-Florence is permitted to invest in individual holdings in the New World on the condition that it’s revenue is taxed 40% to the Casa de Contratacion and it’s goods are sold primarily to the colonial authorities and not directly to Florence. All transit in or out of the New World by those who hail from Florence is to be regulated by the Casa de Contratacion and they are to board Spanish shipping in transfer between colonies.
It is hoped that this competitive position will bring prosperity to Florence and the rest of Italy.

Was planning to go for masters all this time, didn't religiosity sit for companies on campus (top private university), got several research papers done, did many internships, got admits from top unis (a public ivy, a decent UC, others in top 100), but suddenly I stated getting depressed about it, the thought of going to the US, having my parents put their life saving into it (somehow everything is close to 80-90k USD-and partial loans) and stuck there in that place forever. I realized slowly that I did a huge mistake, I have a strong gut feeling that I don't wanna go there, I don't have a tad bit of mental peace about the idea of going to the US now and without experience.
Now I've almost made my mind, I know salaries are really high in the US, but just don't want to do it, just want to live in the India before I do more damage to my mental health. I was just really good at research, done fairly well on ML/DL, so I everyone was like "MS now right?". I can differ my offer for 1 more year as well should I plan to go later. I wasn't able to sleep for days
Any idea or help about trying off campus for a full stack web developer role? I am pretty stringent on working in India now without taking a troll on my mental health and getting severely depressed there, I want to take action before more damage is done (it'll be hard to understand without being in my shoes I know ).
Also any tips about what people will say about having to drop the option for this year?

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[REQ] ($150) (#Covington, ky, USA) (Repay $180 1/25/23) (Venmo)

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Hello all. I requested a loan earlier this week and realize as a first time user it’s hard without collateral. Unfortunately I don’t have anything to my name, as times are brutally tough. Losing my job in December took its toll but I start my new job Monday so things are looking up. I lowered the amount requested in hopes someone would find it in their hearts to trust me. I know people aren’t good most of the time, let me prove that I am. If that is too much anything is appreciated in this time of need. Thanks

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• Probably deleted within the past 17.62 days
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[REQ] ($250) (#Covington, KY, USA) (repay $325 on 11/25/23) (Venmo)

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Hello, all. New to borrowing on here. I’ve just never had too. I’ve had the same job for 8 years and was surprisingly laid off 2 weeks before Christmas. After many and many of applications, I’ve finally gotten an interview, and I successfully got the job. Not getting a check for a month has completely destroyed my finances, and the well is dry. My wife is now struggling, for covering my portions of Bills. The help would be much appreciated, considering I really have no other option. I was desperate and looked up borrow on Reddit and here we are. Thank you for your time and God Bless
EDIT: it was brought to my attention that I put 11/25, I meant 1/25/23. Thanks
EDIT 2: I also realize it’s hard to receive a loan without collateral especially a first timer. I’m just overdrawn and can’t. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, and understand it’s hard to trust a stranger online. I wish I could prove my trust.

Obviously the first thought I’d assume everyone would have is that we got married too young. Our relationship hasn’t really been peaceful for too much of the 3 years and even when we were dating prior. I was in a situation where we were each others firsts while dating so I thought it was my obligation to make it work. I think our marriage really started to fall apart with having our kid with resentment on my end because I feel as I was handed the option within 5-6 months of marriage that we’d only be intimate if it was to get pregnant which has been ongoing since our son except I haven’t caved this time. (Intimate 3-4 times a year without that stipulation)
Since having a child work is no longer an option and she’s just told me that she is staying home indefinitely (been home around 2 years currently). This is a big issue for me as I’m very career driven and want a financially stable life. I have asked and almost begged for her to go back to work, but her reasoning is that she does not trust daycares. With that I’ve suggested in-home and that’s even worse in her eyes. It’s gotten to the point where I cannot bring it up without it being an argument as she’s firm in her stance.
She used to regularly hit me or grab me digging her nails into me leaving marks when we’d argue stating I’d make her snap; but has since gotten relatively better to where it probably only happens 4-5 times a year as of this past year. I think as she’s made improvement on this so maybe eventually it stops all together. However I do think this has dramatically effected me being affectionate towards her which in turn has made her resent me. When I say affectionate her love language is acts of kindness and I’ve fallen off pretty hard in that category basically after the first year in our marriage.
I have suggested marriage counseling numerous times over the past two years but she refusing stating that she doesn’t want someone to know all of our business essentially. I’m unsure if it’d even be effective as I’d have to skip around the parts of her hitting me as that’d make her quit immediately as she’s embarrassed about it.
Where I’m having problems: I have a son and she stated in an argument last month where I asked for a divorce that she’d take full custody and move back to her family. I feel like I’m destroying her life and my sons life if I leave but I really feel like we aren’t setting up a good environment for our son whatsoever. I just don’t know if him growing up with separated parents is better than growing up with parents that are roommates. I really do believe we’re both only in the marriage at this point to provide stability for our son and we’re hoping it eventually just fixes itself. I really do not want to set her up for failure in a divorce and will be trying to financially support her in the process as much as possible as she’d probably receive primary care of our son. She is on the title of our home (I’m alone on the loan) (100k equity) and I believe would elect to just give it to me, but I’d prefer to probably just scrub everything so there’s nothing other than our son binding us.
I guess my question is have I exhausted all my options in making this work? If divorce is the final choice how do I actually ensure I don’t get talked out of it (shes suggested it regularly for awhile but I think she’s realized the seriousness when I finally suggested it this past month).
Note: Throw away account as she does go through my phone (just to see what I’m doing I guess? Never cheated or showed any signs) will check tomorrow and response if needed.
Thanks.

Currently a Junior(21) in college with the need of having a reliable car for the now and the future. My past car (2018 Civic) got totaled last November which paid out 23k from insurance. We bought the car for 18k brand new at the time which was passed down to me once I graduated high school (still had to pay 10 grand for it though). I understand buying a new car at my age isn’t the most normal or wise thing to, but after careful research and consideration used cars are still shockingly expensive for the mileage I’m looking for. I was looking at 2023 Honda civics but those start at 26k (for the sport trim), but the specific car and trim I want is floating around 30k after taxes and fees. Would this be a financially smart decision? Although I do have the extra cash on hand which I planned for situations like these. I would also not be financing at all due to high interest rates so this would be a all cash transaction.
I understand that after college I should have jobs lined up with the potential of having good income. As for rent, I live at home with my parents so this saved me a lot $$$ only downside is the daily 40 minute plus commute. Also my emergency fund that I saved from when I was 18 would not be touched at all from buying this car, which equals out to at least 50% of my income when working at my last restaurant jobs in the past years. I really don’t spend any money fortunately. Throughout my whole life I have always been frugal with my finances until this problem occurred with my car being totaled. I have worked my ass off to be financially comfortable especially in college at 21, with also having no student loan debt when I finish partly due to going to the first two years of community college. By all means I’m not rich but I’m doing a lot better financially than my fellow friends. Any advice or perspective would greatly be appreciated.
At the moment I am driving an old 14 year old Hyundai, the only problem is the transmission is on its last leg with really bad shifting problems. Not the safest but I would love to keep this till I graduate until getting a full time job but it’s really a gamble of how long this car would last, with the risk of being stranded in my mostly highway commute to school.

I have been on T for about a year now. I used to be a soprano with a verrrry high range. After I went on T my range got smaller and smaller but also somewhat lower. I kind of just excepted that would happen but I lost a decent amount of range which I was sad about because I love the way men singing soprano sounds. Suddenly, or maybe not and I just didn't notice, now I am able to sing in my head voice with more control (still a bit shaky and def less range than before because I used to be able to sing whistle tones if I wanted.) Should I get my hopes up that once my voice changes even out and my vocal cord get more "stable" I guess that I will be able to sing soprano again? I love my speaking voice but I miss my singing range so much and I always had this hope I would keep some of it because of how high it was pre T.
Also anyone got any tips to get into my head voice now? It feels like it is skipping a bit and it is hard to get it up there without making my throat and mouth into an ooooh sound so I have trouble getting out certain vowels without my voice cutting out. I don't have the money for vocal lessons so any tips or even recourses would be helpful. Will singing in upper ranges more help?

It seems that the more that people want something the more difficult it is to achive/attain. It's a parodoxical thing, is there a psychological term for this?
e.g. I want more money, but I never have enough, no matter how hard I try. (as an affirmation that sentence is like a curse)

I consider today’s so-called sports cars to be heavy, claustrophobic coupes, caught up in a horsepower race that makes them nearly undrivable on the street.
Case in point: At a performance-car get-together spot south of San Francisco I met up with a guy in a Lamboghini Huracan, a fabulous exotic, but huge, and with its interior as confining as a tomb. I felt sympathetic toward the driver. On that bright summer’s day, twisty and undulating Hwy 9 to Santa Cruz was the perfect fun drive for my ND2, while his Lambo would never have got out of second gear.
To me an MX-5 with manual transmission is a precision instrument that, for a driver with sufficient skill, makes possible an unparalleled driving experience on public roads.
First off, the car is as small as they can make it, too small for many Americans. But for those who fit, with the top down the car pretty much disappears, making the driver one with their environment.
Add to this Mazda’s obsession with lightness and perfect weight distribution, and the result is inertia-free turn-in, and once in a corner, all four wheels sharing the load.
The car’s all-alloy suspension is fully tunable, as befits the most-raced car in the world. Upon delivery, every MX-5 owner with sporting intentions should take their car to an alignment shop that specializes in race cars, and have them use Flyin’ Miata’s alignment settings. The factory’s settings are usually out of whack, and with the stock suspension and race alignment, the car is transformed.
Mazda delivers the car softly sprung, because half its owner base are not “serious” drivers, but instead want a cute car as a fashion accessory. This demographic keeps the MX-5 profitable. Honda’s more driver-focused S2000 was a superb sports car but Honda discontinued it because the motorhead community is just too small to make production affordable. So I never criticize the fashionista crowd — enjoy your MX-5 your way!
The stock suspension with race-spec alignment is just fine for 7/10ths driving on the street. At this reasonably safe level of engagement the car’s best features shine through. Driven harder, excessive body roll ensues.
The ND2’s high-revving, high-compression (13:1) engine provides a perfectly linear power band, paired with a TRUE six-speed that has NO overdive gears, resulting in always being at optimal revs however variable the corners on your favorite stretch of road.
A stock ND2 reaches 60 in under 6 seconds and tops 130 mph, and that is just-right performance for the street. I’ve been down the forced-induction road with earlier MX-5s and lived to regret it. The wheelbase is too short for big horsepower and combined with turbo lag resulted in some scary moments. (But never have I crashed an MX-5 or been in a collision.)
Unless you autocross, you don’t need the limited slip diff.
The traction control cuts in too early for spirited driving so is best turned off, provided the driver is aware the back end is going to want to come around a little earlier.
If you’re a sports car enthusiast, which trim level to get? The one all the racers buy, the base level Sport. You’ll save thousands over the Club, and the Club’s brand name add-ons are ALL replaced by the racing community because they add no performance benefit and do not stand up in the racing environment!
For example, the racers use 16” wheels, which the Sport is delivered with, shod with excellent summer-only performance tires. (On base models, most manufacturers provide cheap all-season tires, but Mazda has too much class to go that way.) The Club comes with heavier 17” wheels for cosmetic reasons.
If you want to go seriously fast, you’ll need to replace the brakes with race spec calipers and go with stainless steel lines. The Club Brembos will fade if raced.
And, to get rid of that body roll, and to enhance turn-in, you’re best off switching to a coil-over suspension with race-spec shocks from Koni or Ohlins.
If you go that route you’ll lose the standard MX-5’s suspension compliance, which keeps the car from getting upset in bumpy corners and delivers a smooth ride by sports car standards.
Those who pay to lower the car in order to impress strangers are part of the “cute car” demographic and so do not have to be concerned with handling.
The only cosmetic option I got with my MX-5 was the factory metal pedals at around $210. A car so perfect for heel-and-toe shifting deserves metal pedals.
I got my 2019 Sport in basic black, new from the dealer for $24,600. Three and a half years into ownership the car has never been commuted in and with 18k on the clock is coming into its own.
And not just for sport driving. Doing errands around town is nearly as much fun as back roads, because this car has to be DRIVEN every moment. Heel-and-toe braking and shifting is not just a performance technique, it is essential for going up and down through the gears around town for maximum smoothness.
Where the car has no equal, however, is at 7/10ths on a twisty, undulating secondary road. All the inputs are perfectly tuned to deliver a smooth and quick drive while multitasking the steering, throttle, brakes, and shifting, a lot of consecutive activities that when done right, add up to a matchless driving experience.
Having owned all kinds of cars, I’ve found my driving sweet spot and this is it. That Mazda can deliver a thoroughbred sports car that rivals a Lotus Elan, which I drove in England back when they were new, for under the price of an optioned Mazda3 exconobox is just spectacular. A couple of years ago Consumer Reports cited the MX-5 as having the lowest operating costs of any new car sold in the USA. A sports car! And the high-compression Skyactiv engine combines high revs and extraordinary fuel economy, in the 30s even when driven hard.
My generation, the okay boomer crowd, is on its way out, and so is our version of driving performance. Very few Millennials and Gen Zs care about manual shifting, and they are right. Today’s automatics shift way faster than any manual driver could, and shifting stick at least doubles the complexity of the driving process. But that is why we old school motorheads like shifting for ourselves — because it is hard! It is a skill that takes practice and money cannot buy.
Were it not for this car, we old timers would have nowhere to turn. People don’t understand why we are uninterested in a front-drive hot hatch like Honda’s Civic Type R. The particular form of driving magic we seek is not related to acceleration, but rather to harmony. There is a Zen-like state that can be achieved in this little car unlike with any other, and those who get it are now a vanishingly small minority. To us, this is our swan song, our farewell to a future of self-driving electric pods, a future foreign and unappealing. With the MX-5, we can go out in style.

It was my 1st relationship. I was too naive and let him treat me badly. He used to say no guys will like me coz I was too stupid and that so should be lucky that I found him. I had trouble studying in college because my self esteem was low and we lived together. He then used me for money. He used to be nice to me when he needed money. All those 6 years I met his friends only twice. We were both students but I had work. I was madly in love with him for 6 years.
When he dumped me for another girl- I went into depression. I had anxiety and panic attacks every day. My health condition was bad and I stared having more health issues. It took me 16 months to finally come out of depression. It’s been a month since I started feeling better about my life. But I am so behind in life. He has a really good job and even got married after he dumped me and he just had a baby. I found out about his newborn because of a mutual friend. I was kind of sad when I found out.
My family is mad at me they think I left him and also because I don’t have a proper job. But I started this 1 year college course in spring. They think i am wasting my time.
I failed an exam today but trying not to let it affect my self esteem that I am slowly trying to rebuild. Trying so hard not to be jealous of my ex because he has his life together.

Happy Wednesday, Barkada --

The PSE gained 8 points to 6603 ▲0.1%

Shout-out to all the Bojack fans that I unearthed with my Mr. Peanutbutter meme: chie, Jing, Lance Nazal, Dan Villegas, boombappV, and **John. There are literally dozens of us. Hahah. But seriously, it's a good show.
Thanks to Atot and John for the nice testimonials and recommendations, and to Ollie Tan for the positive feedback on the IPO analysis, and the great suggestion to include dividends in the next one.
Thanks also to Fruitas Holdings [FRUIT] for stepping up to sponsor the UPSON IPO Allocation Poll. FRUIT heard about Market Babbler's suggestion for the prize to be some delicious delivery, and they offered to deliver, by Cocodelivery, 2 Boxes of Ling Nam Fried Siopao and 1L of Fruitas Buko Juice to the raffle winner on Monday morning, for free!
Click here to enter: UPSON IPO Allocation Poll
Shout-outs to avenmicjohn, PF JTor Realtor, TiymRyvt, Jonathan Burac, Ragnar, Harry Lego, Jean Luc, kaecon, Waldooo, Cathay Pacific Boarding Music is enchanting, Mors Mihi Lucrum, JET, Evolves Capital, Inc., Pesoses, Vito @ insomia hell, Jon-eee, Miguel R. Camus, MiUMaO, Dividend Pinoy PGG, Chip Sillesa, Justn, Jay Agonoy, arkitrader, CHARToons, Palaboy Trader, meloi, Rolex Jodieres, Antonio Javier, and Jing for the retweets, and to Froilan Ramos, Jayvee Menil, Genesis Umali, Camp Carmen, Evolves.co, and Mike Ting for the FB shares!

▌In today's MB:

• MPI buys 16% of SPNEC for P2-B
• BDO buys Podium from KEP
• Asia United Bank FY22 profit up 56%
• Alternergy drops hard in 3rd day of trading

▌Daily meme Subscribe (it's free) Today's email

▌Main stories covered:

• [NEWS] Metro Pacific buys 19% stake in SPNEC for ₱2-B... Metro Pacific Investments [MPI 3.82 ▲4.1%] [link] bought a 16% stake in SP New Energy [SPNEC 1.74 ▲3.6%] in an all-secondary share block sale for a total purchase price of ₱2 billion. The block sale was conducted at a 25.6% discount from SPNEC’s Monday close of ₱1.68/share, and a 16.7% discount from SPNEC’s SRO price of ₱1.50/share that buyers just finished paying off.
  
  • Follow the money: The deal is between MPI and SPNEC’s parent company, Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings (SPPPH), for 1.6 billion common shares of SPNEC that were owned by SPPPH. None of this money is going directly to SPNEC, though MPI’s disclosure did mention that SPPPH would “advance” the proceeds of the sale to SPNEC to fund the Nueva Ecija project, which would be the largest in the world if/when completed.
  • What else did MPI get? Quite a lot, actually. Aside from grabbing a 19% stake for a huge discount, MPI was able to take over the Chairmanship of the SPNEC board, which will go to Manny V. Pangilinan. MPI was also able to secure some kind of option agreement that gives MPI a path to increase its stake in SPNEC to 43% and become the single-largest shareholder in SPNEC, once the asset-for-share swap with SPPPH is completed.
  • Why in that order? The asset-for-share swap is the transaction that lays the foundation for SPNEC’s increase in authorized capital stock (ACS) from ₱10 billion to ₱50 billion. The swap will result in 34.3 billion shares issued and outstanding, leaving up 15.7 billion ACS shares available for purchase by MPI to add to its stake. It appears as though that ACS increase is funded by the swap, so the swap has to happen first before SPNEC’s board can unlock the ability to sell those authorized (but unissued shares).
  • But why MPI? Who knows! From MPI’s perspective, this purchase doesn’t appear to align comfortably with its recent pivot into the agri-business sector. That said, MPI is a conglomerate with significant interests in the energy sector, and the renewable energy sector is one with a higher growth potential than just about any other. From SPNEC’s perspective, Leandro Leviste (SPNEC’s current owner), said, that SPNEC has “long seen a partnership with MPIC to be the key to unlock the potential of [SPNEC’s] project pipeline.”
  • MB BOTTOM-LINE: If I didn’t know anything about the parties or the context to this situation, I’d probably think that this was some kind of distressed asset sale. MPI feels like it is in the driver’s seat. It feels bonkers to give up Chairmanship to an outside company, especially one that only bought a 16% stake, and then to also give it a very near-term path to taking constructive control. This does not sound like the type of team-up that SPNEC was telegraphing as part of its original joint venture-centric approach to monetizing its holdings on a project-by-project basis. It feels like something has clearly gone wrong. We can speculate all we want about what might have happened behind the scenes with Enrique Razon, or about the potential finances of SPPPH, but the truth is that we just don’t know. Nothing about how SPNEC has done anything has been normal. This is no exception. Again, I’m not saying that anyone has done anything wrong, or that something isn’t as it seems. Is this good for shareholders or bad for shareholders? I don’t know. If this deal is necessary to save the “world’s largest solar farm” project, then I’d say that it’s definitely a good deal for shareholders. But we don’t get that kind of insight.
• [NOTES] Quick takes from around the market...
  
  • BDO [BDO 125.50 ▼0.8%] [link] acquired 100% ownership of the Podium Complex, which includes BDO’s Corporate Center Ortigas, the West Tower, and the Podium Mall. BDO acquired the holding company that owns the assets, called SM Keppel Land (SMKL), which was owned by Keppel Philippines Properties [KEP 3.70 ▲32.1%] and another company in the KEP ownership orbit. The disclosure mentioned that BDO will pay KEP and the other company in cash when the deal closes.
    • MB Quick Take: BDO already owned half of this company, so they’re really just consolidating ownership. Since BDO itself occupies 63% of the office space in the complex, maybe they just got tired of splitting the rent with KEP and brought the whole operation in-house. Not sure what KEP will do, considering this was (according to my experience) KEP’s main operational asset.
  • Asia United Bank [AUB 43.60 ▼0.7%] [link] teased FY22 net income of ₱6.3 billion, which is 56% higher than AUB’s FY21 net income. Net interest income was up 18%, and AUB’s total loan portfolio grew 12% to ₱195 billion. AUB reported a Q4 net income of ₱1.7 billion, which was 54% higher y/y and 1% higher q/q.
    • MB Quick Take: It’s a pretty good time to be a bank in the Philippines. Higher rates will be beneficial to the banks going forward, and even better considering that the higher rates don’t seem to have really impacted demand for the loans. I don’t know the long-term implications of the rise in consumer loans to make ends meet, but in the short and medium term, it appears to be a great situation for banks.
  • Alternergy [ALTER 1.19 ▼4.8%] [link] face-planted on its third day of trading, dropping 5% to fall 7% beneath the newest IPO’s offer price. Volume was roughly half of its listing day, but triple the volume of its second day. The price action yesterday was a fairly straight line, down and to the right.
    • MB Quick Take: Again, we will have to wait to see how active the stability fund is being behind the scenes, but shareholders and IPO buyers should not count on a stability fund to protect against losses. It merely provides artificial demand, according to the whims of the stability fund agent, if the market price is below the IPO offer price. As yesterday’s analysis shows, there’s evidence that it leads to better outcomes, but those outcomes aren’t necessarily in the green.

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