In an exercise which may be of particular interest to contrarians, multi-asset trading and investment outfit Saxo Bank is sticking its neck on the line with a list of 'outrageous predictions' for 2016.
The 10 unlikely, but also under-appreciated, events include oil hitting $100 per barrel, Silicon Valley seeing a repeat of its nadir of the early noughties and a turbo-charged Brazilian economy being fired by the Rio Olympics.
Other key forecasts include a 20% rise in the Russian ruble, a recovery in the euro against the dollar. While silver is seen rallying by a third.
The bank also forecasts a major sell-off in global corporate bonds as Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen implements big rate hikes towards the end of 2016. Weather phenomenon El Nino is predicted to cause significant food price inflation as crops fail.
Finally the Republicans are seen enduring a terrible 2016 as their internal divisions lead the Democrats to retain the presidency and retake Congress.
Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, says: 'Saxo Bank's Outrageous Predictions remain an exercise in finding ten relatively controversial and unrelated ideas which could turn your investment world upside down.'
