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MMA Comments for the Week Beginning August 13, 2012
Written by Raymond Merriman   

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    The end of a Mercury retrograde period is usually a very flat trading time with little volatility. Unless Mars, Jupiter, and/or Uranus signatures are also in force, most world stock markets will exhibit very narrow price ranges. That was certainly the case last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, for example, did not have a single day last week in which the price range was at least 100 points until the rally in the last 20 minutes of trading on Friday. That could change this week since Mercury ended its retrograde motion on August 8. This new week will find both Mars and Uranus in major aspects to other planets. The same was true last week in precious metals, which had their largest price movements on Friday, August 10. The markets appear to be winding up for next week.


Best Trades of the Past Week


The best trade of the rather quiet week was in currencies again. The daily report of Tuesday, August 7, for the September Euro currency, stated, “Aggressive traders are long with a stop-loss on a close below 1.2140, after covering 1/3 of these longs for profit last Wednesday. Let’s take profits on another third now and buy back on a decline to 1.2250 or lower.” The buy order was repeated Thursday-Friday, August 9-10. On Tuesday, August 7, the Euro opened at 1.2402, which was the profitable exit point on the longs. The Euro rose to 1.2448 that day and then dropped to 1.2245 on Friday before reversing back up at the end of Friday to close near 1.2300.


Short-Term Geocosmics


    Last week was probably the calm before the storm. You could see market pressures building up and starting to be released late in the day on Friday as Mercury starts increasing its forward velocity following the end to its stationary retrograde motion of August 8.


    The buildup of pressures is also signified by the Mars-Saturn conjunction that unfolds on Wednesday, August 15. The markets need a release, and so do the investment and trading communities of the world.  But Mars-Saturn can be a rather hostile combination, for Mars is war-like and aggressive, while Saturn can be punitive and thwarting to grant the wishes of others, no matter how sensible they might be. This conjunction takes place in Libra, on the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction of the New York Stock Exchange chart, and in opposition to the Saturn in that same NYSE chart (born May 17, 1792). Generally speaking, this is an aspect where others act out of frustration, which usually gives a negative result. Just ask yourself how many times did expressing the full fury of your anger give you a good result, or the result that you had hoped for? Not too often. So we might anticipate politicians going after one another with the same old arguments as before, and this time they might work because the object of those aggressions finally produce the “break point” simply out of frustration. Maybe Mitt Romney will finally feel forced to release his income tax records for more than two years as Team Obama relentlessly chides him to do. Maybe Obama will finally release his college records as Team Romney has demanded he do as well, in this race to see who can be the least transparent candidate for the public’s vote. Personally, I would love to see Obama’s college grades in anything dealing with numbers: economics and math. Everyone knows his gift with words. But does he have any talent for numbers?


    But back to the markets, which of course is all about numbers. In addition to the Mars-Saturn conjunction of August 15, next week will also find Venus making a T-square to the Uranus-Pluto square on August 15 and 16. This is also known as a “translation” of Venus (money, as in currencies and stocks) to Uranus (sudden news) and Pluto (debt and taxes). The value of things is apt to change sharply around those days. And with transiting Mars so prominent in aspect to planets in the NYSE chart, we can look to stocks as the leader of this possible change in trend. Additionally, both of these aspects (Venus to Uranus-Pluto and Mars to Saturn) have to do with weather and grain prices. Hot and dry may finally break now.


    It’s all a prelude to the second passage of Uranus-Pluto in waxing square, which is coming up September 19. It’s more pressure of a different nature that will be building up, and one of the areas that is apt to reflect this buildup is precious metals, for Mars will soon be entering Scorpio, the sign of “reckoning” when it comes to debt and taxes, but also of special interest to metals. The debt crisis is far from over. In fact, it’s just about to have another incarnation with Mars entering Scorpio August 23-October 6, followed by Saturn doing the same for three years, beginning October 15. The stock market is still due for a 30% or greater decline unless the tax hikes coming up January 1 are repealed. This rally is probably just a sucker rally to draw the public into it before the final big bang comes up. Don’t be caught off guard.


Longer-Term Thoughts


    Last week’s column reported on President Barack Obama’s 51st birthday, or solar return. We assumed he would be in Chicago that day, but instead he started the day in Washington D.C. and ended it at Camp David. That alters the position of the sky somewhat, as seen from Washington D.C. at 9:03 AM on August 4 instead of 8:03 AM from Chicago. It changes things somewhat.


His solar return Sun moved from the secretive 12th house to the more powerful 11th house of Congress. If he wins, he may have more support from Congress than many assume at this point. But Jupiter has also moved from the 10th house to the 9th, which is still a strong position for re-election, but maybe not as strong as it would have been in Chicago, in the 10th house of career. The Moon and Neptune in Pisces moved from the 7th house of allies to the 6th house of employees. This can be a signature of deception, disappointment, or disillusionment. Maybe it is better that his employees and servants disappoint or deceive him than his allies. In either case, he still finds Jupiter, planet of exaggeration and luck, in a hard aspect to the angles and the Moon.


Overall, it’s not a bad solar return for being re-elected. But it is also not a great solar return for finding personal happiness and support for his visions. He still seems dissatisfied with matters of work and may be overly critical of others. At its best, he will do things himself instead of relying upon others, and find that he does a better job than those he appoints to do things for him. He may become a compulsive perfectionist for minute details, making it extremely hard for others to please him. Therefore, in the quest for peace and harmony, they may leave him, or be asked to leave. He needs to consciously work at reducing the stress in the work place, for the sake of others as well as for his own well-being, lest it make him vulnerable health-wise, especially in the area of nerves and emotions. The more relaxed he is, the better it is for himself and everyone around him. The more stressed out he becomes, the more difficult it is for himself and others around him. His success and happiness this year are more a function of his ability to manage his emotions and nerves than anything else. This probably requires great faith on his part, as denoted by the afflicted Moon in Pisces, opposite his solar return ascendant in mid-Virgo. Can he do it? Anyone can do it if they understand the dynamics of what they are working with. That’s the beauty of astrology. It reveals our conditions and our choices, but ultimately each of us make the choices and hence affect the outcome.
 

Announcements

Announcements

More of the research papers by students of MMTA from Course 1 (Cycles and Patterns in Financial Markets) will be posted on MMTA’s website at www.merrimanmta.com, under “Student Research.” The latest involve papers on the long-, intermediate-, and short-term cycles (and future projections) in Sugar. Yet to come are studies on Platinum, Soybeans and Corn. I think you will be as impressed as I am with the quality of work these students are performing already.


The next MMTA course will take place June 15-17, 2013 at the Michigan Education Center (MEC) in Troy, Michigan. Once again, it will be available as a webinar to those who wish to attend but cannot be there physically. This course is titled “Geocosmic Correlation to Investment Cycles in Financial Markets.” It will examine the correlation of Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and the Moon’s North Nodes to long-term trends and their cycle troughs and crests in many financial markets, including stock indices and precious metals, going back over 200 years. The cost of this webinar (for non-MMTA students and apprentices) is $2750. For further information and/or registration, please go to http://www.merrimanmta.com/course_two.shtml, or call MMA at 1-248-626-3034. Registration for this course will end June 12.

If you are an active short-term trader, or even if you are an investor who likes to keep up with our current thoughts on financial markets, you may be interested in our Weekly or even Daily Market reports with position trading and aggressive trading recommendations. It is the only way I keep in touch with traders on a daily or even weekly basis. These weekly reports give in-depth analysis of the DJIA, S&P and NASDAQ futures, Euro currency (cash and futures), Dollar/Yen cash and Yen futures, Euro-Yen cash, T-Notes, Crude Oil, Soybeans, Gold and Silver. The daily reports cover all stock indices listed above, as well as futures in Euro, T-Notes, Gold and Silver, plus GLD and SLV (the Gold and Silver ETF’s). Both reports provide trading strategies and recommendations for position traders as well as for shorter-term aggressive traders. Subscription to the daily report also includes the weekly report. For more information, go to http://www.mmacycles.com/services, or call our offices at 1-248-626-3034. These reports are extremely valuable to those who trade ETF’s (Exchange Traded Funds). In the words of one of our subscribers: “I am really pleased with your recommendations through the Daily and Weekly Trade Recommendations.  I have used them to trade gold and silver stocks in my IRA.  In the last eight years, I increased my account from $60,000 to $850,000.  Thanks for your excellent publications.” - Bryden C., Small Business Owner, Illinois.

The monthly MMA Cycles Report and its companions – the MMA Japan Cycles Report and MMA European Cycles Report – came out last week. If you are a subscriber and did not receive your report, contact us immediately. This report covers our longer-term analysis of the U.S. stock market, precious metals, crude oil, currencies, Treasury Notes, and grain markets. The MMA Japan Cycles report covers the Nikkei, JGB Bonds, and the Dollar-Yen. The new MMA European Cycles Report covers the German DAX, Swiss SMI, and Netherlands AEX, each in English only, and will be available on Wednesday. For further information and subscription, go to http://www.mmacycles.com/catalogue/subscription-services/mma-cycles-report/.

If you are interested in a review of Course 1 of MMTA that took place April 6-8, please visit http://www.mmacycles.com/the-news/about-mma/a-review-of-the-mmta-course-1--by-henry-canciglia/. Or go to the www.mmacycles.com website and scroll down the first page. Henry Canciglia has an extensive background in the U.S. political and intelligence community. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. Henry is one of the 15 apprentices for the two-year MMTA course.

The April 6-8 webinar and live presentation on “Cycles and Chart Patterns in Financial Markets” has been completed. The DVD of this extraordinary event will be available in about one-two weeks. The LMS (Learning Management System) will also be available for uploading to new students who want to avail themselves of this training over the next two years. The LMS is expected to be available in about 5 weeks. You may now pre-order the DVD at http://www.mmacycles.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=421&Itemid=61. If you wish to place your order directly, please call Maureen Hogan or Amber Lundsten at 1-248-626-3034, or email to mhogan@merrimanmta.com. The cost of the DVD or the LMS will be $3000. It includes the very valuable 130+-page workbook, which follows right along with the DVD and LMS program.

Following the last MMTA workshop in April, MMA entered into an official affiliation with MetaStock. As most of our subscribers know, MetaStock has been my preferred market analysis tool for several years now, along with FAR for the Galactic Trader (they work together nicely).  I particularly appreciate the crispness of their graphics, excellent scanning capabilities, and wide range of technical indicators that I use in the analysis of our various reports. As part of our affiliation, MetaStock is offering special discount and free trial to all MMA readers and subscribers. If you would like to try a free trial of Metastock in order to view and evaluate their charting software, please go to www.metastock.com/merriman. Let us know what you think.

The DVD of the MMTA pre-training workshop on “How to Read an Ephemeris” is also now available! The cost of the 8-set, 10+ hour DVD packet, is $395.00 plus postage, and will include the workbook. If you are a trader, analyst, or student interested in enhancing your skills in market timing, or if you are considering applying for admittance to the MMA Market Timing Academy (MMTA), then this DVD is highly recommended. To order this DVD, please go to     http://www.mmacycles.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=379&Itemid=48.  You may also call or email us at 1-248-626-3034, or orders@mmacycles.com.  

Events:

May 30-June 2, 2013: Great Lakes Astrology Conference, Ann Arbor, MI. Featuring internationally known astrologers, Michael Lutin, Chris McRae, Monica Dimino, Glenn Perry, Lea and Aleksandar Imsiragic, Sandra Leigh Serio, and Raymond Merriman. For further information, please contact Pamela Wenzel at jcweipw@juno.com, or magnum1593@gmail.com, or visit their website at http://www. greatlakesastrology.com.   

June 15-17, 2013: MMTA Course 2: “Geocosmic Correlations to Long-Term Cycles in Financial Markets” with Raymond Merriman. Location: MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan. This will be available as a webinar to non-MMTA students and apprentices fro $2750.00.

August 10-12, 2013: MMTA Course 3: “Geocosmic Correlations to Primary and Trading Cycles in Financial Markets” with Raymond Merriman. Location: MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan.


October 12-14, 2013: MMTA Course 4: “Solar-Lunar Correlations to Short-Term Reversals in Financial Markets” with Raymond Merriman. Location: MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan.

 

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 author’s 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 cycle’s 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.

No guarantee as to the accuracy of this report is being made here. Any decisions in financial markets are solely the responsibility of the reader, and neither the author nor the publishers assume any responsibility at all for those individual decisions. Reader should understand that futures and options trading are considered high risk.

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