Review and Preview

    “The new surveys suggest that Mr. Obama is banking the most votes during the early voting period before Election Day. Roughly one-third of the likely voters in Iowa said they have already cast ballots. Mr. Obama garnered twice as much support from those early voters as his Republican rival, leading 67% to 32%.” The Wall Street Journal, “Poll: Obama Leads in Wisconsin, Iowa,” Patrick O’Connor and Neil King, Jr., October 19, 2012.

    Since this is the “Review and Preview” section, I will start with a review of prior columns regarding the U.S.A. presidential election, which is now just two weeks away. Previously I pointed out several issues that make the forecast of this election so difficult and fluid. One was that President Obama had introduced a game-changing election strategy that rode him to victory in 2008 – namely, that his community organizational skills enabled him to conduct a record-breaking absentee voter turnout resulting in a 58-42% pre-election day margin of gain. It is evident that the same strategy is being employed successfully again in 2012. I suspect that there will be allegations of voting irregularities and fraud signified by the Mercury and Neptune stationary phenomena that will be in effect during election week, which in turn may delay the official count of the election results. On Election Day, Mercury turns retrograde, and by that weekend Neptune turns direct. Among their many principles, Mercury rules counting and efficiency, while Neptune rules distortions along with rumors and accusations of deception.

    These prior columns also referred to the period of September 19-October 8 as a time when the dynamics of the election could shift. That appears to have happened in the October 3 debate, as some polls now show Governor Romney reaching the important 50% level of approval among likely voters. Prior to that, he was well behind. The Gallop Poll now shows Romney with an even more surprising 52-45% lead over Obama nationally among likely voters, per the Wall Street Journal on October 19, 2012. That is a dramatic shift in just two weeks.

    Could Romney win? And does Mundane Astrology support that possibility? Yes, of course it is possible, especially given the geocosmic picture. After all, Uranus is well into its waxing square to Pluto (June 24, 2012 through March 17, 2015), and anytime Uranus is involved in an aspect to Saturn, Neptune, or Pluto, anything can happen, including major changes in leadership throughout the world. On Election Day in 2008, for example, Saturn was in opposition to Uranus, and Obama shocked the world by becoming the first African-American president of the USA. It can now happen that another major change in leadership occurs, even though my bias remains slightly in favor of Obama. With Uranus, you can never be certain of the outcome.

    There are other important geocosmic considerations to take into account that might be used effectively to forecast this election and its aftermath. For instance, Saturn has now moved into Scorpio on October 5, just two days after the first presidential debate. That was one of the factors that led me to suggest a major shift in the dynamics of this election could take place September 19 (when Uranus made its second square to Pluto) and October 8. Saturn will remain in Scorpio for three years with the exception of brief stint into Sagittarius from December 23, 2014 through June 15, 2015. While Saturn is in Scorpio, it will be in “mutual reception” to Pluto in Capricorn. Saturn rules Capricorn and Pluto rules Scorpio, hence they are in one another’s ruling signs (known as “mutual reception”). When planets are in mutual reception, their psychological dynamics are intensified. It is as if they are in conjunction. In this case, Saturn may rule the area of life involving governments, and the psychological dynamic of the urge to “reduce.” Saturn’s nature is to contract and make things more efficient and manageable. Pluto dynamic is to reform, and amongst the areas of life it lords over are taxes and debt. Together this may be viewed as a three-year period in which governments begin action to reduce debts and reform tax codes. This would seem to play more into the campaign platform of Governor Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan than President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden. If that is the case, one could further envision a changed policy of government-economic reforms beginning to sweep across the world, for these aspects are by no means limited to the USA. The transit of Pluto in 8-15 degrees of Capricorn in 2013-2014 (while in square to Uranus and mutual reception to Saturn) will hit China, Japan, and the Euro Union (July 1, 1967) charts. It could very well mark the beginning of hard limits on the size and role of world governments. For those interested in a more in-depth analysis of this perspective, please visit well-known astrologer Dr. Glenn Perry’s website, at www.aaperry.com. He has written two very interesting articles on the 2012 election.

    In financial markets last week, U.S. and Japanese stock markets made a multi-week low on Monday’s new moon of October 15. Most European markets bottomed late the week before. Most rallied into Thursday before starting a sharp pullback into Friday. Gold and Silver, plus currencies against the U.S. Dollar, followed a similar course. But now the real action begins.    

Best Trades of the Past Week

The daily report on SLV (Silver’s ETF) for Tuesday, October 16, stated, “Traders are flat and may look to sell short (or buy ZSL) if prices get back to the new bearish crossover zone (above 31.97) with a stop-loss on a close above 33.05.” The high that day was 32.02.

The daily report on T-Notes, for Thursday, October 18, stated: “Aggressive traders are short (from 133/25 on September 28) with a stop-loss on a close above 133/23. Look to cover today below 132/02 and then reverse and go long there with a stop-loss below 131/02.” The low that day was 131/29 and T-Notes were up sharply on Friday.

Short-Term Geocosmics

    Earlier I discussed the importance of September 19-October 8 as a potential shift in the collective psychological dynamics that could indicate a change in the race for the White House. It happened. And now we are about embark upon yet another – and final – shift in psychological dynamics that could once again correspond to a shift in the direction of the USA presidential election, as well as in many financial markets. This shift is scheduled to take place this Monday, October 22 as the Sun enters the debt-emphasized sign of Scorpio, through November 10, when Neptune turns direct. In between we will find the Sun conjunct Saturn (Oct 25), Mars in opposition to Jupiter (October 26), Venus entering into a T-square to the Uranus Pluto waxing square (November 1-3), and Mercury turning retrograde (November 6). The Mars-Jupiter opposition and Venus translation to the Uranus-Pluto square (October 26-November 3) may be the most important part of the shift. It could also correspond to a very large price swing in world equity prices because Mars is also in Sagittarius at the same time. As discussed last week, “The major short-term geocosmic signature in effect right now may be Mars in Sagittarius (October 6-November 16). This is a combination of dynamics that suggests very wild markets. Mars represents impulse and aggression, the urge to win at all costs… It can be combative and war-like… (and) it is in Sagittarius, which relates to the principles of exaggeration and bigness. It is a combination that lends itself to risk-taking activities as confidence is oftentimes high, but sometimes too high. And here is where the problem comes in. If things don’t go the way that one thinks they should, that confidence can turn quickly to hysteria and panic. So with Mars in Sagittarius, financial markets can display powerful rallies or crushing declines …”

    Get ready. We are about to enter this time band where things can get quite wild, especially late this week and into the following week. It is a time where great profits can be made, but also great losses, if not careful. And the dreaded “Fiscal Cliff:” still looms ahead on January 2. This market reminds me a lot of almost exactly 25 years ago – the Friday before October 19, 1987.

Longer-Term Thoughts and Personal Transits

    “Nor do we anticipate that Mr. Romney will retreat from the protectionist rhetoric he’s been peddling on China, though it would be nice to hear him recognize that the biggest ‘currency manipulator’ in the world today is the U.S. Federal Reserve.” – Wall Street Journal, “Review and Outlook: The Foreign Policy Debate,” October 19, 2012.

    Last week a perspective student applying for enrollment in next April’s MMA Market Timing Academy (MMTA) asked me the question: “Why are you doing this two-year course under these difficult aspects?” He was referring to the 126-147 year Uranus-Pluto waxing square cycle. Hard aspects between Uranus and Pluto aspects have a history of correlating with extremely difficult economic times, as discussed in last year’s Forecast 2012 Book. So let me answer this question in this column, for it qualifies as both a lesson in Mundane Astrology and personal transits to my natal chart, which may be instructive to students of astrology.

    First of all, the mundane reason. The hard Uranus-Pluto aspect is exactly why I wanted to host this 2-year training course now, and not later. These are difficult times for everyone. No one knows for certain what the future will be. That’s the nature of Uranus. And personal finances is an important topic everyone is confused about it. How often do you hear: “Where can I put my money that will be safe? Where can I make a return on my investment?” If you have been reading this column since 2008, you know that I believe the 2008-2015 Cardinal Climax is not a time of any safe financial investments. It is a time that favors speculation and trading – not investment. So by bringing people together at this time who are passionate about financial markets, financial market timing, and the geopolitical world we live in, an opportunity is created for each of us to inspire one another with financial and trading ideas based upon these principles. In other words, everyone present can benefit from the synergy that this Academy will generate.

    Second, Jupiter (planet of teaching and education) will be going through my ninth house of education and learning. It will be conjunct my natal Uranus and Lunar North Node (in Gemini, 9th house), which culminates in my chart and forms the handle of what is known as a “Yod” formation (sometimes called “the hand of God” – don’t worry: I am not the only person with such a configuration). In this pattern, Uranus forms a quincunx to my natal Venus and Jupiter in the second house of Scorpio (finances) on one side, and the Moon in Capricorn in the fourth house on the other side. The natal Moon in turn sextiles the Venus-Jupiter conjunction. The progressed Moon is also conjunct my natal Uranus during this period. Now when a “Yod” formation in a natal chart is touched off by a major transit like Jupiter or a progressed planet like the Moon, one’s life direction can change. It is time for a change in direction. So, this is my time to make a life change, and it is my time to bring forth all the studies I have conducted, and the methodology for trading and investing that I have created as a result of these studies, and present them in an educational venue. This is the reason I am doing this now, and only now (April 2013 through October 2014, over 8 weekends). I believe this information and these tools are needed now, and I have the drive and passion to do this at this time. I wish to share ideas about trading and investing in a group of those who want to learn and are willing to share their ideas with others in this group. And I wish the experience to be with others who are ripe for learning new skills because it creates a sense of great excitement for me. One thing about Uranus: you love the energy of excitement. And in Gemini, as in my case, it is the excitement of learning something new and teaching something totally unique and valuable that you won’t find anywhere else.

    Welcome to the 15 apprentices who have enrolled in MMTA, and to the several others who have already applied to be on-line students. It will be an incredible two years, starting April 2013.