Model, variant view, valuation, catalysts, kill criteria and a published note. Only these are featured on the homepage and scored as theses; closed ones keep their realised result.
AGROAdecoagro
LONG
PublishedSep 8, 2026
Entry price$10.50
Target$13.2 (prob.-weighted) (+26%)
Current—
Return since—
StatusOpen
A sugar-plus-urea vehicle, not a pure sugar one: 84% of FY27 sugar is unhedged, so each cent above 17.4c flows to EBITDA, but the bear case is as much about urea at $450/t and a 5.0x multiple on $1.95bn of net debt as about sugar. Fairly priced with positive skew — a low-weight convex overlay whose job is the bull case.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
A sugar-plus-urea vehicle, not a pure sugar one: 84% of FY27 sugar is unhedged, so each cent above 17.4c flows to EBITDA, but the bear case is as much about urea at $450/t and a 5.0x multiple on $1.95bn of net debt as about sugar. Fairly priced with positive skew — a low-weight convex overlay whose job is the bull case.
Key evidence
Earnings bridge: FY27E adjusted EBITDA $507M / $730M / $958M → equity value per share $3.2 / $13.6 / $22.3 at 5.0–5.5x EV/EBITDA; probability-weighted $13.2 (+8.1% capital, +10.2% with the 2.1% dividend).
Consensus (7 analysts) averages Hold with targets of $13.1–13.4; the stock has already rallied +23% since BoM's 16 June declaration.
Worst historical moves: −21.5% in five days, −32.8% in twenty; expected return is 0.48x the worst week, against 1.0x for CANE.
Valuation
$3.2 / $13.6 / $22.3 at 25 / 50 / 25%; probability-weighted $13.2 — +8% against the $12.19 price when Issue #8 was published, +26% against the $10.50 average cost the card is scored from.
FY26 EBITDA path below $570M, leverage above 3.2x, or any related-party transaction or equity issuance: exit unconditionally
2027 hedges raised to 40%+ at the curve: the operating-leverage case has been sold — trim
Sugar below $10 a share invalidation
Risks: Controlling shareholder (≈ 70%) · Brazilian real · Argentine policy · Gap risk no stop protects against
Theme: Super El Niño 2026-27 — sugar into the peakHeld at an average cost of $10.50, built before Issue #8 was published at $12.19. CANE and AGRO are one sugar factor and are sized jointly.Live tracker →Issue #8 (12 pages) ↗
CANE · AGRO · BGSuper El Niño 2026-27 — a sugar trade into the event peak
Strength is consensus; phase is the edge. Every agency has the strongest event since 1950 as its base case, so the event itself is priced. What is half-priced is the India-data premium in Mar-27 raw sugar (our 21.0c against a 19.05c forward, with fatter tails on both sides), and what is unpriced is that sugar reverses at the ONI peak unless India turns net importer — so the position needs an exit rule before end-January 2027. Grains and fertilizers are not on the transmission chain; palm oil is, but after the peak.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Strength is consensus; phase is the edge. Every agency has the strongest event since 1950 as its base case, so the event itself is priced. What is half-priced is the India-data premium in Mar-27 raw sugar (our 21.0c against a 19.05c forward, with fatter tails on both sides), and what is unpriced is that sugar reverses at the ONI peak unless India turns net importer — so the position needs an exit rule before end-January 2027. Grains and fertilizers are not on the transmission chain; palm oil is, but after the peak.
Key evidence
Four strong events: raw sugar rose a median +13% from onset to the ONI peak and fell a median −24% in the six months after; non-El Niño years show −2% in both windows. May→August 2026 (+12%) has already delivered the pre-peak median.
India's monsoon is −13% where it matters least and −14% / −24% in Maharashtra and Karnataka; opening stocks ≈ 3.0–3.5 Mt (a decade low); export ban to 30 September and a 1 Mt import quota. Every commercial house now sees a 2026/27 deficit (median −1.3 Mt).
Vehicle level: CANE holds deferred contracts that capture 69–80% of the Mar-27 move, so its probability-weighted return is +8.8% net of carry ($12.45 vs $11.46); Adecoagro's unhedged FY27 sugar gives +10% with the dividend but a −74% bear case; Bunge is conditional below $110.
Valuation
Mar-27 scenarios 15 / 21.5 / 26c at 25 / 50 / 25% → 21.0c probability-weighted vs the 19.05c forward. CANE $9.83 / $12.67 / $14.63; AGRO $3.2 / $13.6 / $22.3; BG $69 / $112 / $155. The illustrative structure the numbers support is a small CANE position with a smaller AGRO overlay, sized jointly as one sugar factor.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
India policy 30 SepCANE roll 29 SepISMA estimate NovAGRO 3Q26 on 10 NovDecember CPC peak callBrazil 2027/28 estimates
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Weekly Niño3.4 below +2.0°C for four consecutive weeks, or CPC calling the peak before November: halve the whole sleeve
Ethanol-diversion curbs release 2–3 Mt or the export ban lapses with exports permitted: the 1997 / 2009 / 2023 path — exit CANE
CPC confirms the ONI peak: begin the exit; sugar leg closed by end-January 2027 unless India's net imports reach 2 Mt
Risks: Early decay of the event · Brazil's record crush and the ethanol lever · A record managed-money long liquidating on risk-off · Late monsoon rain · AGRO governance and leverage
Theme: Super El Niño 2026-27 — sugar into the peakHeld: AGROExpressed through AGRO since before publication; CANE and BG remain thesis-only. Live monitoring panel, clocks and forecasts on the El Niño tracker.Live tracker →Issue #8 (12 pages) ↗
GEV · HUBB · ETN · EME · AGX · ACMU.S. Power, AI Data Centers & Industrial Equipment
LONGTHEME
PublishedApr 24, 2026
Expressed via—
SourceIssue #7 (23 pages)
StatusOpen
The strongest mispricings in the AI-power complex are absolute, not relative. GEV's 110 GW backlog against 24 GW a year of capacity locks in roughly 4.6 years of production through 2032 even in a bear capex scenario, against the 13% revenue CAGR consensus assumes.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The strongest mispricings in the AI-power complex are absolute, not relative. GEV's 110 GW backlog against 24 GW a year of capacity locks in roughly 4.6 years of production through 2032 even in a bear capex scenario, against the 13% revenue CAGR consensus assumes.
Key evidence
Bottom-up demand model: 4,000 to 4,526 TWh by 2030 (2.0% CAGR) with AI adding ~200 TWh, EVs +149, industrial +99, heat pumps +51.
Ranked longs: GEV (lowest bull-bear spread), HUBB (28x NTM, transmission hedge), ETN (Q4 orders +200% vs consensus 2027 +9%), EME (31x vs FIX 44x for the same end-markets), AGX (GEV-shadow EPC), ACM (14x NTM).
Avoid VRT (51x), FIX (44x) and MTZ (44x): multiples that require flawless execution and bull-case capex. Cleanest pair: long EME / short FIX.
Valuation
Sizing proposed in the note: GEV 5%, HUBB 4%, ETN 4%, EME 3%, AGX 3%, ACM 2%.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Turbine backlog conversionQ1 prints (ETN May 5)Transmission capex awardsHyperscaler capex guidance
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Hyperscaler capex guidance cut materially with backlog cancellations
GEV capacity additions outrun demand and pricing rolls over
Risks: Capex cycle peaks earlier than modelled · Turbine pricing normalises · Interest-rate sensitivity of utility capex
Theme: Long U.S. electricity infrastructureExpressed through VRT from Aug 25, 2026 until September (closing details to follow). CAT closed at +49% (Jun 30, 2026), MTZ at −6% (Jul 2026), GEV at +27% (Sep 2025).Issue #7 (23 pages) ↗
BGBunge
LONG
PublishedSep 8, 2026
Price at pitch$125.32
Target$112 (prob.-weighted) (-11%)
Current—
Return since—
StatusThesis only
Conditional. Bunge is selling its Brazilian sugar mills that would have made it a fit; what it offers is crush-margin optionality, and crush margins are strong for non-El Niño reasons (RVO clarity, a record July crush). Attractive below $110 or on oilseed confirmation: Australian canola losses, a narrower palm–soy spread, a lasting Black Sea premium.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Conditional. Bunge is selling its Brazilian sugar mills that would have made it a fit; what it offers is crush-margin optionality, and crush margins are strong for non-El Niño reasons (RVO clarity, a record July crush). Attractive below $110 or on oilseed confirmation: Australian canola losses, a narrower palm–soy spread, a lasting Black Sea premium.
Key evidence
FY27E EPS $7.30 / $9.76 / $12.44 at 9.5x / 11.5x / 12.5x → $69 / $112 / $155; 9.5x is what the market paid for peak earnings in 2022-23, 11.5x the five-year median forward multiple, 12.5x today's on raised guidance.
The core expression, but a front-month comparison overstates it. After the 29 September roll CANE holds May-27, Jul-27 and Mar-28, which capture 69–80% of the Mar-27 move in our scenario curves; contract by contract the fund earns −14.1% / +10.8% / +27.9% net of carry, a probability-weighted +8.8%, not the +16% the first edition implied.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The core expression, but a front-month comparison overstates it. After the 29 September roll CANE holds May-27, Jul-27 and Mar-28, which capture 69–80% of the Mar-27 move in our scenario curves; contract by contract the fund earns −14.1% / +10.8% / +27.9% net of carry, a probability-weighted +8.8%, not the +16% the first edition implied.
Key evidence
Fully collateralised: 1,005 Mar-27, 892 May-27 and 1,048 Mar-28 contracts against an NAV of $11.44; carry is a wash (+0.5% net) because the 2.48% TER exceeds the 3.7% T-bill yield only slightly over the 0.4-year window.
Sugar reversals began at the ONI peak month in three of four events; the one that ran (2015-16) had India as a net importer. Hence a calendar exit by end-January unless net imports reach 2 Mt.
Worst historical week −8.8% (12 months to 8 Sep 2026); expected return is 1.0x that week's loss. Daily turnover is a few million dollars, so size must be worked over days.
Valuation
$9.83 / $12.67 / $14.63 at 25 / 50 / 25%; probability-weighted $12.45, +8.6% against $11.46.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
30 Sep India policy29 Sep rollISMA NovDecember CPCEnd-Jan window
Peak confirmed by CPC: begin exit; closed by end-January unless India imports ≥ 2 Mt
Risks: Crowded managed-money long · Brazil 2027/28 · Liquidity of the ETF · Roll timing
Theme: Super El Niño 2026-27 — sugar into the peakThesis only; not held. Prices and window on the El Niño tracker.Live tracker →Issue #8 (12 pages) ↗
MSFTMicrosoft
LONG
PublishedAs of Apr 10, 2026
Entry price≈$371.99
Target—
Closed at≈$451.10
Realised+21.3%
StatusClosed · win
The market prices AI as a cost centre and a competitive threat to Microsoft. It is an accelerant: Microsoft controls both the productivity layer and the infrastructure layer, and the disruption narrative widens the moat rather than eroding it.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The market prices AI as a cost centre and a competitive threat to Microsoft. It is an accelerant: Microsoft controls both the productivity layer and the infrastructure layer, and the disruption narrative widens the moat rather than eroding it.
Key evidence
Copilot is embedding AI across 400M+ Office seats with near-infinite enterprise switching costs.
Azure AI workloads growing north of 50% a year.
Issue #5 (Apr 10, 2026): combined MSFT, META and GOOGL capex rose from $53B in 2020 to $226B in 2025 while revenue accelerated at every name; the FCF squeeze is capex timing, not deterioration.
Valuation
A widening-moat compounder at a multiple that underestimates the AI monetisation cycle. Positioning per Issue #5: add on weakness.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Copilot monetisationAzure AI growthEnterprise lock-inOpenAI optionality
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Azure growth decelerates below 25% while capex keeps rising
Copilot attach fails to show in commercial cloud revenue over two fiscal quarters
Litigation headlines are being priced as near-terminal risk. The Athene flywheel and private credit's structural growth are worth multiples of the current price, and the discount to Blackstone and KKR has no fundamental basis.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Litigation headlines are being priced as near-terminal risk. The Athene flywheel and private credit's structural growth are worth multiples of the current price, and the discount to Blackstone and KKR has no fundamental basis.
Key evidence
Athene-Apollo perpetual capital: $315B+ of policyholder liabilities recycled into proprietary credit origination, generating $3.8B a year of spread-related earnings.
5.5x EV/EBITDA against Blackstone at 22x and KKR at 18x; combined FRE + SRE of $19.20 per share estimated for FY2027.
AUM target of $1T+ by FY2027 from $785B; fee-related earnings from $3.2B (FY2023) toward a $10B+ target.
Valuation
5.5x EV/EBITDA at pitch. Target $155 on FY2027 FRE + SRE of $19.20 per share.
Theme: Alternative asset managementTrade return about +17% against the $111.22 cost; +21% against the $107.87 pitch price.Full report (PDF) ↗
PBRPetróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) ADR
LONG
PublishedMar 28, 2026
Price at pitch$20.70
Target$33–37 (+69%)
Closed at≈$19.00
Realised-8.2%
StatusClosed · loss
A blanket EM and political discount is being applied to the world's lowest-cost offshore producer. The feared governance outcomes are largely priced; actual execution since 2023 has surprised positively.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
A blanket EM and political discount is being applied to the world's lowest-cost offshore producer. The feared governance outcomes are largely priced; actual execution since 2023 has surprised positively.
Key evidence
Pre-salt lifting cost around $5 a barrel and a full-cycle breakeven near $25: the business stays cash-generative at $50–55 Brent, so a bearish oil view is not a bearish PBR view.
~3–4x EV/EBITDA and a ~15% dividend yield while production targets 2.3mb/d by 2028 from Buzios and Sépia.
The revised dividend policy retained meaningful distributions, capex discipline has held and the strategic plan still prioritises the pre-salt core.
Valuation
3–4x EV/EBITDA and ~15% yield at pitch. Re-rating toward EM oil peers implies +60–80%.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Buzios ramp-upDividend declarationsBrazil political cyclePolitical discount unwind
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Government imposes fuel price caps or forces a dividend suspension
An $18–20 a barrel Hormuz risk premium against a 2026 supply surplus: the IEA projected supply +2.5mb/d against demand +930kb/d, and consensus had Brent at $63.85 for the year. Defined-risk puts replaced the decaying SCO.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
An $18–20 a barrel Hormuz risk premium against a 2026 supply surplus: the IEA projected supply +2.5mb/d against demand +930kb/d, and consensus had Brent at $63.85 for the year. Defined-risk puts replaced the decaying SCO.
Key evidence
IEA 2026 balance: supply +2.5mb/d versus demand +930kb/d.
Reuters consensus of 34 economists: Brent $63.85, WTI $60.38; JPMorgan base case below $60 for extended periods.
Puts (~60% at the $100 strike, ~40% at $90) gave defined downside with no volatility decay.
Valuation
Closed Apr 3, 2026 at $4.20 against $6.50 paid: −35%. Post-mortem in Track Record.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Hormuz premium deflationOPEC+ fractureSurplus building
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Premium persists past option expiry
Risks: Geopolitical escalation · Time decay · Supply outages
Sold down 30% on sector contagion despite zero Hormuz exposure and domestic fuel sourcing. This is the long side of the oil view: own the beneficiary of lower jet fuel rather than the commodity.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Sold down 30% on sector contagion despite zero Hormuz exposure and domestic fuel sourcing. This is the long side of the oil view: own the beneficiary of lower jet fuel rather than the commodity.
Key evidence
Fuel is roughly 30% of COGS; a falling jet-fuel environment expands margins and free cash flow directly.
Post-bankruptcy cost reset with 28.6% EBITDA margins; institutional re-entry is early.
Issue #4 (Apr 5, 2026): 41% upside to analyst targets; the Goldman / MS downgrades reflect fuel-cost concern, not business deterioration.
Theme: Short oil, long the beneficiariesSold on the late-June rebound, below the $62–65 target.Issue #4 (LTM update) ↗
BABAAlibaba Group ADR
LONG
PublishedMar 2026
Price at pitch$128.00
Target$185 (+45%)
Closed at≈$120.00
Realised-6.3%
StatusClosed · loss
Priced as a fading e-commerce incumbent. The cloud and AI re-acceleration and the Qwen agentic platform are not in the multiple, and near-term margin compression is a deliberate investment cycle rather than structural decay.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Priced as a fading e-commerce incumbent. The cloud and AI re-acceleration and the Qwen agentic platform are not in the multiple, and near-term margin compression is a deliberate investment cycle rather than structural decay.
Key evidence
Cloud Intelligence Group revenue +36% YoY in Q3 FY2026, a fourth consecutive quarter of re-acceleration; AI-related revenue growing at triple digits for seven quarters.
~9x EV/EBITDA, a steep discount to global peers, with $11.9B of buybacks in FY2025.
Qwen ecosystem connecting Taobao, Instant Commerce, Amap, Fliggy and Alipay: 300M+ MAU, ~140M users through a first AI-driven shopping experience by Feb 2026, T-Head chips for supply independence.
Valuation
~9x EV/EBITDA at pitch. Target $185 (+44.5% from ~$128).
Theme: China consumer and technologyTrade return −2.8% against the $123.51 cost; −6% against the $128 pitch price. Exited on the June financing.Full report (PDF) ↗
LKNCYLuckin Coffee (OTC)
LONG3-year hold
PublishedDec 2025
Price at pitch$37.69
Target$147.20 (+291%)
Closed at≈$35.00
Realised-7.1%
StatusClosed · loss
The market still prices Luckin on legacy fraud risk and OTC liquidity. Underneath is a data-driven store machine growing 56% a year, halfway through its expansion cycle, with unit economics Starbucks cannot match in China.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The market still prices Luckin on legacy fraud risk and OTC liquidity. Underneath is a data-driven store machine growing 56% a year, halfway through its expansion cycle, with unit economics Starbucks cannot match in China.
Key evidence
19x P/E against a 36x peer median despite 56% YoY revenue growth; a re-rating to the peer 3.8x EV/Revenue alone implies +145% before earnings growth.
Delivery price war ends earlier than consensus (Q4 2025 vs H1 2026): opex falls from ~53% to ~47% of revenue and gross margin expands 2–5 points.
App DAU 5.5M vs Starbucks 1.1M; 8-month store payback vs 2.5–4 years; ~31k stores against 60k modelled capacity.
Valuation
19x P/E at pitch. Target $147.20 (+291% from $37.69) over a three-year hold.
Theme: China consumer and technologyTrade return about 0% after averaging down to $35; −7% against the $37.69 pitch price.Full report (PDF) ↗
Position notes & work in progress
Names that are held or watched with the research not yet complete: the reasoning is recorded in the same fields, but there is no full model or published note behind them yet, so they are not scored as theses. A position note graduates when the write-up is done; the next one in the queue is the AMAT / LRCX wafer-fab-equipment model.
AMAT · LRCXWafer-fab equipment: the second leg of the memory upcycle
Memory capex follows memory pricing with a lag. With HBM and DRAM pricing at records, the equipment cycle has further to run than the multiples of AMAT and LRCX imply; the market is pricing the current capex level as the peak.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Memory capex follows memory pricing with a lag. With HBM and DRAM pricing at records, the equipment cycle has further to run than the multiples of AMAT and LRCX imply; the market is pricing the current capex level as the peak.
Key evidence
Micron's move from $367 to a $1,213 peak is the demand signal; equipment orders lag pricing by two to four quarters.
LRCX is the most memory-levered wafer-fab equipment name (etch and deposition for DRAM and NAND); AMAT is the broadest exposure to the same capex.
Both entered Aug 25, 2026 at the close (AMAT about $480, LRCX about $315), sized 10% and 5%.
Valuation
Multiples at entry not published; the sizing assumes flat-to-up 2027 WFE guidance from both companies.
Micron cuts its guide or memory spot turns down for two quarters
2027 WFE guidance is flat-to-down at either company
Export restrictions widen to cover the memory tools
Risks: Cycle timing · China exposure · Correlated with the MU position
Theme: Long the memory and equipment upcycleHeld: AMAT, LRCXSummary drafted Aug 25, 2026 from positioning notes; both names were added to in September at lower prices (average costs on the holdings table). Full write-up to follow in a later issue.
Between May and August the book was rotated out of EM value, energy, hyperscalers and the Japan basket into memory (MU 30%), wafer-fab equipment (AMAT 10%, LRCX 5%), data-center power (VRT 10%), China travel (TCOM 10%) and gold (GLD 30%), with 5% cash. Ten positions were closed: six for gains, three for losses, one flat.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Between May and August the book was rotated out of EM value, energy, hyperscalers and the Japan basket into memory (MU 30%), wafer-fab equipment (AMAT 10%, LRCX 5%), data-center power (VRT 10%), China travel (TCOM 10%) and gold (GLD 30%), with 5% cash. Ten positions were closed: six for gains, three for losses, one flat.
Key evidence
Realised: CAT +49%, MSFT +21%, APO about +17%, LTM about +17%, EWJV +11%, FCX +4%; losses PBR −8%, MTZ −6%, BABA −3%; LKNCY flat. Exit prices are approximate and marked as such in the closed-trade table.
Concentration is deliberate: the top two positions are 60% of the book, semiconductors are 45%, and gold is the 30% non-tech leg. Top five = 90%.
This supersedes two published calls, 'avoid VRT at 51x' (Issue #7, Apr 24) and 'buy the hyperscalers, don't chase the chips' (Issue #5, Apr 10). VRT is 21% below its Apr 24 price; the reasoning for the semiconductor concentration will be written up in a later issue. Until then, treat the new positions as positioning, not published research.
Valuation
The pipeline is now focused on opportunities outside technology to rebalance the book over the next quarter.
Memory pricing rolls over: the semiconductor sleeve is cut regardless of price
The non-tech pipeline produces nothing by year-end: concentration is reduced by rule rather than by view
Risks: Single-cycle concentration · Correlated semiconductor drawdown · Gold and semis both sensitive to real rates
Theme: Long the memory and equipment upcycleHeld: MU, AMAT, LRCXSummary drafted Aug 25, 2026 from my positioning notes; of the six names, MU, AMAT and LRCX remain in the book on Sep 9, 2026. The full rationale follows in a later issue.
MUMicron Technology
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedApr 3, 2026
Entry price$366.79
Target—
Current—
Return since—
StatusOpen
HBM is bespoke, high-margin memory that scales with every GPU generation, not commodity DRAM. The first position exited at $155 on a prior-cycle ceiling that proved wrong; the re-entry at $367 was built into a 30% position as the cycle confirmed.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
HBM is bespoke, high-margin memory that scales with every GPU generation, not commodity DRAM. The first position exited at $155 on a prior-cycle ceiling that proved wrong; the re-entry at $367 was built into a 30% position as the cycle confirmed.
Key evidence
First position +40.9% (entered $110, exited $155); re-entered Apr 3, 2026 at $366.79 after the stock had run past $362.
From the re-entry the stock ran to a $1,213 close on Jun 25, retraced to $739 on Jul 29 and trades near $930; the position was added through May and the late-July dip to an average cost of about $700.
HBM economics scale with each GPU generation rather than with the commodity DRAM cycle; the equipment names (AMAT, LRCX) were added Aug 25 as the second leg of the same view.
Valuation
Re-entered Apr 3 at $366.79 and added through September; the holdings table carries the broker average cost. No target published; the position is sized on the view that HBM pricing holds through the next GPU generation.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
HBM pricingNext GPU generationDRAM cycle
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
HBM pricing rolls over or a competitor takes share at the next generation
DRAM spot turns down for two quarters
A close below the average cost of about $700 triggers a review of the 30% sizing
The palm chain has the best base rate in the theme (peak → +6 months median +12%) and no US-listed vehicle, and its clock is the opposite of sugar's: price highs came 5–13 months after the ONI peak because trees respond to drought with a lag, and Indonesia's B50 mandate (1 October) removes 16–17 Mt from the export market on top of the weather. A 2027 story to be built after the December CPC confirmation, not before.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The palm chain has the best base rate in the theme (peak → +6 months median +12%) and no US-listed vehicle, and its clock is the opposite of sugar's: price highs came 5–13 months after the ONI peak because trees respond to drought with a lag, and Indonesia's B50 mandate (1 October) removes 16–17 Mt from the export market on top of the weather. A 2027 story to be built after the December CPC confirmation, not before.
Key evidence
Indonesia ≈ 59% and Malaysia ≈ 24% of world exports — 83% from the two dry-side countries; yields fall with a 6–24-month lag.
CPO RM4,977 (+11% y/y) despite 2.63 Mt of Malaysian stocks; GAPKI sees 2027 Indonesian output at 56.8 vs 58.5 Mt; planters guide RM5,200 for Q1-27.
Activation conditions: (i) December CPC confirmation of the ONI peak; (ii) MPOB stocks turning down from the Q4 seasonal high with fresh-fruit-bunch yields falling year on year; (iii) CPO holding above RM4,500 through the production peak.
Valuation
Not valued yet. A first-half-2027 note would take the planters through the same bridge as AGRO: CPO price → realised price after levies → EBITDA per hectare → multiple. Stocks above 3.0 Mt with CPO below RM4,200 would say the 2027 narrative is early.
Issue #7 passed on VRT at 51x on valuation, not on the business: data-center power and thermal management remain the most direct picks-and-shovels exposure to the AI buildout. The stock is 21% below its Apr 24 price of $323, and the position reverses the earlier call on price.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Issue #7 passed on VRT at 51x on valuation, not on the business: data-center power and thermal management remain the most direct picks-and-shovels exposure to the AI buildout. The stock is 21% below its Apr 24 price of $323, and the position reverses the earlier call on price.
Key evidence
Issue #7 (Apr 24, 2026) rated VRT 'avoid' at 51x NTM; the stock closed at $323.46 that day and at $255.75 on Aug 25.
Power and cooling are the binding constraints on data-center capacity; VRT sells into both.
Entered Aug 25, 2026 at the close, sized 10%.
Valuation
Entry about $256. The multiple at entry is not published; the thesis is that the de-rating has removed the objection raised in April.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Hyperscaler capex guidanceBacklog and ordersLiquid-cooling attachQ3 print
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Hyperscaler capex guidance is cut materially
Orders decline sequentially for two quarters
The stock re-rates back toward 50x without earnings growth
Theme: Long U.S. electricity infrastructureNot in the Sep 9, 2026 broker snapshot; exit price, date and post-mortem to follow. Summary drafted Aug 25, 2026 from positioning notes; the reversal of the Issue #7 call is explained in Issue #8.
GLDSPDR Gold Shares ETF
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedAug 25, 2026
Entry price≈$410.00
Target—
Current—
Return since—
StatusThesis only
The book's non-tech leg. Against a 45% semiconductor sleeve, gold is the one large position whose driver is not the AI capex cycle: the cross-market signal from the Iran-war episode (Treasuries and gold pricing more risk than equities) has not resolved, and central-bank buying supports the bid on drawdowns.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The book's non-tech leg. Against a 45% semiconductor sleeve, gold is the one large position whose driver is not the AI capex cycle: the cross-market signal from the Iran-war episode (Treasuries and gold pricing more risk than equities) has not resolved, and central-bank buying supports the bid on drawdowns.
Key evidence
Sized at 30% as a deliberate hedge rather than a trade: it is the only position in the book that does not depend on memory pricing or data-center capex.
Cross-market divergence from Issues #3 and #4: bonds most fearful, commodities in the middle, equities most complacent; gold has re-rated through every equity drawdown this year.
Rebuilt in August at an average cost of about $410 after the earlier 6% position; GLD trades near $428.
Valuation
No target: the position is sized for its correlation, not its upside.
GLD closes below $400 with real yields rising: cut to 10%
The semiconductor sleeve is reduced, in which case the hedge is reduced with it
Risks: Real-rate spike · Dollar strength · Both gold and semis sensitive to a rates shock
Theme: Gold as the non-tech ballastNot in the Sep 9, 2026 broker snapshot; exit price, date and post-mortem to follow. Summary drafted Aug 25, 2026 from positioning notes; full write-up to follow. The Barrick (GOLD) miner thesis remains thesis-only.
TCOMTrip.com Group ADR
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedMay 22, 2026
Entry price≈$46.00
Target—
Current—
Return since—
StatusThesis only
The regulatory overhang on China internet is priced far more severely than the actual policy environment. Trip.com is the dominant online travel agency in the world's largest outbound market with an under-penetrated inbound corridor, and earnings power sits well above consensus.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The regulatory overhang on China internet is priced far more severely than the actual policy environment. Trip.com is the dominant online travel agency in the world's largest outbound market with an under-penetrated inbound corridor, and earnings power sits well above consensus.
Key evidence
Bought at the May 22 low of about $46 after a 15% slide from $54 at the start of the month; the stock trades near $46 today.
Outbound travel volumes continue to recover while inbound is only beginning; both run through the same platform.
The one non-technology equity position in the book; sized 10% and the template for the non-tech pipeline.
Valuation
Multiple at pitch not published.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Outbound travel dataInbound visa policyQuarterly printsRegulatory clarity
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Outbound travel volumes fall year on year
Regulatory action against online travel agencies
Share loss to Douyin or Meituan travel
Risks: China macro · Geopolitics and ADR risk · Platform competition
Theme: China consumer and technologyNot in the Sep 9, 2026 broker snapshot; exit price, date and post-mortem to follow. Summary drafted Aug 25, 2026 from positioning notes; full write-up to follow.
UBERUber Technologies
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedAs of Apr 3, 2026
Price—
Target—
Current—
Return since—
StatusThesis only
The market fears autonomous vehicles will destroy Uber. Uber is more likely to be the distribution layer for robotaxi fleets: AV operators do not want to run supply, insurance, support and demand aggregation at scale.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The market fears autonomous vehicles will destroy Uber. Uber is more likely to be the distribution layer for robotaxi fleets: AV operators do not want to run supply, insurance, support and demand aggregation at scale.
Key evidence
A platform with 150M+ monthly users is a demand-aggregation moat no AV player can replicate cheaply.
The core rideshare business is generating free cash flow while the market prices disruption.
Waymo partnership as the template for robotaxi distribution.
A major AV operator launches a consumer app at scale that bypasses Uber
Core take-rate compresses
Risks: Regulation · Driver-supply economics · AV vertical integration
Theme: Long overfeared SaaS / AI risk
TTWOTake-Two Interactive
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedAs of Apr 3, 2026
Price—
Target—
Current—
Return since—
StatusThesis only
Valued on current-year GAAP losses while the market ignores the magnitude of GTA VI. Generative AI cuts content development cost rather than threatening the franchise; the disruption fear is backwards.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Valued on current-year GAAP losses while the market ignores the magnitude of GTA VI. Generative AI cuts content development cost rather than threatening the franchise; the disruption fear is backwards.
Key evidence
GTA VI is the most anticipated software release in history; pre-launch monetisation from in-game purchases, GTA+ subscriptions and Shark Cards builds a multi-year cash-flow engine.
Valuation should rest on the normalised free-cash-flow engine after launch, not on current losses.
Generative AI lowers content cost while deepening game worlds.
Valuation
Thesis only; not held and no target published.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
GTA VI launchGTA+ subscriptionAI cost savingsRecurring monetisation
Treasuries, commodities and equities are pricing the Iran shock with very different levels of pessimism. If bonds are right, gold has further to reprice, and Barrick has lagged even the move gold has already made.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Treasuries, commodities and equities are pricing the Iran shock with very different levels of pessimism. If bonds are right, gold has further to reprice, and Barrick has lagged even the move gold has already made.
Key evidence
Cross-market divergence: Treasuries most fearful, commodities in the middle, equities most complacent.
Barrick lagged the gold price on cost-inflation fears; miners historically show 1.5–2x leverage to gold in trending markets.
Number one by proven reserves with 12 Tier-1 assets; technically oversold against gold and its own range.
Valuation
Expressed in the portfolio through GLD (30%) rather than Barrick equity; no price target published.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Iran-war repricingMiner catching up to metalTechnical resetTier-1 reserve base
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
A ceasefire collapses the geopolitical premium and gold retraces below pre-shock levels
All-in sustaining cost inflation outruns gold
Jurisdiction events in Mali, Pakistan or the DRC impair Tier-1 output
Theme: Iran-war cross-market arbitrageExpressed via GLD
MTZMasTec
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedAs of Apr 3, 2026
Entry price≈$318.34
Target—
Closed at≈$300.00
Realised-5.8%
StatusClosed · loss
The stock lags a fundamental re-rating already underway: record backlog, recovering margins and direct exposure to grid modernisation and renewable transmission.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
The stock lags a fundamental re-rating already underway: record backlog, recovering margins and direct exposure to grid modernisation and renewable transmission.
Key evidence
Number-one utility-scale solar and wind EPC contractor in the U.S., directly exposed to the IRA-driven renewable buildout.
Record backlog with margins recovering after the difficult 2023 transition year.
Leading contractor for power-grid upgrades and 5G wireless infrastructure.
Valuation
Consistency note: Issue #7 (Apr 24, 2026) screens MTZ as 'avoid' at 44x NTM. This position predates that note and its status is under review.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
IRA tailwindGrid modernisationRecord backlogMargin recovery
Theme: Long U.S. electricity infrastructureClosed after the position had already been screened as avoid in Issue #7; see post-mortem.
CATCaterpillar
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedAs of Apr 3, 2026
Entry price≈$715.64
Target—
Closed at≈$1,064.90
Realised+48.8%
StatusClosed · win
Consensus models Energy & Transportation as a cyclical segment. The data-center power buildout makes it a multi-year growth driver, and reshoring capex is layered on top.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Consensus models Energy & Transportation as a cyclical segment. The data-center power buildout makes it a multi-year growth driver, and reshoring capex is layered on top.
Key evidence
E&T is the backbone supplier of diesel gensets, gas turbines and power management systems to hyperscalers.
U.S. reshoring and IRA-driven construction demand support the core equipment franchise.
A world-class compounder at a reasonable multiple relative to earnings power.
Valuation
Reasonable multiple relative to earnings power; E&T growth not in consensus.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
Data-center power ordersIRA spendingReshoring capexE&T segment margins
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
E&T orders and backlog contract for two consecutive quarters
Theme: Long U.S. electricity infrastructureSold at the Jun 30 high.
FCXFreeport-McMoRan
LONGPOSITION NOTE
PublishedMar 13, 2026
Entry price≈$57.71
Target—
Closed at≈$60.00
Realised+4.0%
StatusClosed · win
Copper equities have decoupled from a copper price holding near multi-year highs. Two supply constraints absent from consensus models, DRC sulphuric acid and South American labour, tighten the market further.
Variant view — where the market is wrong
Copper equities have decoupled from a copper price holding near multi-year highs. Two supply constraints absent from consensus models, DRC sulphuric acid and South American labour, tighten the market further.
Key evidence
China's demand mix has shifted: grid capex, EVs (~45% of global sales) and the renewable buildout absorb volumes the property sector used to; imports stay robust as starts fall.
The FCX / copper spread is at historically wide levels, the same cross-market pattern as the Iran-war arbitrage.
DRC smelters depend on sulphuric acid from regional refinery by-product now disrupted by the war; Chile and Peru show strike-mobilisation signals that typically precede stoppages by 4–8 weeks.
Valuation
Position reduced from the original size; monitoring for re-add.
Catalysts · 6–12 months
China EV demand shiftStock / commodity gapDRC sulphur squeezeSouth American strike watch
Kill criteria — what would prove this wrong
Copper falls through $4.00/lb on China property contagion with no FCX rebound
DRC acid constraint resolves within a quarter and no strike materialises
Risks: China property collapse · Strikes do not materialise · USD strength · Tariff-driven recession
Theme: Iran-war cross-market arbitrageSmall gain taken in May; the stock later ran to about $80.Issue #3 (FCX update) ↗
Historical research pipeline, retained from the original site. This is an archive, not the current dashboard’s priority list.
Ideas pipeline
Names under work that have not earned a position. "Thesis only" marks written-up ideas that are not held; "near entry" marks names where the remaining work is sizing and timing. Current focus: opportunities outside technology, to rebalance a book that is 45% semiconductors.
BMWYYBMW AG ADR — European premium EV
EV Europe salesPremium brandValuation gap
European EV volumes are running ahead of street expectations across i4, iX and the Neue Klasse pipeline. Deep discount to U.S. EV peers despite superior brand equity, profitability and yield; the OEM de-rating has been indiscriminate.
CROXCrocs — Footwear brand compounder
Brand resilienceHEYDUDE recoveryFCF generation
Repeat-purchase rates and brand affinity are durable across demographics and international expansion is early. HEYDUDE has weighed on sentiment while the core segment grows with expanding margins; cheap on FCF with aggressive buybacks.
TTWOTake-Two Interactive — Thesis only
GTA VI launch
Written up under Overfeared SaaS / AI risk; not held.
UBERUber Technologies — Thesis only
Robotaxi aggregation
Written up under Overfeared SaaS / AI risk; not held.
CANETeucrium Sugar — Thesis only
30 Sep India policyISMA NovDecember CPC
Written up in Issue #8 as the core El Niño sugar expression; not held. Window runs to end-January 2027.