MW Gold at $10,000, a quantum-driven crypto collapse and costly AI scandals are among these 'outrageous' bets for 2026.

By Barbara Kollmeyer

Saxo Bank predicted a Nvidia surge in last year's set of forecasts

The complex "chandelier" cooling system that houses a quantum computer. Saxo Bank predicts a chaotic quantum leap coming in 2025.

All is relatively calm after stocks and bitcoin sold off to start the week.

For more than 20 years, a Danish investment bank has trotted out outrageous annual predictions - improbable, but possible crystal-ball gazing to challenge consensus views.

The downfall of OPEC and the first bioprinted human heart were among those from Saxo Bank that didn't pan out last year. But chief market strategist John Hardy is claiming something of a win on two others.

The first was a prediction that President Donald Trump would blow up the dollar DXY on tariffs and other drama - the buck is down 8% and headed for its worst year since 2017. Rising fiscal deficits and concerns over Fed independence are two reasons for an early year slump.

Read: Trump says he's made his decision on the next Fed chair. Here's what to know about front-runner Kevin Hassett.

Another call, that Nvidia (NVDA) would become twice the size of Apple $(AAPL)$ is hardly a victory, though it is worth more at $4.37 trillion versus Apple's $4.18 trillion after a 34% appreciation for the chipmaker.

Onto the 2026 outrageous forecasts, and the first -a quantum computer proves it can bust through the most common digital standards, faster than expected. "Overnight, the promise that our emails, bank transfers, crypto wallets and corporate systems are safely encrypted no longer holds," writes strategist Neil Wilson.

Investors rush out of crypto first, then fear spreads to traditional finance where customers instead put cash into safe-haven assets of silver and gold (GC00), which rockets toward $10,000. Quantum-computing stocks like IBM $(IBM)$, cybersecurity names and crypto see lots of volatility. The chaos sees winners: physical vaults for secure storage of physical backups, new cybersecurity firms making "unbreakable locks, and "old-fashioned banks with strong cash-distribution systems." Losers: public crypto, businesses with thin security, crypto wallets connected to the internet.

Another prediction, China announces audited gold holdings showing that they have enough reserve to surpass those of the U.S., and the offshore yuan (USDCNH) will now be partially backed by gold. Holders can redeem the "golden yuan" for actual gold, boosting the yuan versus the dollar. China creates a new global money system centered in Asia, with gold-for-yuan swap lines offered to Gulf oil producers and Southeast Asian central banks. The winners: gold climbs above $6,000, the offshore yuan drops below 5.0, U.S. bonds get hit by foreign selling and the dollar loses its monopoly.

One last notable call is focused on AI going awry and companies discovering hidden, higher, costs of automation. Saxo's head of investment strategy, Jacob Falkencrone sets the 2026 stage: agentic AI systems are used to optimize, automate and connect almost everything. That is, until a series of glitches trigger a full-blown crisis - a "misfiring algorithm triggers a market flash crash," waves of AI-driven accounting regularities are discovered, and robots running on faulty AI commands in factories results in human fatalities.

The market impact: The trillion-dollar cleanup results in surging revenues for cybersecurity, audit and consulting firms charged with repairing. securing and simplifying codebases, valuations of highly autonomous AI platforms come under pressure and investors "rotate toward companies offering resilience, oversight and human control."

The rest of Saxo's outrageous predictions:

-- Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding saves the global economy;

-- Smooth U.S. 2026 midterm elections spark trend toward unity, civility;

-- Obesity drugs widely available - even to pets;

-- SpaceX announces IPO;

-- Fortune 500 company appoints AI model as CEO

Read: Strategy's stock shows why it's a trade, and not an investment

The markets

U.S. stock futures (ES00) (YM00) (NQ00) are inching higher, with gold (GC00) lower, silver sliding after a record-busting rally and bitcoin (BTCUSD) firming up.

   Key asset performance                                                Last       5d     1m      YTD      1y 
   S&P 500                                                              6812.63    0.69%  0.61%   15.83%   12.61% 
   Nasdaq Composite                                                     23,275.92  1.77%  -2.34%  20.53%   19.95% 
   10-year Treasury                                                     4.09       9.00   0.10    -48.60   -13.80 
   Gold                                                                 4254.7     2.93%  6.00%   61.21%   59.84% 
   Oil                                                                  59.43      0.92%  -2.61%  -17.31%  -12.82% 
   Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points 

The buzz

Warner Bros. shares are up $(WBD)$ after the entertainment giant reportedly got a sweetened offer from Netflix $(NFLX)$, which is trying to outbid rival Paramount $(PSKY)$.

MongoDB $(MDB)$ is up 23% after the document database company lifted its outlook on booming AI demand.

Credo Technology $(CRDO)$ is up 18% after the provider of high-speed connectivity for AI applications and data centers topped forecasts.

Vanguard for the first time will let clients buy crypto exchange-traded funds managed by third parties.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will testify before the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m.

Best of the web

Michael Burry revives short bet against Tesla, calling stock "ridiculously overvalued."

OpenAI's Altman declares 'code red' to improve ChatGPT as Google threatens AI lead.

Europe's green energy rush slashed emissions - and crippled the economy.

The chart

Source: Company data, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Goldman Sachs has been digging into investor fears that less wealthy consumers are under strain. Their chart shows that same-store sales for companies that are generally located in lower-income zip codes rose just 0.2% on average over the last year, versus 2.5% for companies exposed to middle- and higher-income zip codes. Goldman gathered the information by looking at sales of 15 companies - including Dollar General $(DG)$, Dollar Tree $(DLTR)$, Walmart $(WMT)$ and Kroger $(KR)$ - in zip codes where average household income is below $80,000 per year. To determine average same-store sales growth for wealthier individuals, Goldman looked at sales of 20 companies - Urban Outfitters $(URBN)$, Gap $(GAP)$, Lululemon (LULU), Costco $(COST)$ and Target (TGT) - in zip codes where the average annual income is over $80,000.

Top tickers

These were the top-searched tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m.:

   Ticker  Security name 
   NVDA    Nvidia 
   TSLA    Tesla 
   BYND    Beyond Meat 
   GME     GameStop 
   TSM     Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 
   AMD     Advanced Micro Devices 
   AAPL    Apple 
   PLTR    Palantir 
   AMZN    Amazon 
   META    Meta 

Random reads

Thieves strike Brussels nativity scene.

Pavarotti statue stuck in the middle of an ice rink.

-Barbara Kollmeyer

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2025 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)

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