PLEASE NOTE: There will be no weekly column next week. On behalf of everyone at MMA, we wish you a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous New Year!

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The stock market appears set on rising into 2021 — a year expected to see some return to normalcy, above trend economic growth, and a higher stock market, according to Wall Street strategists. Those in CNBC’s survey expect an average 2021 year-end target of 4,056, or about a 9.5% gain from current levels… Vaccines are expected to liberate individuals from pandemic restrictions and in turn, free the economy as 2021 progresses. Work from home should shift back to work at the office – Patti Domm, “Wall Street Strategists See Stocks Gaining 9% in 2021”, www.cnbc.com, December 18, 2020.

The one problem with the above quote is that Jupiter and Saturn are conjoining one another, and both will square Uranus in the next two months. Nothing goes quite as expected when Uranus is in the house. And with Jupiter involved, it tends to go way off the expected course. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 21, 2020 ©

BREAKING NEWS: Shortly after the weekly column below was released Friday evening, “… the Supreme Court rejected a bid launched by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump that sought to undo Joe Biden’s election wins in the key swing states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The ruling dealt a death blow to Trump’s desperate and unsuccessful efforts to reverse Biden’s projected Electoral College victory.”

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The economic recovery has downshifted, with job growth slowing and layoffs persisting at a high level amid rising coronavirus cases and related restrictions. The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits climbed sharply by 137,000 to 853,000 last week, the Labor Department reported.– Eric Morath, “Unemployment Claims Increase Sharply,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2020.

It seems to be a case of buying the rumor, selling the fact.

Stock markets were on a tear this past month due to anticipation of new COVID-19 vaccines being readied for release. Last week, many were approved, and some vaccine programs actually started, such as in the U.K. Many equity markets made new all-time highs again last week, such as in the U.S. and India, and others like Japan’s Nikkei, made multi-decade highs, right into our December 8-9 two-star geocosmic critical reversal date. But then the rallies on “the fact” started pulling back into the end of the week. Several even made new monthly lows, as in the DAX and SMI in Europe and the Shanghai Composite in China. It didn’t help that a stimulus relief package was on again (hope, rumor) but then taken off for the 19^th nervous breakdown of U.S. Congressional leaders, leading to the pullback in the U.S. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 14, 2020 ©

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The U.S. economy added just 245,000 jobs in November, sharply missing expectations and pointing to a slowdown in the labor market’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as a surge of new infections triggered a fresh wave of shutdowns by state and local governments. The Labor Department’s monthly payroll report, released Friday, also showed the unemployment rate fell to 6.7% from 6.9%. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected the report to show that unemployment dropped to 6.8% and the economy added 469,000 jobs. – Megan Henney, “U.S. Job Growth Slows in November as Coronavirus Surge Threatens Economic Recovery,” www.foxbusinessnews.com, December 4, 2020. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 7, 2020 ©

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average vaulted above 30,000 for the first time, a remarkable rally that lifted the stock market to records even in the midst of a devastating pandemic. Tuesday’s advance came after President Trump said his administration would cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House, giving investors hope that the country would have a smooth transition of power. More broadly, much of the market’s rise has been powered by building hopes that scientists are on the brink of pushing out vaccines effective enough to fight the novel coronavirus. – Arkane Otani, “Dow Eclipses 30,000 for the First Time,” Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2020. 

It was a very nice Thanksgiving gift for investors. It also correlates with the movement of the Sun into Sagittarius last week, the sign that just loves to break records and give cause for celebration. With Sagittarius, everything is enlarged. And even if it’s not, just the proclamation that “it is” will often suffice. It is the spirit of something that matters in Sagittarius, not the facts. However, facts that are supportive can certainly add to the spirit of optimism that is the trademark of Sagittarius. It also helps that Neptune is turning stationary direct this weekend. A little irrational exuberance is always good for the holiday spirit. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 30, 2020 ©

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s decision to allow key pandemic relief programs to expire is like stripping lifeboats from the Titanic, according to Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. Mnuchin announced Thursday that he will not extend the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending programs that used Congress’ CARES Act funds beyond Dec. 31. The move is expected to drastically reduce the central bank’s ability to shore up the financial system. – Elliot Smith, “Mnuchin’s Fed Move is Like Stripping Titanic of its Lifeboats, Economist Says,” www.cnbc.com, November 20, 2021.

World equity markets started off strong again last week. Still, they fell on record new cases of COVID-19, Mnuchin’s announcement to end central bank funding for key emergency programs, and the continued psychological descent of President Trump into the darkness/denial of his probable election loss. Neither of these developments is being met with cheers from investors, despite the optimism early in the week over Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine showing 94.5% effective results. That drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new all-time high, less than a week after the third and final Jupiter/Pluto conjunction and Mars turning direct signatures of November 12 and 14. These are two of the strongest historical correlations to major reversals in the U.S. stock market. But the optimism was short-lived in the U.S. amid rising tensions related to the uncertain economic ramifications of pandemic and political issues. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 23, 2020 ©

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 U.S. stocks rose on Friday as investors bet again on stocks that would benefit from a potentially effective vaccine and economic recovery next year. “This week’s positive vaccine news is a game-changer in our view, as it allows the market to look through the recent surge in COVID-19 cases to the impending end of the pandemic and broader reopening of the economy,” wrote Marko Kolanovic, JPMorgan’s head of macro quantitative and derivatives strategy. Investors managed to look past the rising coronavirus numbers, however, as the Pfizer-BioNTech announcement from Monday “continues to reverberate,” said Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge. Fred Imbert, “S&P 500 Rises to a Record Close,” www.cnbc.com, November 13, 2020.

In one of the three most potent geocosmic time bands of the year, November 9-19, global equity markets exploded last week, with many making new all-time or multi-year highs. Bitcoin and Crude Oil also rallied sharply, while Gold and Silver sold off sharply early in the week and then recovered modestly. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR NOVEMBER 16, 2020 ©

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Despite the uncertainty around the presidential vote, Wall Street notched its best weekly performance since April. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq jumped 7.3% and 9%, respectively, for the week. The Dow rose 6.9% this week. The S&P 500 also posted its biggest election week gain since 1932… Victories by Republicans in several key Senate races, thus lowering the odds of a “blue wave” and the potential for higher taxes and stronger regulations, have been cited by Wall Street strategists as a reason for the rally in stocks. – Fred Imbert and Jesse Pound, “S&P Posts Best Week Since April Even With Election Undecided,” www.cnbc.com November 6, 2020. 

The Labor Department said in its Friday report that employers added 638,000 jobs last month, sending the unemployment rate down for the sixth straight month to 6.9%, topping Wall Street’s expectations. – Megan Henney, “Where Are All the Jobs?” www.foxbusiness.com November 6, 2020. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 9, 2020 ©

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The U.S. economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter – increasing at a 33.1% annual rate – recovering about 2/3 of the ground it lost earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. – Harriet Torry, “U.S. Growth Eases Much of Slide,” Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2020.

In spite of the better-than-expected GDP number, world stock indices continued their sell-off last week, mostly due to the record number of new daily cases of COVID-19 being reported in the U.S and across the globe. Along with this alarming increase in new cases, many communities are starting to impose new lockdown measures. This will hurt business activity, which is why the markets are falling. Hopefully, however, it will save lives and lead to another strong economic rebound once this second (or is it the third?) wave ends.

The Mercury retrograde cycle will also end next week, November 3, and thankfully, so will the U.S. 2020 election campaign, although we may not know the victor for days or weeks afterward. We will discuss the correlation of this year’s election to past geocosmic cycles that are in effect now, at the end of this week’s column. But in terms of market activity, last week witnessed equity markets breaking out of their narrow trading range that was in effect through the first half of the Mercury retrograde cycle. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2020 ©

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President Donald Trump said Friday that he does not want the aid deal to bail out Democratic states. The major averages fell to their session lows on those remarks… Several market experts and economists, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, think it is imperative that lawmakers reach a deal on another stimulus package. – Fred Imbert, “Dow Falls on Concern About Stimulus as Wall Street Heads for Weekly Loss,” www.cnbc.com, Oct 23, 2020.

The latest good news was Thursday’s report that continuing jobless claims for the week of Oct 10 declined by nearly one million, and by 3.6 million in the last three weeks. Employers are also raising wages. Third quarter median weekly earnings increased 8.2% year-over-year and 9.2% for the bottom 25% of workers. – “Red and Blue States of Recovery,” Wall Street Journal Opinion page, October 23, 2020.

It is the middle of the Trickster’s retrograde cycle. And this time, Mercury has a companion, for during this same period, Mars is also retrograde (September 9-November 14). What do we know about Mercury and Mars in retrograde? Not much. There is not a high correlation to a trend when either of these lords is retrograde, except when Mars ends its retrograde motion (November 13-14). Market reversals happen then. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING OCTOBER 26, 2020 ©

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“This did not start as a financial crisis, but it is morphing into a major economic crisis, with very serious financial consequences,” World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart told Bloomberg. “There’s a long road ahead.” – Brie Stimson, “Top World Bank Economist Says Coronavirus Pandemic Morphing Into ‘Major Economic Crisis,’” www.foxbusiness.com, October 16, 2020.

The World Health Organization said Friday that Europe’s coronavirus outbreak is “concerning” as the number of available intensive care beds continue to dwindle and near capacity in some regions. When adjusting for population, the number of new coronavirus infections in Europe has now overtaken the United States. Berkeley Lovelace Jr., “WHO Concerned About Europe’s Coronavirus Outbreak as ICU Beds Near Capacity in Some Regions,” www.cnbc.com, October 16, 2020.

The Trickster has returned. Mercury turned retrograde last Tuesday, October 13. His movements related to financial markets or political messaging might be more wily and difficult to predict than usual this time because his retrograde cycle overlaps with that of Mars (September 9 through November 13). Within a week of Mars turning retrograde, many stock markets of the world made multi-year or all-time highs, including the S&P and NASDAQ, on September 2. Last week, within a day of Mercury turning retrograde, many of these same markets have made a secondary high.

Continue reading… MMA Free Weekly Forecast: October 19, 2020