📈 Markets & Finance risk-off · 6–18 months
A what‑if from the future

What if AI software disappointment: ROI shortfall stalls SaaS spend?

Enterprises report weak return on AI software pilots and pause incremental spend, undercutting the high-growth SaaS thesis. The demand air-pocket de-rates the group and trims risk appetite.

18%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 18% · 90% range 1–34% · 29 analogues · measured class tech_ai_bull 35% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — tech_ai_bull ≈0.2842/yr → 35% in 18 mo35%
Analyst prior · editorial share 52% of the class18%
Pooled · weight 83%18%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)18%
Published18%

The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 6–18 months horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.

loading the timeline…

What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a risk-off shock. Enterprises report weak return on AI software pilots and pause incremental spend, undercutting the high-growth SaaS thesis. The demand air-pocket de-rates the group and trims risk appetite. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — AI breakthrough ▼ · AI capex ▼ · Growth surprise ▼ · Risk appetite ▼ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

If it happens — the markets it would move

Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.

MarketClassProjected move
1Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.5%
hist -2.8–+3.67%
2Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -1.0%
hist -0.88–+0.16%
3Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -0.95–+0.8%
4Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.8%
hist -0.85–+0.73%
5Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.8%
hist -1.5–+0.21%
6Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.7%
hist -16.72–-0.36%
7MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.7%
hist -4.55–+13.99%
8Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon HyperliquidCrypto▼ -0.6%
model prior · unmeasured
9Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.7%
hist -0.75–+0.52%
10AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.6%
hist -0.81–+0.73%
11TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.6%
hist -0.89–+0.91%
12Marvell MRVLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.6%
hist -1.78–+2.67%
13Ether ETHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.5%
hist -4.17–+1.74%
14ASML ASMLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.5%
hist -0.49–-0.09%

Probable recommendation

If the scenario above plays out, the probable cross‑asset positioning → a scenario‑conditional read, not personalized investment advice
Cash / hedgeRaise cash and hold the long hedges above; this scenario is net risk-off.
For a common-man portfolio: A typical stock-heavy portfolio is at risk. Consider trimming equities, raising cash, and a small cash hedge.
Also moves (not yet on Hyperliquid): Tech sector -0.7%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 29 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.

TSMC slumps as DeepSeek roils AI-chip demand assumptions 2025-02 Megacap AI-capex doubt selloff 2024-07 Neuralink implants its first human brain-computer interface 2024-01 OpenAI releases GPT-4 2023-03 ChatGPT launches 2022-11 AlphaFold cracks the protein-folding problem 2020-11 AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol 2016-03 Micron's weak FQ2 guidance sparks a sharp December selloff 2024-12 ASML bookings-miss crash 2024-10 Nikkei 225 record single-day rebound 2024-08 Trump 'Taiwan should pay for defense' chip selloff 2024-07 Nikkei 225 surpasses its 1989 bubble peak 2024-02 LK-99 room-temperature superconductor claim 2023-07 Nvidia AI-guidance blowout ignites the automation/AI capex wave 2023-05 TSMC cuts 2023 capex on chip-demand downturn 2023-01 Netflix subscriber-loss crash 2022-04 Meta 2022-02 Didi removed from China app stores after NYSE IPO 2021-07 Wegovy 2021-06 First mRNA COVID-19 vaccine authorized 2020-12 He Jiankui announces CRISPR-edited babies 2018-11 Nvidia crypto-glut guidance crash 2018-11 SpaceX lands an orbital rocket booster 2015-12 China-led global 'Black Monday' rout 2015-08 Greek sovereign debt crisis / first EU-IMF bailout 2010-05 2008 global rice crisis: Thai benchmark tops $1,000/ton 2008-04 Fed surprise inter-meeting cut 2001-01 Soviet August coup attempt against Gorbachev 1991-08 Cuban Missile Crisis 1962-10
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
SOL SOLSHORT-12.1% · 5d -4.5%91%19 0.57✓ matches cascade
MSTR MSTRLONG+12.9% · 5d +1.2%62%27 0.24⚠ differs
US dollar DXYSHORT-0.1% · 5d -0.0%60%28 0.17·
QCOM QCOMSHORT-1.8% · 5d -2.4%61%27 0.15✓ matches cascade
Gold XAULONG+0.4% · 5d -0.2% ↺ fades59%27 0.15·
ASML ASMLSHORT-0.2% · 5d -1.5%57%27 0.11✓ matches cascade
Bitcoin BTCLONG+2.5% · 5d -1.9% ↺ fades55%24 0.08⚠ differs
SMH SMHLONG+1.3% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades54%27 0.07⚠ differs
MU MUSHORT-1.0% · 5d -2.2%54%28 0.06✓ matches cascade
High-yield credit HYGLONG+0.1% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades54%26 0.06·
INTC INTCSHORT-2.4% · 5d -1.1%52%28 0.05✓ matches cascade
AVGO AVGOLONG+1.1% · 5d -1.5% ↺ fades53%25 0.04⚠ differs
Volatility VIXSHORT-0.9% · 5d -2.5%52%28 0.04⚠ differs
NVDA NVDALONG+4.5% · 5d +0.3%51%27 0.01⚠ differs

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Crowd odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-07-03.