Review and Preview

 This could get eerie. The Dow Jones Industrial Average made a 12-year low on March 6, the day Venus went retrograde. Those lows have held throughout this Venus retrograde period. On Friday, April 17, Venus turned direct. On that same day, the DJIA posted its highest level since March 6. As stated several times since February, “…any market that makes a multi-week high or low around the time Venus turns retrograde could begin a counter-trend move that will last into the time Venus turns direct, +/- 10 trading days. Venus turns direct this week, April 17, so we are clearly in that time band now for a crest of some importance.”

 It is eerie because the move so far has been exactly to the date that Venus turned retrograde (low) and then returned to direct (high). Will it be so synchronistic that it will now reverse and resume the bear market? Will Financial Astrology be that exact in this instance? As eerie as that would be from a cosmic point of view, what is more eerie from a technical point of view is that this rally is now exhibiting a very bearish rising “wedge” pattern. That is, a line connecting the lows of the move is at a much steeper angle than the line connecting the highs of this move. Such a pattern has preceded the previous devastating declines in the stock market over the past year. Thanks to Duke O’Neil (MMA subscriber) for making that observation.

 It doesn’t end there. All the rallies of the post-crash September crisis have been similar in price and length too. The rally from the 7880 low of October 10 to the 9650 high on Election Day, November 4 (also the first of the five Saturn-Uranus oppositions), was about 1770 points and lasted four weeks. The rally from the 7449 low of November 21 to the high of 9088 on January 6 covered about 1640 points and lasted 7 weeks. This current rally has now lasted 6 weeks and has gained 1720 points. As you can see, all rallies so far since the crash of September 2008 have lasted 4-7 weeks, and the DJIA has gained between 1640-1770 points. Coincidence? Only if it reverses here. And according to the correspondence of the Venus retrograde period and the presence of the bearish wedge formation chart pattern, it is possible.

 In other markets, Gold and Silver fell sharply again on Thursday and Friday. In the case of Gold, it tested but held its low of April 6. But Silver took out its low of April 6. If they too reversal here as Venus turns direct, it would be a case of intermarket bullish divergence where one market makes a new multi-week low and a related market does not. When that happens on a critical reversal date, it is usually followed by a very strong counter-trend move.

Short-Term Geocosmics

Venus now ends its retrograde motion as it turned direct on April 17. Since Venus rules assets and things of value (like stocks), there is cause to be concerned that the trend the preceded Venus turning retrograde may now return. That would be the bear market. But in many historical cases, a reversal from a high as Venus turns direct doesn’t necessarily result in a decline that takes out the low of the retrograde period. With Jupiter fast approaching its conjunction to Neptune in late May through mid-July, there is a geocosmic basis for thinking that any decline right now may hold above those lows of March 6-10, and then be followed by another rally to higher highs. Jupiter and Neptune are normally very optimistic and hopeful about the future.

There are two ingresses occurring this week of great importance. First, Mars will enter Aries on Wednesday, April 22. Two days later, Venus does the same in its new direct motion. Aries is a cardinal sign. In fact, it is the most cardinal sign because it begins the zodiac cycle. It is also midway between the Sun and Pluto in the Federal Reserve Board chart (December 23, 1913). That is, the Sun is at 1 degree of the cardinal sign of Capricorn, and Pluto is at 0 degrees of the cardinal sign of Cancer. With Venus direct now, and with both Venus and Mars in conjunction to one another, and forming a T-square to the FRB Sun-Pluto opposition, we can anticipate changes in policy from the central banks and the Federal Treasury department. This usually affects all interest-rate sensitive markets, like Treasuries and currencies, and indirectly, equities and previous metals. With Venus also in a month-long square to Pluto (April 3-May 2), we can start to speculate on the next private company (financial institution or auto company) taken over by the U.S. government, and financed by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Longer-Term Thoughts

 Let’s consider the current economy in light of Saturn in Virgo, a planet-sign combination that is in effect September 2007 through October 2009. Saturn represents the principle of contraction, reduction, limitation, and even loss. When Saturn is present, matters take on a serious tone according to the sign it is in, or the planet(s) it aspects. Virgo is the sign related to work and service, particularly the work force. Saturn in Virgo, then, has the potential to correlate with loss of jobs, an increase in unemployment. This has certainly been the case so far, with most signs suggesting this will continue. But for how long? This is important, because the economy really can’t grow too fast or too much if more and more people are not finding jobs and getting paid enough money to generate a boost to the economy.

 The jobs situation may be at its worst as Saturn sits at the middle degrees of Virgo. In fact, it is there now. Saturn will go stationary direct at 14 degrees and 54 minutes of Virgo on May 16. So the first possibility is that the unemployment situation reaches a peak in May. Since unemployment and payroll numbers are only announced the first week (Friday) of every month, we won’t see the data related to this “post Saturn direct” period until the first week of July.

 There is reason to be optimistic here. Just as Saturn represents contraction and the probability of loss of jobs while in Virgo, Jupiter represents the possibility of expansion, growth, and optimism about the future. Much like Jupiter, Neptune pertains to hope and faith that things will get better. Jupiter and Neptune will be together in the skies (conjunction) from May 27 through July 10, 2009. Let’s say that this suggests that the jobs situation is improving then. At the end of this period (early July), the news starts hitting the media, and there is a new wave of optimism that things are getting better. Maybe by September, the economy really is showing signs of improvement, and the economists are right – the recession is ending around then.

 Now I would like to end this part of the column right here, on a happy and positive note. But you know me better than that. You also know your astrology better than that. And even the very popular President Obama knows better than that. As he stated just this past week, there are still dangers ahead for our national and world economy, and Financial Astrology supports that view.

 Saturn in the middle of Virgo is not the only geocosmic signature that relates to today’s employment situation. We also have to consider aspects that Saturn makes to the planets outside of its orbit. And they don’t look quite so optimistic. For one, we are in the midst of a 20-month transit of Saturn in opposition to Uranus. With Saturn in Virgo, this indicates that the employment situation can change abruptly, and with more than one unexpected crisis and loss of business. We have seen banks fail, insurance companies come close to failure, auto companies taken over and their leadership fired by the government, with more threats on the horizon. Saturn represents rules, laws, government regulations and restrictions. And herein lies the danger. As government assumes more and more control, and implements more and more regulations over private enterprise, the less likely private enterprise will be to take the risk of investing in innovative ideas that could lead to new jobs – except in government itself. Investing is now a risk and it could easily lead to losses. And if it succeeds, the weight of all the new proposed regulations also increases the risk of being penalized if that person or business investment succeeds. At the very least, it can expect to pay more taxes. At the very worst… well, use your imagination and think of Rick Wagner and GM as they were just on the verge of launching their highly publicized Chevy Volt, the first major electric automobile manufactured in the USA. The challenge will be to find that right balance between regulations that prevent abuses on the part of the business, banking and financial community, with policies that reward (and not penalize) innovation leading to the creation of new jobs and economic growth. With Saturn coming to its third of five oppositions to Uranus on September 15, 2009, followed by the first of three Saturn-Pluto squares starting November 15, it would seem that this economic recovery will be seriously challenged again. We are not out of the woods yet, even as Venus turning direct also indicates.