we're going to have rates by 4 to 4, 50 to 5% probably within Q1. Which means if you're trying to figure out where the bottom is, it's roughly now ish.View on YouTube
Chamath’s prediction has two parts, both of which broadly came true:
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Fed funds rate at ~4–5% by end of Q1 2023
Historical data for the Federal Reserve’s target federal funds upper bound show: it was 4.50% after the December 14, 2022 meeting, then raised to 4.75% on February 1, 2023, and to 5.00% on March 22, 2023. (ycharts.com)
So by March 31, 2023 (end of Q1), short‑term policy rates were indeed in the 4–5% range he specified. -
Equity market bottom “roughly now-ish” (mid‑October 2022)
Multiple summaries of the 2022 bear market note that the S&P 500 fell about 25% from its January 3, 2022 peak until a low on October 12, 2022, treating that October 12 close as the bear‑market bottom. (en.ajmedia.jp) Subsequent reporting describes the current bull market as having begun from that October 12, 2022 low, with the S&P 500 up dramatically since then. (reuters.com)
The tech‑heavy Nasdaq Composite did make its ultimate bear‑market closing low later, on December 28, 2022. (statmuse.com) However, Chamath’s comment was about the equity market bottoming “roughly” around the time of the episode; for the broad U.S. market (S&P 500), that is exactly what happened, and even for the Nasdaq, October 2022 was within a couple of months of the final low and very near the bottom region.
Because the Fed rate call was accurate in level and timing, and the main U.S. equity benchmark (S&P 500) did in fact bottom in mid‑October 2022 with a sustained bull market thereafter, Chamath’s combined prediction is best classified as right (with the nuance that the Nasdaq’s absolute low came in late December 2022).