Review and Preview

    The U.S.A. jobs report Friday morning, February 3, was much better than expected. Unemployment fell from 8.6 to 8.3% and 243,000 new jobs were created far above the 60,000-125,000 that were expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to 12,870 intraday, its highest level since the 12,876 yearly high recorded last May 2. Everything looked up last week, especially after the reports came out, and it sets the stage for great confidence headed in to this week.

    The “Asset Inflation Express” is back on track. But not far ahead is yet another treacherous curve. Jupiter is fast approaching 7° of Taurus, the end of the cosmic line when equity prices historically complete long-term cycle crests. How close to March 7, when Jupiter leaves 7° of Taurus, will the crest in equities actually occur? No one knows for sure. But its track record is undeniable since the 1870’s, as described in detail in Forecast 2012. Of course Ben Bernanke wasn’t around all those years to make sure near-term interest rates remained close to 0% either.

Short-Term Geocosmics

      Friday was not only the day of the surprisingly strong payroll reports that sent stock prices soaring, but it also marked the day that Neptune begins its 14-year trek through Pisces, the sign it rules. Neptune pertains to Alan Greenspan’s famous quip about markets and investors being irrationally exuberant. It is as pertinent today as when he said it several years ago.

    This week we may get a dose of reality. Saturn, the planet of hard realities, turns retrograde at 29° Libra on Tuesday, February 7. This cosmic event has coincided with important crests in stock prices several times in the past decade, and it is poised to do the same this time too. Its orb of influence is historically up to 11 days, but in most cases, if a reversal occurs, it is within only 4 trading days (see Volume 3 of the Stock Market Timing series).

    Another change in investor psychology is likely around Wednesday, February 9, when Venus leaves the blissful domain of Pisces and enters Aries, the sign where it tends to have psychological issues. Venus wants to share and be fair. Aries wants it all, and to hell with fairness. That’s a weakness, especially as it joins up with ruthless Uranus in Aries the next day. It’s a good bet that both parties will actively engage in credit for the jobs recovery. It’s also a good bet that the good feelings of Venus and Neptune in Pisces at the end of last week will give way to hostile debate and combat by the end of this week, and the markets could easily take their cue from that. These are all signatures of a sudden reversal in several markets coming up.

    And speaking of Venus, we note that it will begin a hard aspect translation this week to the forthcoming Uranus-Pluto square. On February 8, Venus conjuncts Uranus, followed by its square to Pluto on February 15. Something’s got to give by then. Venus wants harmony, but in Aries it goes about it all the wrong ways. In hard aspect to Uranus and Pluto, it may be painful to watch, and more painful to take a side.

Longer-Term Thoughts

    “The history of liberty is a history of the limitations of governmental powers, not the increase of it.” - Alexis de Tocqueville

    Last week I related two incidents regarding my recent speaking tour in Europe that depict troubling developments and differences between the USA and Europe. These developments reflect a potentially explosive undercurrent that is reflective of the Uranus-Pluto waxing square, which reaches its first of seven exact aspects on June 24, 2012. The last will occur in March 2015. During those three years, this powerful square will form an even more powerful grand square configuration to the Sun (leadership) and Saturn (government) in the inception chart of the United States of America, regardless of the founding date one uses of July 2 or July 4, 1776.

    One manifestation of the Uranus-Pluto transiting square is already happening: the world wide “debt explosion,” as Pluto pertains to debt and Uranus to explosions. But there are many other possible manifestations, which could prove dangerous for the U.S.A. government in particular if it is not careful in the nurturing of relationships with its closest allies of the world, as well as its relationship with its own citizens whose needs and interests it is elected to serve and not exploit for personal or political gain.

    When transiting Uranus makes a hard aspect to a personal planet in one’s natal chart – such as a natal Sun - it signifies the probability of a new direction in life. Sometimes this new direction is chosen voluntary, but oftentimes it is due to a separation or divorce from those who had previously played an important role in one’s life. One party in the relationship just decides this isn’t working out so well anymore, and so, “good-bye,” or in the case of a work relationship, “You are fired/I quit. We don’t want you anymore/I don’t want to be with you any longer.”

    When transiting Pluto makes a hard aspect to a personal planet in one’s natal (or birth) chart – such as a natal Sun - it also signifies a new direction in life.  But this time it may be brought about through a form of rejection or coercion. It is often terminal, and to heal or repair the relationship will require a major change in behavior. The U.S.A. will have both Uranus and Pluto transiting in hard aspect to its Sun in Cancer in 2012-2015.

    But it goes beyond that. These two planets will also form a hard aspect to Saturn in the USA chart. Although Saturn rules government, it also rules the principle of authority, the boundaries and limits placed upon others. With such aspects to natal Saturn, one may also find itself the subject of restrictions and limitations placed upon it by others who have suddenly acquired new powers. With Saturn in Libra in the USA natal chart, there are issues of “fairness” imbedded in the character – the soul – of the nation. But when Uranus and/or Pluto form a hard transiting aspect to its natal Saturn, there is the sense that principles of honor and respect regarding others are being violated. People quit working when they feel they are forced to compromise their values for the heavy hand of authority, or the coercion of the authoritarian. You think seriously of quitting your job, not because you do not like what you do, but because you cannot stand what the company head – the authority - suddenly stands for. It is not what you expected or respected. This is why the Uranus-Pluto waxing square is coinciding with this intense drive for freedom all over the world, such as witnessed in the “Arab Spring” uprisings of last year. But it’s far from over. It’s just beginning, and it is not limited to the Middle East.

Imagine, for instance, being forced by your employer to reveal a confidentiality of a client or a fellow colleague, or face dismissal. What do you do? Most Americans quit the company and seek another employer during these forced types of compromising situations, which are presented when Uranus or Pluto transits in hard aspect to their natal Saturn. Now imagine what the USA itself may go through when both Uranus and Pluto form a hard aspect to its natal Saturn in Libra.

    The U.S.A. government is on a trajectory to lose very valuable allies, such as Switzerland, due to heavy-handed behaviors regarding its quest to recover lost tax revenues by tax evaders. True enough, individuals should not avoid taxes by hiding their assets in foreign banks.  But is that a matter between the individual tax evader and the USA government? Or is it a matter between the foreign (or even domestic) banks – who have confidentiality laws about revealing the names of their clients to anyone, without the client’s permission who they serve - and the government of a foreign nation? It is a delicate question, and it clearly portrays the ethical themes of both Uranus and Pluto in hard aspect to a nation’s natal Saturn. Since this aspect hits the USA chart so prominently in 2012-2015, the USA government’s demand that foreign banks and nations break their laws of confidentiality and give up the names of their clients who are U.S. citizens, so the government can then investigate whether or not these individuals actually are evading taxes and breaking U.S. laws, is striking many as being heavy-handed and disrespectful of the values of other nations. You also have to ask: who wins by this? The U.S. government? The people who elect it to serve them? Or the U.S. banks that stand to benefit from the transference of those deposits that will have to take place (before they get confiscated)?

    A headline in Friday’s Wall Street Journal pronounced “U.S. Charges Swiss Bank in Tax Case.” The bank in question was identified as Wegelin and Co, the very bank of the banker I discussed in last week’s column who could not come to America for fear of being detained and even incarcerated. Following my article, I received the following email from a reader in Switzerland, which depicts the seriousness of this issue, which is really under the radar in the awareness of what is happening with America in the world, to most Americans.

“Yesterday Wegelin, one of the oldest private banks of Switzerland was cornered by the US Government and had to sell its business in a rush. The threat: take the Swiss bank to court in the US unless they reveal the names of their US customers. Which they won't.

“Swiss banks in general get rid of their US customers, the latest being the state-owned Zurcher Kantonalbank because their fear the US government.    As of 2013 all Swiss citizens will have to pay the US inheritance tax if they own shares of US companies even if they have no other relations with the USA. Again the US Government forces the Swiss banks to disclose the names of the respective people. As a result people are unloading US stocks…. The immigration process for tourists visiting the USA is a nightmare. As a result I do not come to your country anymore although there is a lot I like about its people, culture and sights.”

    The issue in itself is perplexing, and casts the U.S.A,’s behavior in a very authoritative, maybe even arrogant, light to the world. What is also troubling is that the Wall Street article states the Wegelin & Co. Bank allegedly “…helped wealthy Americans hide more than $1.2 billion in secret accounts abroad.” Really? That’s terrible! And what is the amount of the USA’s national debt now? $16.4T! And how much has it grown in just the last three years under the USA government’s (mis)management of its tax payers’ monies? Over $5T! And we are talking about recovering $1.2B when politicians and bankers here in the USA have carelessly spent and ripped off taxpayers for over 10,000 times that amount since 2008. Did I mention that hard aspects from Uranus and Pluto to one’s natal Saturn aren’t just indicative of heavy-handedness leading to a rebellion? It can also be the perception of hypocrisy leading to a loss of respect and credibility in the community. In this case, the world.

    Like most of my American readers, I am a patriot. I – we - love America and its people and what it has represented in the world over the past two centuries. But also like most Americans, I am concerned about the path the USA government has chosen to follow since the turn of this century, when Saturn began making hard aspects to all the planets beyond its orbit (2001-2010). And now the largest aspect of them all is set to unfold: Uranus square Pluto, 2012-2015. The good news is that under this aspect – under any aspect involving Uranus to Saturn, Neptune, to Pluto – there is a possibility that this trend can be suddenly reversed. With Uranus and Pluto, such reversals can be voluntary, as in democratic elections choosing a different course of action, or through forced coercion, as in revolt.

The next three years – with Uranus and Pluto forming a grand square to the USA Sun and Saturn - may be the most important turning point in the history of the United States. It will determine whether President Barack Obama is correct when he states that “… anyone who thinks the United States of America is in decline doesn’t know what they are talking about.” Perhaps we need a discussion on what the word “decline” means.