1st Jan 2023

Predictions for 2023

2022 was dominated by death and destruction. The Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked the largest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War, while thousands were killed in Ethiopia amid the country’s brutal civil war.

Elsewhere, 2022 was the year of many prominent deaths, including world leaders Shinzo Abe, Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth II and Jiang Zemin.

The future is constantly changing. It’s hard to predict what will happen in 2023, but some predictions are more likely than others.

Developed economies follow a boom-bust cycle as predictable as tides going in and out. Cryptocurrencies, bonds and other rate-sensitive assets tend to follow suit.

No amount of insight is helpful unless it helps us understand what we should do next. 

If something breaks it will be government debt and pensions, followed by utter chaos.

Joe Biden will announce that he will run for reelection. We can expect a bitter political war in Washington by the end of the year.

By Phil Rosen

In the past year, investors have been rocked by a bear market, the crypto crash, Russia's war on Ukraine and massive Fed rate hikes — and some forecasts see even more tumult in 2023.

Here are some of the boldest predictions for the new year.

Tesla stock will plunge further

Long-time Tesla bear Gordon Johnson, head of investment research at GLJ Research, expects more downside for Elon Musk's EV company. In fact, he said that shares of Tesla could drop as low as $23, per Fortune.

That's down from about $120 now and would follow a dive of more than 60% in 2022.

Tesla is facing demand issues, increasing competition, and an overblown valuation, Johnson said, adding that Musk is hurting the stock price by selling billions of dollars worth of his shares and creating drama with his Twitter antics.

"They're just a car company that has built too much capacity that they can't sell," he told CNBC.

Gold skyrockets to $3,000 an ounce

In Saxo Bank's view, the precious metal could be slated for a banner year even after the classic inflation hedge failed to find its footing in 2022.

Once markets realize inflation won't be tapering off anytime soon, gold will surge to $3,000 per ounce, the bank wrote. Currently, it's around $1,800.

The S&P 500 crashes again

After losing 20% in 2022, the index could keep falling. Strategists at Truist say the S&P 500 could fall as low as 3,400 next year as bleak near-term outlooks for corporate earnings keep stocks muted.

While a 7.5% gain is possible, stock valuations remain "far from compelling," co-chief investment officer Keith Lerner previously told Insider.

Elsewhere, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank expect the S&P 500 to tank over 20% at some point next year.

US risks another Great Depression

With the Fed "ignoring deflationary signals," Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said in a series of November tweets that the economy could slow further to the point where it resembles the landscape before the Great Depression.

"The Fed raised rates in 1929 to squelch financial speculation and then, in 1930, Congress passed Smoot-Hawley, putting 50%+ tariffs on more than 20,000 goods and pushing the global economy into the Great Depression," Wood warned. "If the Fed does not pivot, the set-up will be more like 1929."

At the moment economists from the Federal National Mortgage Association, more commonly known as Fannie Mae, are predicting that a recession will start in early 2023.

Rising rates will likely trigger a recession, according to data models by the Conference Board, a non-partisan think tank. They now predict a 96% likelihood of a U.S. recession within the next 12 months.

Stocks will continue their slowdown into 2023, and we could see more market lows like the ones that rattled investors this year, according to experts from JPMorgan.

“This proverbial snowball should continue to gain momentum next year as consumers and [companies] more meaningfully cut discretionary spending and capital investments,” Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, global head of equity macro research at JPMorgan, said in the firm’s 2023 markets outlook.

While stocks are expected to struggle next year, experts say bonds are poised for a comeback.

“Bonds — the biggest losers of 2022 — could be the biggest winners in 2023,” according to Morgan Stanley analysts. Meanwhile, experts at Vanguard now expect U.S. bonds to return between 4.1% and 5.1% per year over the next decade.

A country will ban meat production 

Saxo Bank again makes the list of boldest predictions, as its analysts forecasted that net-zero targets will compel a nation in 2023 to commit to going meatless.

Next year, "at least one country looking to front-run others in marking out its lead in the race for most aggressive climate policy, moves to heavily tax meat on a rising scale beginning in 2025," the bank said.

Home sales will sink to their lowest level in more than a decade

That's according to Redfin, which said persistent inflation, recession fears, and housing unaffordability will make would-be buyers slow to sign mortgages, causing home sales to slide. The company expects roughly 16% fewer existing home sales next year compared to 2022, at about 4.3 million.

Real estate prices sag. Rising mortgage rates and poor affordability will dent home prices in 2023, as they did in the 1991 and 2008 recessions.

"Mortgage rates will take center stage in 2023, with high rates likely to make it the slowest housing-market year since 2011," Redfin wrote in a year-ahead outlook.

Bitcoin drops to $5,000.

Standard Chartered Bank published a note titled "The financial-market surprises of 2023." The note outlines a number of possible scenarios that "we feel are under-priced by the markets" wrote Eric Robertson, Standard Chartered's global head of research.

One of the scenarios is Bitcoin's price dropping to $5,000. next year, which would be about a 70% drop from BTC's current price of around $17,000.

While noting that cryptocurrencies could "fall further" and more crypto firms could "succumb to liquidity squeezes and investor withdraws," Robertson said gold could rally as much as 30% to $2,250. per ounce and re-establish itself as a safe haven. READ MORE: The Deep State (NSA) Created Bitcoin

Nostradamus' 2023 Predictions

By Dylan Hofer, MSN

Nuclear War 

One of the most eye-catching prophecies for many of us living into 2023 is Nostradamus' claim of a "great war." One of his quatrains states "seven months great war, people dead through evil" (via History). READ MORE: Plan to Attack Israel

The prophecy points to the Ukraine conflict escalating into a full scale world war in the year to come, which, given the nuclear arsenals at stake could equate to apocalyptic levels of destruction. But wait! It gets worse, like antichrist worse.

“The antichrist very soon annihilates the three. Twenty-seven years his war will last. The unbelievers are dead, captive, exiled. With blood, human bodies, water and red hail covering the earth.” READ MORE: Who is the Anti-Christ?

Another prophecy may be doubling down on the likelihood of World War III, which has to do with a prediction of celestial fire. One of the lines in Nostradamus' books says, albeit in a very cryptic manner, "Celestial fire on the Royal edifice." This might suggest another end-of-the-world scenario.

Taken literally, this could mean a meteor is headed straight for Buckingham Palace, burning down the house if you will.

Inflation

Unless you've been living completely off the grid, you have probably noticed that a lot of everyday goods have increased in price in the past year and a half on a global scale. But was Nostradamus aware of this inflation? Well, one quatrain states: "So high will the bushel of wheat rise, that man will be eating his fellow man," according to History. This might be worth paying attention to because, in 2022, the price of wheat rose to an all-time high at $9.33 a bushel, reports Capital.com.

Given the shocking events over the past three years, such as COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War, there could be another surprise event that makes inflation stick around, or possibly get worse (via The New York Times).

The farming sector's total interest expense is forecast to hit nearly $26.5 billion this year, nearly 32% higher than last year, according to USDA data. Due to higher fertilizer, fuel and land costs, farmers must decide whether they'll reduce their crops and cattle or endure as they struggle to repay larger loans, according to two dozen farmers and bankers interviewed by Reuters.

One of the worst droughts the country has seen in decades is also helping fuel food inflation. 53.2% of the lower 48 states is in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. READ MORE: Boycott Inflation: STOP Shopping (Price Gauging is Causing Inflation)

Mars or Musk

There's one individual who Nostradamus might've been targeting all those years ago, and they've already been having a rough year in 2022: Elon Musk. Since Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, he's been facing the heat of critics who accuse him of driving the company into the ground after losing more than half of its employees since October (via The New York Times). On top of that, loads of advertisement revenue has been pulled from the company due to Musk's somewhat erratic behavior and reinstating controversial figures to the social media platform, according to CNN. Now Musk is dealing with Tesla's stock plummeting, states CNBC, but perhaps his space company, SpaceX, might be facing not-so-favorable times, according to Nostradamus.

The stanza reads, "the light of Mars will go out," and it's rather mysterious, according to History. 

Climate Catastrophy

Nostradamus may have predicted climate change as well as the catastrophic natural disasters that will ensue because of it. In one verse, he said, "For forty years the rainbow will not be seen. For 40 years it will be seen every day. The dry earth will grow more parched, and there will be great floods when it is seen." (via History). 

Nostradamus predicts, “Like the sun the head shall sear the shining sea: The Black Sea’s living fish shall all but boil.” This one checks out, folks, as recent research suggests many of the most commonly eaten fish species could face extinction as a direct result of climate-change warming, i.e. boiling, the Earth’s oceans. With one of humanity’s major food sources in peril, maybe we’ll take to eating each other after all.

Pope Dies

Nostradamus' predictions for 2023 has a new Pope succeeding Francis. He suggested that Pope Francis will be the last true Pope and that the next Pope will create a scandal. 

He wrote, "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will be Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."

Former Russian president’s predictions for 2023

By Jack Evans, NewsAU

Oil Prices

“Oil price will rise to $US150 [$A220] a barrel, and gas price will top $US5000 [$A7400] per 1000 cubic metres,” he said.

The forecast would almost double the current going rate of WTI crude at $US79.56 ($A118) per barrel.

UK to reverse Brexit

“The EU will collapse after the UK’s return; Euro will drop out of use as the former EU currency,” he said.

Europe will be divided

“Poland and Hungary will occupy western regions of the formerly existing Ukraine,” Mr Medvedev wrote.

“The Fourth Reich will be created, encompassing the territory of Germany and its satellites, i.e. Poland, the Baltic States, Czechia, Slovakia, the Kiev [sic] Republic, and other outcasts.

“War will break out between France and the Fourth Reich. Europe will be divided, Poland repartitioned in the process.”

Civil War

“Northern Ireland will separate from the UK and join the Republic of Ireland,” he said.

“Civil war will break out in the US, California and Texas becoming independent states as a result. Texas and Mexico will form an allied state.” READ MORE: America's Politiains & Oligarchs Are Actively Provoking A Civil-War, in America

Presidential Election

“Elon Musk will win the presidential election in a number of states which, after the new Civil War’s end, will have been given to the GOP,” Mr Medvedev said. He didn’t explain how that would happen considering the Tesla founder was not born in the US – a prerequisite to becoming president.

Reserve Currency Crash

“The Bretton Woods system of monetary management will collapse, leading to the IMF and World Bank crash,” Mr Medvedev said.

“Euro and dollar will stop circulating as the global reserve currencies. Digital fiat currencies [central bank digital currency] will be actively used instead.”

The Simpsons predictions for 2023 

By Cheyenne R. Ubiera, TheSun

From a supposed war to a new virus, here are some things The Simpsons has apparently warned us about.

A new virus will come in 2023 along with “several wars.”

Mars or Musk

One prediction included humans traveling to Mars.

In the 16th episode of season 27 of The Simpsons, called The Marge-ian Chronicles, Marge and Lisa volunteer to be some of the first humans to travel to and live on the red planet.

Exploration Inc, a private company, hopes to send people to the planet to colonize it by the year 2026. 

Driverless Cars

For the first time, some members of the general public will begin using fully driverless cars as their day-to-day mode of transportation.

Nuclear War

The Simpsons apparently predict for 2023 that there could be a nuclear war between the US and China.

In one of their episodes, the news anchor can be heard saying, “it is with great sadness that I inform you that America and China have declared war. A massive nuclear attack is expected to reach our shores within the hour!” READ MORE: America's War on China

2023 Eclipse

New Moon Solar Eclipse: April 19

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse: May 5

New Moon Solar Eclipse: October 14

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse: October 28

Do yourself a favor. Think for yourself. Be your own person. Question everything. Stand for principle. Champion individual liberty and self-ownership where you can. Develop a strong moral code. Be kind to others. Do no harm, unless that harm is warranted. Pretty obvious stuff...but people who hold these things in their hearts seem to be disappearing from the earth at an accelerated rate. Stay safe, my friends. Thanks for being here.

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