What Is Tik Tok’s ARPU? [DIRTY DOZEN]

It will generally be found that men who are constantly lamenting their ill luck are only reaping the consequences of their own neglect, mismanagement and improvidence, or want of application.
~ Samuel Smiles

Good morning!

In this week’s Dirty Dozen [CHART PACK] we talk about sentiment, the path of relative factor performance following a large spike in bearish sentiment, and then we dive into weak seasonality in the SPX, discuss the bearish divergence in credit, and end with a look at the euro and natural gas, plus more…

Let’s dive in.

***click charts to enlarge***

  1. Two key pillars of this rally off the March 23 lows has been the incredibly bearish sentiment and extreme under positioning in risk assets. Both of these bullish legs have been chipped away as sentiment and positioning have chased prices higher. They are now no longer tailwinds to risk assets (chart via Nomura).

 

  1. Over the last few weeks we’ve seen some rotation into small-cap/value versus growth and momentum. This graph from Nomura shows the average small-cap vs large-cap pattern following similar extremes in sentiment regimes. If there’s continued follow-through then small-caps should soon start to materially outperform.

 

  1. But there’s a good chance that outperformance will come from falling less versus rising more…

 

  1. The SPX has had a strong few months but is now in its weakest 2-month seasonal period of the year.

 

  1. In the Hierarchy of Markets, credit traders sit near the top, right below metal traders. This is why credit leads equities and as a result we should be concerned about widening credit spreads. I’m not calling a top here — my indicators still say its odds on we see the market run a bit higher — but if this divergence doesn’t soon reverse, it’ll be time to button up the hatches.

 

  1. Meanwhile, the median P/E has doubled since the March low and is now at a record high (chart via @MacroCharts).

 

  1. And positioning in the Nasdaq (blue line) is extremely elevated according to UBS.

 

  1. The macro backdrop to all this is a White House and Congress in recess till early September after failing to make any progress on fiscal talks. This is bad news, especially considering the fact that banks have essentially stopped lending.

Here’s Morgan Stanley discussing the latest Fed SLO survey “The Fed’s July Senior Loan Office survey indicates that banks reported much tighter lending standards across all loan categories, with the acceleration in tightening faster than anything seen during the Global Financial Crisis. Demand was also weaker in all categories except the residential mortgage, with Commercial & Industrial (C&I) loan demand falling sharply as companies pay down credit lines. Banks tightened standards across all loan categories at an accelerating pace.”

 

  1. If the US dollar bull market is indeed over, it would be the shortest one on record as measured from trough-to-peak, via CS.

 

  1. One of the most bullish developments for the euro (and thus bearish USD) is the recent creation of a European supranational fiscal program. Credit Suisse points out that there’s plenty of room for the euro to increase its role as a reserve currency.

 

  1. This is a great chart from Morgan Stanley showing the monetization levels (ARPU) of the big tech platforms. YouTube seems to me to be by far the most under-monetized digital asset out there.

 

  1. There’s a LOT to like about natural gas and natural gas stocks right now. The Capital Cycle is supportive of a cyclical bottom, sentiment is about as dour it can get, and the curve is at levels that tend to coincide with cyclical bottoms.

 

Stay safe out there and keep your head on a swivel.

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Brandon Beylo

Value Investor

Brandon has been a professional investor focusing on value for over 13 years, spending his time in small to micro-cap companies, spin-offs, SPACs, and deep value liquidation situations. Over time, he’s developed a deeper understanding for what deep-value investing actually means, and refined his philosophy to include any business trading at a wild discount to what he thinks its worth in 3-5 years.

Brandon has a tenacious passion for investing, broad-based learning, and business. He previously worked for several leading investment firms before joining the team at Macro Ops. He lives by the famous Munger mantra of trying to get a little smarter each day.

AK

Investing & Personal Finance

AK is the founder of Macro Ops and the host of Fallible.

He started out in corporate economics for a Fortune 50 company before moving to a long/short equity investment firm.

With Macro Ops focused primarily on institutional clients, AK moved to servicing new investors just starting their journey. He takes the professional research and education produced at Macro Ops and breaks it down for beginners. The goal is to help clients find the best solution for their investing needs through effective education.

Tyler Kling

Volatility & Options Trader

Former trade desk manager at $100+ million family office where he oversaw multiple traders and helped develop cutting edge quantitative strategies in the derivatives market.

He worked as a consultant to the family office’s in-house fund of funds in the areas of portfolio manager evaluation and capital allocation.

Certified in Quantitative Finance from the Fitch Learning Center in London, England where he studied under famous quants such as Paul Wilmott.

Alex Barrow

Macro Trader

Founder and head macro trader at Macro Ops. Alex joined the US Marine Corps on his 18th birthday just one month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He subsequently spent a decade in the military. Serving in various capacities from scout sniper to interrogator and counterintelligence specialist. Following his military service, he worked as a contract intelligence professional for a number of US agencies (from the DIA to FBI) with a focus on counterintelligence and terrorist financing. He also spent time consulting for a tech company that specialized in building analytic software for finance and intelligence analysis.

After leaving the field of intelligence he went to work at a global macro hedge fund. He’s been professionally involved in markets since 2005, has consulted with a number of the leading names in the hedge fund space, and now manages his own family office while running Macro Ops. He’s published over 300 white papers on complex financial and macroeconomic topics, writes regularly about investment/market trends, and frequently speaks at conferences on trading and investing.

Macro Ops is a market research firm geared toward professional and experienced retail traders and investors. Macro Ops’ research has been featured in Forbes, Marketwatch, Business Insider, and Real Vision as well as a number of other leading publications.

You can find out more about Alex on his LinkedIn account here and also find him on Twitter where he frequently shares his market research.