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ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood says investors should prepare for “surprises to the upside” as financial markets begin shaking off multiple macroeconomic headwinds.
Wood revisited Bitcoin’s long-term positioning, especially relative to gold. She shared a chart showing BTC priced in gold, noting the digital asset’s long-term strength despite recent volatility.
“Gold going parabolic did take this ratio down, but you’ll notice that it did not break the uptrend that is in place and that we think will remain in place,” Wood explained.
She pointed out that during the recent correction, Bitcoin behaved more like a tech stock than a safe-haven asset.
“Bitcoin did act more as a risk-on asset in the market’s recent correction. It behaved like the Nasdaq, unlike gold, but we believe it was just correcting to this trend line because the Bitcoin price went up so much more than the gold price last year.”
As of the latest update, Bitcoin was trading at $94,661.
In a video update shared on YouTube, Wood also explained that the environment is improving, with markets starting to move past fears about interest rates, capital concentration, and valuation concerns.
“We’re really excited about how the market is beginning to shake off three headwinds: interest rates, narrowness of the market and valuation,” she said. “And we think that we’re being set up here for some important surprises to the upside.”
While many market watchers remain focused on recession warnings, Wood believes a shift is underway.
“As many strategists and economists worry that we’re heading into a recession, we’ll be talking more and more about the productivity-driven recovery that will spell the end of the rolling recession. We’ll know a lot more by this time next month.”
On April 4, Wood gave a sharp and sobering analysis of Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs during her Employment Friday session.
Following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2 — which introduced a 10% base tariff on all imports starting April 5, with additional country-specific hikes to follow — Wood cautioned that these moves could push the U.S. into a recession if not carefully managed.
“Markets are in quite a bit of turmoil because of the tariff — what we thought were going to be negotiations,” Wood said. While Trump framed the tariffs as reciprocal, Wood questioned their logic: “We know how he calculated his version of reciprocity, but it doesn't seem to make very much sense.” The uncertainty, she noted, is already rattling global markets.
Wood, through her firm ARK Invest, predicted that the S&P 500 could reach 6,400 by 2030 in a base case scenario — and even 11,200 in a bull case — driven primarily by the exponential growth of artificial intelligence. This was outlined in a 2023 ARK report, emphasizing that innovation platforms like AI, robotics, and blockchain would significantly impact corporate earnings and equity values over the long term.