Wall Street's Most Bearish Strategist Predicted a 32% Crash and S&P 3,750. It Closed at 5,882.

Peter Berezin earned the title of Wall Street's most bearish strategist in 2024, and he wore it like a badge of honor. His thesis was elegant: the Fed would "drag its feet" on rate cuts, unemployment would spike, consumers would stop spending, banks would collapse, and the S&P 500 would crater 32% to 3,750. The recession would hit by early 2025 at the latest.

The economy had other plans. The Fed cut rates without triggering the apocalypse. Unemployment ticked up slightly but never spiked. Consumers kept spending. Banks kept banking. And the S&P 500? It closed 2025 at 5,882 — a full 57% higher than Berezin's doomsday target.

To be fair, being bearish is a tough gig. You're wrong until you're spectacularly right, and then everyone forgets the years you spent crying wolf. But predicting a 32% crash and a recession that never materialized? That's not being cautious — that's being confidently, comprehensively wrong.