Merriman Market Analyst

Review and Preview

 Most stock indices around the world continued their previous week’s rally into Wednesday of this past week. And then the “Sagittarius Factor” hit Thursday and Friday, and prices begin a substantial decline to end the week on dangerous ground as we head into next week’s important geocosmic signatures. As stated previously, “But an important geocosmic period commences… February 25 through March 7, when the Sun will form an opposition to Saturn and end with a conjunction to Uranus. In essence, this is yet another period of a faster moving body translating the more important slower moving aspect. The Sun is translating the Saturn-Uranus opposition of later this year, and hence February 25-March 7 may offer a glimpse of what to expect from November 2008 through July 2010 when that Saturn-Uranus opposition is in effect.” In typical Uranian fashion, these financial markets either made a sudden and unexpected reversal, or in the case of currencies and commodities, they continued to skyrocket to new all-time highs.

Many stock indices soared to their highest levels in six weeks by Wednesday of last week, following the Sun-Saturn opposition of February 24-25. This was the case with the Netherlands AEX and London FTSE in Europe. But it was not matched with new monthly highs in either the German DAX or Swiss Stock Index, for a case of regional intermarket bearish divergence. New 6-week highs were noted in the Nikkei of Japan, but not in the other stock indices of Asia and the Pacific Rim (Australia’s All Ordinaries, India’s Nifty Index or Hang Seng of Hong Kong) for yet another case of intermarket bearish divergence. In the U.S.A., last Wednesday’s high was a double top to the high in early February, but in the case of the NASDAQ Composite, it was far off, for yet a third case of this bearish divergent pattern. Thus it sets up a dangerous chart pattern for next week, especially as we move fully into this translation of the Sun to the forthcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition.

But the big stories were again in commodities. Crude Oil made another slightly higher new all-time high at 103.05 on Friday. Gold soared to another a new all-time high of  977 on Friday. Silver soared close to 2000 ($20.00/ounce) for the first time in 27 years. Many currencies made new all-time against the U.S. Dollar, with Euro well above 1.5000 for the first time, and the Swiss Franc almost at par with the U.S. Dollar now. Soybeans and Wheat both soared to new all-time highs last week, topping out at $15.24/bushel and $13.00/bushel respectively. Who says prices aren’t rising? Yes, it is true in regards to home prices, and wages are staying fairly stable. But the cost of raw goods is soaring, and has been since 2001, when the Saturn-Pluto cycle topped out (opposition). As stated so many times before in this column, the opposition to the conjunction (2001-2020) is the time when commodities do well, and stocks go all over the place, but mostly down. The stocks haven’t really stayed down for long yet, because we still have the Saturn-Uranus opposition to go through, November 2008 through July 2010. Burt we are getting the picture of what to expect then with the transiting faster moving bodies when they translate by hard aspect to the Saturn-Uranus opposition, as we are seeing now, and as we saw in January when Venus did similar. As stated last week, “Of course there will be mini-bear and bull markets within this long-term 32-37 year cycle. But basically the cycles goes like this: economic prosperity and favorable investment environment from the conjunction to opposition (1982-2001), versus commodity inflation and economic struggles from opposition to conjunction (2001-2020).

Short-Term Geocosmics

 This could be a very dangerous week for many markets. In addition to  the Sun translating the opposition to Saturn and conjunction with Uranus there are other powerful forces at work that should be of interest to all Financial Astrologers. As stated last week, “Mars will also cross the 0 degree Cancer point on March 4. Historically that is a period when central banks make critical changes or announcements in their interest rate policies, which in turn affect Treasuries and currency prices, and by association, also precious metals and stock markets.” And then also, “On March 4, heliocentric Mercury will also enter Sagittarius through March 17. This is a period that has a very high correlation to sharp price swings in many markets, especially precious metals and currencies. With heliocentric Mercury in Sagittarius at the same time as the new moon in Pisces conjunct Uranus around March 7, it could be a very dramatic time coming up.”

 So here we are. Fasten your seat belts again. It could get very turbulent into next Friday, And that is also the day that the Federal Reserve will release its very important Unemployment and Payroll Reports.

Longer-Term Thoughts

 The Saturn-Uranus opposition takes place for the first of five passages right on Election Day, November 4, 2008, in the United States. It is certainly shaping up into a classical representation of these two planets. On the Uranian side, you have the Democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who each rep[resent a “first” – either the first African American or first female potential president. That’s Uranian. On the other side, you have John McCain, who would be the oldest person to assume presidency if elected. That’s Saturn, which represents age and experience – and also the Establishment (but Hillary could be viewed as The Establishment too… she could be Saturn  and Uranus).

 This election is particularly challenging to me – and I suspect most astrologers. The candidates to be selected fit just fine with the principles of Mundane Astrology. In fact, they fit exceeding well. It is easy to define who is who by planetary symbology. But it is not so easy to choose who will win, for with Uranus, anything can happen, and surprises are more than likely the order of the day. As an extreme, under this signature, there can be no certainty that the candidates selected to represent their parties even make it to election or inauguration day. Something disruptive is always a possibility, especially with Saturn and Uranus in hard aspect, complemented by Pluto about to move back into Capricorn at that time (November 26, which is between election day and inauguration). I am not predicting assassination, for these symbols can mean many things. But the last time Saturn and Uranus were in opposition, and Pluto was involved, was in the mid-1960’s. Both political and racially-motivated assassinations stung the USA deeply during that time. At the very least, we must at least hope that these candidates have adequate protection, and are not harmed. And that is why I state this possibility in this column. It is not with the wish to “be right,” but instead to diffuse the energy of this possibility, for in metaphysics, we know that if you want something to have power and grow, you keep it within yourself. If you want to diffuse the energy, you bring it out into the open. We have a very exciting and highly energized process taking place in the United States at this time. The youth – and representatives of several demographic groups – are more involved in this election than ever before. That too is consistent with Saturn in opposition to Uranus. And when you have such “new” involvement involving such “first-time” things, it can disrupt the status quo, and this become a very dangerous situation. Bit as we also learn in metaphysics, danger and opportunity go together. Let’s hope safety is not forsaken in this amazing time we are living, and circumstances (people) allow these cycles to unfold in a natural manner.