A bitcoin implosion could 'spill over' into stock market, warns Wells Fargo's Chris Harvey

If the cryptocurrency boom goes bust, shares could without problems be dragged into the chaos, Wells Fargo Securities says.

Christopher Harvey, the firm's head of equity strategy, is paying close attention to the unprecedented interest in what could be one of the maximum epic bubbles of all time.

"there may be a extensive quantity of foam within the cryptomarkets. We do suppose that if that froth comes out, it'll begin to spillover," he warned on CNBC's "buying and selling kingdom."

Bitcoin and its friends had been seeing wild rate swings visible over the past week. remaining week, bitcoin misplaced one-1/3 of its cost in a single day before rebounding. That capped days of volatility which saw the digital foreign money surge to a new file near $20,000. On Tuesday, it turned into above $15,000, in keeping with CoinDesk.

"What we are worried about is froth popping out of that market, and that's beginning to have an effect on equities," stated Harvey. "you're seeing it a bit bit, however simply no longer to a huge diploma. And, it is something to observe out for in 2018."

Harvey has a 2,863 S&P 500 index year-quit price goal for 2018 — about a 6 percentage benefit from Friday's close. It comes a long way underneath the 20 percent gains Wall street has seen this year.

"you have to decrease your expectations for next year. a whole lot of right information is already priced in, and we simply don't see that plenty going ahead. it is going to be a first rate market, it simply won't be a banner 12 months," he stated.

Harvey sees the primary half of of the 12 months stronger than the second one. through then, he predicts, shares will arise in opposition to new challenges — whether or not the cryptomarket implodes or no longer.

"What the marketplace will must contend with is EPS [earnings per share] peaking, ISM doubtlessly peaking, you are going to have the yield-curve in all likelihood pulling down — and further to that, you will probably have multiples start to compress, " Harvey stated. "you'll have to scratch and claw to stay afloat for it to interrupt even."