🏛 Central Banks & Macro risk-off · 6–18 months
A what‑if from the future

What if sterling trades at a persistent stagflation discount and amplifies UK import costs?

Sterling trades at a persistent risk discount as markets price UK stagflation, with GBP underperforming on a real-effective basis and amplifying imported-cost pressures.

9%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 9% · 90% range 0–20% · 16 analogues · measured class recession 94% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — recession ≈1.9335/yr → 94% in 18 mo94%
Analyst prior · editorial share 8% of the class8%
Pooled · weight 73%9%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)9%
Published9%

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. Sterling trades at a persistent risk discount as markets price UK stagflation, with GBP underperforming on a real-effective basis and amplifying imported-cost pressures. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — US dollar (DXY) ▲ · Growth surprise ▼ · Inflation 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
1MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -1.01–-0.49% · other way +31.9% (n=12)
2Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.7%
hist -2.59–+1.64% · other way -0.48% (n=12)
3Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon HyperliquidCrypto▼ -0.6%
model prior · unmeasured
4Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -0.6%
hist -0.75–+0.3% · other way -0.56% (n=12)
5US dollar (DXY) DXYon Hyperliquid 📈 chartFX▲ +0.6%
hist -0.3–+1.29% · other way +0.47% (n=12)
6EUR/USD EURUSDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartFX▼ -0.6%
hist -1.98–+0.71% · other way -0.56% (n=12)
7Ether ETHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.5%
hist -0.67–-0.28% · other way +4.46% (n=12)
8Bitcoin BTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.5%
hist -2.07–+1.47% · other way +7.54% (n=12)
9GBP/USD GBPUSDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartFX▼ -0.4%
hist -2.24–+0.54% · other way -0.74% (n=12)
10Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartVol▲ +0.4%
hist -1.66–+2.19% · other way -1.26% (n=12)
11Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.4%
hist -1.49–+1.18% · other way -0.47% (n=12)
12Turkish lira TRY 📈 chartFX▼ -0.4%
hist -6.97–+5.91% · other way -0.47% (n=12)
13Gold XAUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCommodity▼ -0.3%
hist -2.91–+1.42% · other way +0.47% (n=12)
14Indian rupee INR 📈 chartFX▼ -0.4%
hist -1.23–+0.55% · other way -0.1% (n=12)

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 -0.4% · Turkish lira -0.4% · Indian rupee -0.4% · Aussie dollar -0.3% · Chinese yuan -0.2% · 30y Treasury yield +2bp

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 16 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.

Iranian Revolution oil shock 1978-12 August 2022 hot CPI 2022-09 Powell's hawkish 'pain' speech at Jackson Hole 2022-08 Turkish lira record low on rate cuts 2021-11 February 2018 hot wage print triggers rate scare 2018-02 China-led global 'Black Monday' rout 2015-08 Greek sovereign debt crisis / first EU-IMF bailout 2010-05 1990-91 recession onset 1990-07 Louvre Accord 1987-02 Silver Thursday 1980-03 Gold peaks at $850 1980-01 Volcker Shock 1979-10 1979 Iranian Revolution oil shock 1979-01 1976 UK sterling crisis / IMF bailout 1976-09 1973-75 recession onset 1973-11 Nixon Shock 1971-08
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
GBPUSD GBPUSDSHORT-1.9% · 5d -0.7%100%6 0.79✓ matches cascade
AUD AUDSHORT-1.9% · 5d -0.4%83%6 0.52✓ matches cascade
EURUSD EURUSDSHORT-1.6% · 5d -0.5%83%6 0.50✓ matches cascade
Gold XAUSHORT-2.7% · 5d -2.3%83%6 0.50✓ matches cascade
NDX NDXLONG+0.6% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades75%8 0.38⚠ differs
SPX SPXSHORT-3.3% · 5d -2.0%67%16 0.31✓ matches cascade
USDJPY USDJPYSHORT-0.1% · 5d +0.2% ↺ fades67%6 0.28⚠ differs
INR INRSHORT-1.0% · 5d +0.6% ↺ fades67%6 0.27✓ matches cascade
COIN COINLONG+11.6% · 5d +3.7%67%3 0.27⚠ differs
SMH SMHLONG+3.2% · 5d +0.5%67%6 0.25⚠ differs
XLK XLKLONG+1.6% · 5d -0.4% ↺ fades67%6 0.23⚠ differs
SOL SOLLONG+2.3% · 5d -5.6% ↺ fades67%3 0.20⚠ differs
High-yield credit HYGLONG+0.5% · 5d +0.1%67%6 0.20·
30y yield DGS30LONG+16bp · 5d +5bp59%13 0.17✓ matches cascade

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.