Comments for the week beginning APRIL 17, 2006
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Review and Preview:
After posting multi-year (and in some cases, all-time) highs the previous week as Saturn turned direct (April 5-6), many of the world stock indices pulled back ahead of the Venus-Uranus conjunction coming up this week (April 18). In Europe, the Netherlands AEX and German DAX failed to make new multi-year highs last week, while both the London FTSE and Swiss Index succeeded to do so on Wednesday. However both fell hard into Thursday, particularly the Swiss stock index which lost almost 200 points in that one day (from high to low), thus setting up a case of Intermarket bearish divergence. There was no such divergence in the Pacific Rim indices, however, as the Australian All Ords, Hang Seng of Hong Kong, and Japanese Nikkei stock indices all retreated from their multi-year highs of the prior week. In the Americas, the story was much the same. After posting highs late the prior week, all posted corrective declines last week.
The excitement continued in the precious metals, however, which raced to new 25-year highs. The nearby Gold contract closed at 600.00, and Silver closed the week testing $13.00/ounce, levels not seen since the early 1980’s. Crude Oil also soared to a new all-time high, touching 71.00 on Thursday and closing at a strong 70.82. It would appear that the 4-year cycle bottom is in. However, without follow through this coming week, this rally could still be a double top, followed by another decline back to the 50’s by August. Otherwise, Crude is starting its ascent to our $100.00 oil (or higher) projection, to be realized by 2008 as Uranus (planet of new records) moves towards the middle of the oil-ruled sign of Pisces. When Uranus was in Aquarius (technology) from 1995-2003, the tech stocks (NASDAQ) had its bubble – then lost 80% of its value before it left Aquarius in 2003. Watch for the same pattern in oil between now and 2011.
Short-Term Geocosmics:
We are now in a critical reversal zone, between last Thursday’s full moon (April 13) and this Thursday’s Venus trine Jupiter. Right in the middle (April 17-18), we find Venus conjunct Uranus and the Moon in Sagittarius, a rather electrical and stimulating combination that could drive “blow-off” markets even higher (watch Gold, Silver, and Crude Oil early this week).
But our focus for stock indices is on the forthcoming Jupiter-Uranus waning trine of May 5. If this corrective decline ends sometime this week, we could see another leg up as the indices resume their “blow-off” pattern. As stated last week, “Astrologically, we must ask: what signatures correlate with “blow offs?” Well, we would have to start with Jupiter, the planet associated with excesses and exaggeration. Next we would have to consider Uranus, the planet that classically is described as “breaking boundaries,” entering into hitherto unexplored territory. And finally, we might also consider Neptune, and other planet which seems to know no boundaries, but is less explosive in nature than Uranus…. Currently, we are in the midst of two moderately long planetary aspects involving Jupiter to both Uranus (trine) and Neptune (square)… The second passage of Jupiter-Neptune took place on March 16, and the second passage of Jupiter in trine to Uranus takes place on May 5.” Once these passages are complete, we then enter into Jupiter square Saturn and Saturn in opposition to Neptune phases. The tide could change quickly shortly after May 5.
Long-Term Thoughts:
As I write this week’s column, the Moon is in Scorpio. So let’s talk… conspiracy theories. Let’s talk about “possibilities,” within the context of longer-term astrological cycles, combined with some of today’s popular conspiratorial thoughts.
For centuries, astrologers have given immense importance to the 20-year planetary cycle of Jupiter and Saturn, known as “The Great Conjunction.” Of special importance is the 160-200 year period in which this conjunction occurs in the same element, or “triplicity.” Between 1840 and 2000, this 20-year conjunction has occurred in the element (triplicity) of Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn). The only exception was the 1980 instance, which went slightly out of element and occurred in Libra, an air sign. Every U.S. president who was elected during the “Great Conjunction” in Earth signs has died (or been assassinated) before leaving office. It has therefore been speculated that the current president, George W. Bush, would not live out his term, for he too was elected in 2000, when this Great Conjunction also unfolded in the Earth sign of Taurus. According to Neil F. Michelsen’s “Table of Planetary Phenomena,” the Great Conjunction will shift full force into air signs in 2020, so Bush will be the late president elected during this Earth triplicity cycle for the next 800 years. Oh, in 1980 when it occurred in the early degrees of Libra, then-President elect Ronald Reagan was shot. The bullet barely missed his heart by inches – about as much distance as the Great Conjunction was to occurring in an earth sign in 1980.
Will Mr. Bush become the first U.S. president elected during the Earth sign passage of the “Great Conjunction” to live out his term? No one knows, of course. And no astrologer in his/her right mind will make an absolute prediction, because predicting death (or any sensational dire event) as the only possible outcome of any geocosmic factor is the height of being unethical. But of course, death is but one of many possible manifestations of particular astrological factors. So with the understanding that the “Great Conjunction” can indicate a myriad of possible events, of which the death of a leader is but one possibility, let us speculate on a possibility, tinged with all sorts of conspiratorial assumptions that might make for a great Hollywood spy thriller (if anyone lifts this idea, I want my cut!).
The U.S. has a mid-term election this year, November 7. There is growing concern that the Democrats will regain control of Congress. As reported previously in this column months ago (and now gaining momentum), if that happens, President George Bush may very well be impeached before his term is up, just like Bill Clinton was in 1998 (Saturn-Neptune in hard aspect, then and now) . Supporting the argument that the Republicans could lose control of Congress, is the editorial “Review and Outlook” in last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal. The editorial starts out, “If Republicans lose control of Congress in November, they might want to look back at last Thursday as the day it was lost. That’s when the big spenders among House Republicans (most notably Committee Chair of House Appropriations Rep Jerry Lewis of California) blew up a deal between the leadership and rank-in-file to impose some modest spending discipline… The rank-and-file Members who haven’t yet gone native in Washington realize that their biggest problem is the disappointment of Republican voters at Congress’s free-spending ways. If those voters stay home in November, Mr. Lewis will soon be known as Mr. Ranking Member.”
So let’s say that happens. Republican voters, who are so dismayed at this administration’s lack of ability to contain spending, stay home on Election Day and don’t vote. After all, the budget deficit isn’t going down as promised. After all, at midnight on Election Day, November 7, 2006, the Moon is in Gemini, in approaching square to Uranus, with its last aspect (before going “void of course”) being an opposition to Pluto. The Gemini Moon in square to Uranus could signal an upset of great proportions that day. There could be a change of the status quo. The last aspect (end result) being an opposition to Pluto could indicate that the result of the election is an eviction - or even demise – of the current leadership. Pluto rules the symbolic “ending,” or termination, of a cycle or matter.
Now let’s get into the real dirty business of conspiracy thinking. If the Republicans lose control of the House and/or Senate, what does that do to their chances of winning the presidency in 2008? It doesn’t support it – especially if there is a movement to impeach the figurehead. What do you do to regain that support? What do you do to stop that momentum of impeaching a sitting president? What do you do that might shift the tide of “discontent voting” to one of “sympathy voting?” You draw the dots connecting these thoughts, taking into account the history of the “Great Conjunction in Earth signs” and its correspondence to previous U.S. presidents… and you have the makings of a story that could be a best seller.
In 1963, the U.S. lost its last president elected under the previous Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Earth. It was two-three years before Saturn opposed the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in 1965-66. In 2008-2010 (two-three years from now), Saturn will again oppose Uranus, and this time Pluto will be in T-square to each. We still don’t know the truth about JFK’s assassination. It is the subject of millions of conspiracy theories, written in books and Hollywood movies. Will George W. Bush be assassinated, under geocosmic signatures that are in many ways like that of the early and mid 1960’s? Who knows for sure. Not me. I am only a writer and astrologer who looks at possibilities within the context of current astrological themes playing out in the heavens. But I hope that by writing this, it increases awareness of the possibility, and thus deflates the possibility of actualization. I would rather have the rights to the fiction of this conspiracy theory. And yes, these columns are copyrighted.
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Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to predict the future movement of various financial markets. However, that is the purpose of the MMA (Merriman Market Analyst) subscription services. This column is not a subscription service. It is a free service, except in those cases where a fee may be assessed to cover the cost of translating this column from English into a non-English language. This weekly report is written with the intent to educate the reader on the relationship between astrological factors and collective human activities as they are happening. In this regard, this report will oftentimes report what happened in various stock and financial markets throughout the world in the past week, and discuss that movement in light of the geocosmic signatures that were in effect. It will then identify the geocosmic factors that will be in effect in the next week, or even month, or even years, and the authors understanding of how these signatures will likely affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from a perspective of a cycles analyst looking at the military, political, economic, and even financial markets of the world. It is possible that some forecasts will be made based on these factors. However, the primary goal is to both educate and alert the reader as to the psychological climate we are in, from an astrological perspective. The hope is that it will help the reader understand these psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and hence financial markets of the day.
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