Review and Preview

 The Venus retrograde counter-trend rally in world stock indices continued last week. This is yet another clear illustration of the value of Astrology to society, as applied to financial markets. On March 6, Venus turned retrograde, a geocosmic phenomenon that occurs every 19 months, and lasts about 6 weeks. On March 6, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to 6470, its lowest level in 12 years. It has continued rising ever since. As stated previously in this column, “It is not unusual to see a market making a multi-month high or low nearby to Venus turning retrograde, and then reverse in the opposite direction until the time its motion returns direct.” That would be April 17, +/- 10 days. We are entering that time band now. It would appear this will be another impressive hit for Financial Astrology, which makes you wonder about the statement made last Wednesday (April 1) by Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher on CNBC. When asked to give his forecast for the U.S.A. economy, Fisher joked: “You know, economic forecasting was invented to make Astrology look respectable.” Well, maybe there is some truth to that. After all, Astrology was the ONLY study that accurately forecasted that the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression would begin exactly in 2008. Forecasts by professional Mundane and Financial Astrologers going back to the early 1990’s did exactly that (i.e. Andre Barbault of Paris, France, and yours truly, to name two). Of course there are human errors in judgment made by astrologers, just as there are by economists. But of the two studies, which would be more valuable as a forecasting tool, once you actually look at the data objectively and detach from preconceived biases?

 As stated above, most of the world stock indices continued their bullish ascent last week, following their multi-year lows around the weekend of March 6-9. There was a brief interruption as we got to the midpoint of Venus retrograde (March 27), and most indices completed that correction by the middle of last week. The same was true with Crude Oil, European Currencies, and Grain markets, which also fell into the middle of last week, and then rallied strongly after Wednesday. Gold and Silver, on the other hand, fell as the week continued. 

Short-Term Geocosmics

We are now two-thirds of the way through the Venus retrograde period (March 6-April 17). Stock markets have trended up the entire time, with only two mild corrections, lasting only one-two days each. Concurrent with this rally is the spreading belief that March 6 was the end of the long bear market, and that the trend has now truly reversed to bullish. Fundamentally there is much more agreement now by pundits that the economy and housing have also bottomed, and that the long-awaited recovery is underway. But is it? Or will we wake up after Venus turns direct on April 17 and realize that all these major financial decisions since March 6 were misguided, and all of these rosy forecasts are nothing more than wishful thinking and positive spin as we head towards the 14-year Jupiter-Neptune conjunction cycle (May-July will be its peak)? My bias is that stock markets will continue higher into Jupiter-Neptune, AND we will question the soundness of all these financial decisions made under Venus retrograde. They may come back to haunt us by the end of the year.

What is particularly interesting to Financial Astrologers is that Venus will square Pluto for the next month as it reverses it motion from retrograde back to direct. It will be exact two times (April 3 and May 3), but its influence will be prominent during this entire period. At the same time, Pluto is reversing its direction from direct to retrograde (April 4). These are the two planets that rule money and debt, which are two sides of the same coin, so to speak. In addition to debt, Pluto also rules power. It can be forceful or coercive. It can try to initiate activities that are designed to stay under the radar, involving transference of money and/or power. It can say one thing, but do something completely contrary for reasons that are not fully disclosed. An example of this last week might be the government’s decision to take over General Motors and fire Rick Wagoner, while at the same time giving Chrysler 30 days to work out a deal with Fiat, or else be subject to same type of expulsions.

 Mars will now begin its “translation” to the Saturn-Uranus opposition, April 4-15. In 2008, such “translations” were accompanied by sharp declines in stock indices throughout the world. Since the market is moving higher into this time band, we have to wonder if it will do that again. Or will it move down and complete the decline nearby to April 15, and then make another run to new yearly highs? Last week’s column pointed out that, “The last “translation” occurred with the Sun making the same aspects to Saturn and Uranus (opposition and conjunction respectively), March 8-13. That coincided with the low in most world stock indices, from which started this current bull run… The one thing that does seem almost certain, however, is that with Mars in opposition to Saturn, followed by its conjunction to Uranus (and all of this occurring in mutable signs), the markets will be volatile. These are signatures that oftentimes coincide with the threat of military conflicts or terrorist activity, and a tendency towards aggression on the world political stage. In terms of nature, it can coincide with fires, explosives, as well as tornadoes, earthquakes, or volcano eruptions.” Hmmm... makes you wonder about North Korea’s missile test due any day, and the warning issued by the USA not to do it. And, the shocking shooting in Binghamton, NY on Friday, killing 14 people, is yet another example of this type of madness turned violent.

Longer-Term Thoughts

 Fear Sells. It’s been selling strong since the “triple Saturn” oppositions began in 2001, and it will likely reach its peak as the final Saturn opposition is now taking place November 2008 through July 2010. The “triple Saturn” oppositions I am referring to are the opposition aspects of Saturn to the three planets outside of its orbit: Pluto (2001-2002), Neptune (2006-2007), and Uranus (2008-2010). As stated in previous Forecast Books, “triple Saturn” oppositions within a decade are very rare. This is only the fourth time in the history of the U.S.A. it has happened. In each case the stock market reached record highs, only to be followed by a severe economic and financial market plunge (1827-1834, 1863-1873, and 1965-1972). And now we are in it again, 2001-2010. As was the case in each of the prior instances, the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped out at a record level in October 2007, then began a sharp decline. In the past, these severe declines ended 2-8 years after the last of triple oppositions. That would equate to 2012-2018.

This particular “triple Saturn” opposition time band is most interesting from a geocosmic perspective. It began with the opposition to Pluto in 2001-2002, corresponding to the attack of the World Trade Center - an event that fundamentally changed our life and the world we live in. Things will never be the same – and they keep changing. But the height of the “fear” associated with such challenging aspects between Saturn and the planets beyond its orbit is likely to reach a crescendo during this last combination. As Saturn makes its five-passage opposition to Uranus from November 4, 2008 through July 26, 2010, it will be accompanied by the waning square to Pluto during the last 8 months. In other words, the Saturn-Pluto planetary pair that began this time band (Saturn-Pluto) will also be prominent when it ends.

There is a saying in metaphysics and Christianity that “God never gives us more than we can handle.” If that is true, then we must be a very strong generation of souls, for as we prepare to enter the Saturn-Pluto waning square on top of the Saturn-Uranus opposition, it will require us to apply everything we have learned over the past four decades regarding spiritual development. It will be so easy to succumb to lowest level of human emotions now (anger, frustration, blame), and just give up, or enter into violent revolt. These are truly revolutionary dynamics, and either we sit back and allow our foundations to be ripped apart beneath us by those who just blatantly abscond with the power and money, or we revolt in an active effort to change this trend and regain power (and money), or we somehow collectively come together and peacefully – cooperatively – construct a new paradigm to wisely navigate these shifts in consciousness (as well as conditions) that allow us to make this transition to the next level. I don’t know exactly how it is going to come out. No one really does, because Uranus is involved (the unexpected, but also the innovative). But I do see these three choices of behaviors available, and whichever is chosen will dictate what we are about to go through in the few years and how we will come out. Maybe this even answers the question of, “Is there a God?” But there has to be. Otherwise, how could astrology work? Man certainly didn’t create such a complex and orderly pattern in the cosmos to correlate so magnificently with cycles in our collective activity.