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

What if broad import tariffs spike inflation and keep the Fed restrictive as growth slows?

Broad new import tariffs lift goods prices and inflation expectations, forcing the Fed to stay restrictive even as growth slows — a stagflationary bank-stress mix.

8%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 8% · 90% range 0–17% · 23 analogues · measured class trade_war 87% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — trade_war ≈1.3449/yr → 87% in 18 mo87%
Analyst prior · editorial share 6% of the class5%
Pooled · weight 79%8%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)8%
Published8%

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. Broad new import tariffs lift goods prices and inflation expectations, forcing the Fed to stay restrictive even as growth slows — a stagflationary bank-stress mix. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Fed policy path ▲ · Inflation surprise ▲ · Risk appetite ▼ · Trade tension ▲ — 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
1Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -2.4%
hist -1.87–-1.05% · other way +0.01% (n=12)
2Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.9%
hist -1.29–-0.71% · other way +0.81% (n=12)
3Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.6%
hist -2.4–+0.06% · other way +0.6% (n=11)
4MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.5%
hist -5.53–+1.36% · other way +5.21% (n=12)
5Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.3%
hist -4.73–+3.95% · other way +9.81% (n=7)
6Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.4%
hist -6.07–+2.0% · other way +5.65% (n=12)
7Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon HyperliquidCrypto▼ -1.1%
model prior · unmeasured
8TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.2%
hist -3.42–+0.6% · other way +3.08% (n=12)
9Ether ETHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.0%
hist -6.17–+3.22% · other way +10.12% (n=7)
10Alibaba BABAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -6.68–+1.89% · other way -9.3% (n=8)
11Bitcoin BTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.9%
hist -7.28–+3.18% · other way +0.35% (n=8)
12AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.0%
hist -4.13–+0.82% · other way +3.87% (n=12)
13Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.0%
hist -1.39–+0.26% · other way -4.28% (n=8)
14Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.0%
hist -1.33–+1.08% · other way +1.77% (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 -1.9% · Chinese yuan -0.8% · Aussie dollar -0.5% · 30y Treasury yield +5bp · 10y Treasury yield +5bp · Turkish lira -0.5%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 23 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.

August 2022 hot CPI 2022-09 Powell's hawkish 'pain' speech at Jackson Hole 2022-08 China retaliates to Liberation Day: 34% tariffs + rare-earth controls 2025-04 Gold tops $3,000 for the first time amid tariff and rate-cut fears 2025-03 May 2022 US CPI sends S&P into a bear market 2022-06 Bank of England's first post-pandemic rate hike 2021-12 Fed retires 'transitory' 2021-11 Turkish lira record low on rate cuts 2021-11 Turkey fires central-bank governor Agbal, sparking lira plunge 2021-03 Chinese yuan breaks 7 per dollar; US names China manipulator 2019-08 February 2018 hot wage print triggers rate scare 2018-02 Mexican peso crash on Trump 2016 win 2016-11 Russian ruble 'Black Tuesday' 2014-12 ECB's ill-timed pre-crisis rate hike 2008-07 Shanghai Sneeze global selloff with then-record VIX spike 2007-02 The Great Bond Massacre 1994-02 Silver Thursday 1980-03 Gold peaks at $850 1980-01 Volcker Saturday Night Special 1979-10 1979 Iranian Revolution oil shock 1979-01 Iranian Revolution oil shock 1978-12 Argentina Rodrigazo shock 1975-06 Smoot-Hawley clears the US House 1929-05
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
KWEB KWEBSHORT-7.2% · 5d -3.8%86%13 0.65✓ matches cascade
CNY CNYSHORT-1.0% · 5d -0.4%81%15 0.59✓ matches cascade
BABA BABASHORT-5.7% · 5d -4.7%79%13 0.48✓ matches cascade
ARM ARMLONG+4.2% · 5d -2.6% ↺ fades100%2 0.45⚠ differs
XCU XCUSHORT-2.5% · 5d -1.8%72%15 0.39✓ matches cascade
TSM TSMSHORT-2.6% · 5d -2.5%75%15 0.38✓ matches cascade
30y yield DGS30LONG+16bp · 5d +5bp68%21 0.35✓ matches cascade
INTC INTCSHORT-1.8% · 5d -1.9%72%17 0.35✓ matches cascade
AMD AMDSHORT-3.3% · 5d -1.6%72%17 0.34✓ matches cascade
SMH SMHSHORT-1.4% · 5d -1.2%72%15 0.33✓ matches cascade
MSTR MSTRSHORT-4.4% · 5d -5.2%72%15 0.31✓ matches cascade
KRW KRWLONG+0.5% · 5d +0.5%72%15 0.31⚠ differs
HOOD HOODLONG+2.9% · 5d +0.2%67%8 0.30⚠ differs
Bitcoin BTCSHORT-6.7% · 5d -7.8%68%13 0.28✓ 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.