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MMA Comments for the Week Beginning September 10, 2012
Written by Raymond Merriman   

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    The market got what it wanted. Political leaders got what they wanted too in the form of the ECB announcement on September 6 that they will indeed purchase bonds of Euro zone counties as needed to bring down their borrowing costs. On the announcement, stocks markets around the world soared, with many making new multi-year highs. But the ferocious rally wasn’t limited to stocks. Many commodities, like Gold and Silver, just exploded to the upside as the U.S. Dollar plummeted back towards the 80.00 level, its lowest mark since May.


    In Asia, all stock markets started the week tepidly. China’s Shanghai Index fell to its lowest level since February 2009 on Thursday, September 6. But on Friday it was up nearly 5%. On September 6, the Hang Seng of Hong Kong was making a monthly low before also jumping up over 4% the next day. It was the same in Japan, India, and Australia too, though the rally was not nearly so robust. None of these markets exceeded their highs of late August, however.


    In Europe, it was a different story as most equity indices did soar to new yearly highs. The German DAX stared the week below 6900 but by Friday it was up to 7248, its highest level since August 2011. The Netherlands AEX and Zurich’s SMI index also started slowly before skyrocketing to new yearly highs on Thursday and Friday. But the London FTSE lagged well behind even its high of mid-August for a possible case of intermarket bearish divergence in Europe, in the event the FTSE fails to exceed 5876 this coming week.


    The Americas were a tale of two hemispheres as well. In the USA, the NASDAQ soared to its highest level since November 2000. The S&P also exploded, putting in its highest mark since May 2008. But the rally to 13,320 in the DJIA fell slightly short of its August 21 and May 1 highs of 13,330 and 13,338 respectively. The Bovespa of Brazil and Merval index of Argentina are still well below their highs of August 17-21, less than one month ago.


    As discussed before, both the Federal Reserve and the White House want to see an exploding stock market, for this will increase the net worth of all stock holders at a time when the attention would otherwise focus even more ominously in the slow economic growth due to the fiscal policy drag. In fact, a soaring stock market will only serve to confuse and distract investors from the reality of the impending fiscal cliff, which still points to a decline of 30% (or even more) in the stock market if all those tax hikes on investors are not repealed by January 1. So the old saying remains valid with stocks right now: “The higher they go, the harder they will fall.” And every day that cliff comes nearer and nearer. It’s just a matter of time before the bodies fall. And time is running out because you know nothing will be done before the election on November 6. They will have less than 2 months to resolve the problem, with a lame duck congress and possibly White House. The prospects are not good, especially given that we are now in the midst of the Uranus-Pluto square. And investors of Gold and Silver know this very well, for also in the midst of this impending fiscal crisis and extremely inflationary central bank decisions, Gold and Silver are also exploding to their highest levels in several months.


    But then again, we expected this - didn’t we? - with Mars fully into Scorpio August 23-October 5.


Best Trades of the Past Week


In the shortened holiday week, the majority of our trades were to cover some (but not all) long positions for profits in metals, currencies, and Treasuries, and 2/3 of our short positions in stock indices before Thursday’s ECB announcement. The only new position opened was on Friday, where the daily report advised aggressive traders in the Euro currency to “… sell short at 1.2750 +/- .0015, with a stop-loss on a close above 1.2850.” Position traders remained long.


Short-Term Geocosmics


    Last week’s report here was on the money, as it stated the following: “On Monday, September 3, Venus will form a waning square to Saturn. This can also correlate with a downturn in equity values. In many stock markets, such an aspect coincides with a reversal within 4 trading days…. On Friday, September 7, the Sun will form a waxing square to Jupiter. This is a signature of exaggeration and possibly over-exaggeration. But it also a very high historical correlation (79%) to sharp swings in equity values, again within 4 trading days. It appears that when investors return from the holidays, they will be ready to initiate new positions in various financial markets.” The stock markets indeed opened up the week on a soft note which remained in force until Thursday’s ECB announcement, and then equity prices exploded to the upside.


    The only major aspect unfolding this week will be a waxing trine between Venus and Uranus on September 12. This is followed by a new moon over the next weekend (September 16). There is nothing here particularly negative. However, transiting Saturn will be in 27 degrees of Libra, which forms a conjunction to Neptune in the NYSE chart (founded May 17, 1792) and a square to Neptune in the chart of the Federal Reserve Board (founded December 23, 1913). Saturn’s dynamic is to repress and limit. It correlates with anxieties and worry. It is said that financial markets are ruled by greed and fear. Greed is Jupiter, fear is Saturn. Thus when prices rally into Saturn aspects, there is usually some worrisome news that causes the rally to stall or even reverse downwards. Since the Federal Reserve Board chart is involved, perhaps central bankers modify their recent policy changes in a way that gives rise to new worries. Maybe their clarifications are not taken as bullish by the investment community as was witnessed last week.


    In spite of the powerful rally at the end of last week, caution is still warranted. We referred earlier to the still impending fiscal cliff, and its astrological correlation to the Uranus-Pluto waxing square. Well, the second of seven of those transits will unfold September 19, followed by the Sun’s translation to (and in a T-square) to Uranus and Pluto on September 29. It is entirely possible that we see the edges of that cliff during that period, +/- one week. All this momentum seems as if it is being pulled to climax around then, say September 19-October 8.

    

Longer-Term Thoughts


    “You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth.” Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, September 6, 2012, Charlotte, NC


    “I did not have sex with that woman” – Bill Clinton to the American people, summer 1998. Just a few weeks later, the truth was found to be slightly different, depending on what the meaning of “is” is, and impeachment proceedings followed.


    “Read my lips. No new taxes.” George H. Bush during the election season of 1988. Less than two years later, he agreed to a major tax hike, and promptly lost his bid for re-election as a result.


    What rules “truth” in the study of astrology? And how will it play in this year’s election, especially given that supporters of both parties and both candidates feel very strongly that the opposition is not telling the truth?


    Perhaps truth is a dynamic that falls under the domain of Saturn. But actually Saturn refers more to accuracy and accountability, which of course are characteristics that involve truth, or at least of being truthful. Neptune may offer a clue, for it is well understood in astrology that when Neptune is prominent, there is a strong tendency to hide the facts and all information that is relevant to make a completely well-informed decision. Neptune is said to rule trust, but more often than not it pertains to deception and lack of trust when afflicted by other planets.

    

    In a few weeks, Saturn will move into Scorpio, where it will trine Neptune (October 10, 2012-July 19, 2013). Thus truth and trust will be on center stage. It will be there during the November 6 election. The issues and the ideology separating the two candidates and two parties are in stark contrast to one another. Yet despite all the differences between all the issues, the final tally may come down to this one important character issue: who do you trust, who is telling you the truth, and who has been truthful to you throughout this campaign – or at least, who exhibits these principles the most in the last month of this election?


    Voters in the USA have shown throughout their history that as much as they support a particular party’s position on certain issues, nothing will solidify their vote more than their belief that the candidate is being truthful. If either candidate makes a huge mistake in the matter of truthfulness prior to election, it could be costly. However, if it happens after the election, it may be even more costly, for with Uranus in Aries square to Pluto in Capricorn, the “urge to purge” will be at a peak. There will likely be little tolerance for a leader who makes promises he does not keep, and even more so if he carelessly ignores or modifies those promises of the campaign season. We are fully in an era of demanding accountability in 2012-2015 under this powerful Uranus-Pluto signature, and if not forthcoming, it can quickly become an era of expulsion.

 

Announcements

Announcements

Due to the forthcoming Course 2 of MMA’s Market Timing Academy (MMTA) on June 15, and the vast amount of preparation needed to conduct this training, these free weekly columns of the next 3-4 weeks will be shorter than usual. I will need all the time I can muster in order to complete these preparations. Needless to say, I am very excited about the next course, which will instruct students and apprentices on the correlation of long-term geocosmic cycles to long-term financial market cycles, with an emphasis on stock indices, Gold, and Silver, but with material also related to Grains and Treasuries.

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 this week at www.merrimanmta.com,  under “Student Research.” I think you will be as impressed as I am of 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.

Copyright MMACycles 2007; you may link to this site or page, but you may not distribute these texts in any way (by email or otherwise).

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