US recession by end of 2026?

Current Market Pricing

Prediction markets currently imply a live probability of approximately 24.0%.

Market Structure

Markets with tighter spreads and higher liquidity generally indicate stronger trader participation and more efficient price discovery.

Resolution Criteria

This market will resolve to “Yes” if either of the following conditions is met:

1. The seasonally adjusted annualized percent change in quarterly U.S. real GDP from the previous quarter is less than 0.0 for two consecutive quarters between Q2 2025 and Q4 2026 (inclusive), as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

2. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) publicly announces that a recession has occurred in the United States, at any point during 2025 or 2026, with the announcement made by the time the BEA releases the advance estimate for Q4 2026.

Otherwise, this market will resolve to "No".

Note that advance estimates will be considered. For example, if upon release, the advance estimate for Q3 2025 was negative, and the Q2 2025's most recent, up-to-date estimate was also negative, this market would resolve to "Yes". If on December 31, 2026 the latest estimate for quarterly GDP in Q3 2025 was negative, this market will stay open until the Advance estimate of Q4 2026 is published, at which point it will resolve to "Yes" if Q4 2026 was negative or if the NBER declares a recession by then.

The resolution source will be the official announcements from the NBER and the BEA’s estimate of seasonally adjusted annualized percent change in quarterly US real GDP from previous quarters as released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product

Market Interpretation

Prediction markets function as real-time consensus engines.

Traders continuously buy and sell outcome shares based on:

• breaking news
• macro developments
• public narratives
• institutional positioning
• probability reassessments

As a result, market pricing reflects aggregate trader expectations rather than static forecasts or polling systems.

At the current pricing structure:

• YES trades near 24.0¢
• NO trades near 74.0¢
• Implied probability sits near 24.0%

These probabilities may shift rapidly as new information enters the market.

Liquidity & Conviction Analysis

Medium liquidity conviction suggests the market currently has medium participation depth.

Higher liquidity environments typically produce:

• tighter spreads
• faster price discovery
• stronger informational efficiency
• lower pricing instability

Lower liquidity environments can produce sharper volatility swings and less reliable consensus pricing.

Why Prediction Markets Matter

Prediction markets aggregate trader beliefs into continuously updating probabilities.

Unlike static polling systems, these markets react in real time to:

• political developments
• macroeconomic events
• institutional sentiment
• narrative shifts
• market-moving news
• crowd positioning

This makes them useful as live probabilistic intelligence systems rather than simple betting platforms.

Market Metadata

• Market Slug: us-recession-by-end-of-2026
• Last Updated: 2026-05-04T17:41:36.154Z
• Category: other