REVIEW AND PREVIEW
The U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.9% annual rate last quarter but entered this year with less momentum as rising interest rates and still-high inflation weighed on demand. The October-to-December period capped a year of economic slowdown with growth of 1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with a year earlier, down sharply from 5.7% growth in 2021. – Sarah Chaney Cambon “U.S. Economy Grows at Slower Pace,” Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2023.
The U.S. took action Thursday against Russian private military group Wagner Group, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organization over its actions in combat operations in Ukraine on behalf of President Vladimir Putin. – Mengqi Sun, “Wagner Group Designated by U.S. as Transnational Criminal Group,” Wall Street Journal, Jan 26, 2023.
Most world stock indices performed very well last week. Several made new highs for this year. Some even took out their highs of December, while others simply re-tested their highs made during the triple planetary stations of January 12-22. Thus, the test for the underlying primary trend continues to be a battle between the bulls and the bears. The bullish case is in need of taking out the highs of mid-December. The bearish case requires resistance in pushing back before that ceiling gives in.
Bitcoin also continued its multi-month rally, surging to a high of 23,821 on January 26, its highest level since August. This fits with the timing bands indicated for the long- and intermediate-term cycle lows outlined in the Forecast 2023 Book and our Bitcoin subscription reports.
Gold continued its impressive 2-month rally, but also found resistance just slightly below 1950. The low of early November, just after Mars turned retrograde, was 1618.30. Now, Mars has turned direct as of January 12, and the idea is that the counter-trend rally of Mars retrograde may be over unless the nearby contract can close above last week’s high. The battle for trend rages on here as well.
Speaking of battles – a real one rages on between Russia and Ukraine. Russia complains NATO countries are supporting Ukraine, while at the same time the Great Bear hires mercenaries to fight battles it can’t wage effectively. If Wagner is a mercenary fighting unit available for hire, why doesn’t the U.S. and NATO just outbid Russia for their services and end this primitive brutality? Declaring them a transnational criminal group isn’t going to get the job done. If they fear Wagner will betray them, there are other mercenary groups that would fight Wagner for the right amount of money. Just sayin’ ….
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS
In Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” Mike Campbell is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he famously answers. “Gradually and then suddenly.” This is a fine description of the risk the country is running. – William A. Galston, “A Debt-Ceiling Breach Would Be Disastrous,” Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2023.
The keyword isn’t “debt ceiling.” It’s the ceiling’s fantastic figure—about $31.4 trillion. In his Martin Luther King Jr. holiday speech, by tradition an opportunity for healing, Mr. Biden called the Republicans “fiscally demented.” Is it the view of this president that $31 trillion of debt doesn’t matter, that $400 billion for interest payments doesn’t matter, that a federal budget close to bursting through $6 trillion doesn’t matter? Joe Biden promised normalcy. This spending isn’t normal, and the American people know it. – Daniel Henninger, “Debt-Ceiling Madness,” Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2023.
As mentioned last week, we now know what might cause a financial panic indicated by the Mars-Jupiter-Pluto T-square in the last half of May as described in the Forecast 2023 Book. The longer Congress and the President delay resolving this issue, which is projected to continue into June, the greater the likelihood of a panic in the stock and Treasury markets.
Many of the world’s stock indices seem to be doing well as we leave the triple planetary station period of January 12-22, involving the ever-unpredictable Uranus direct of January 22. Some markets have broken out to new cycle highs, but most still remain below the highs of their first half-cycle crests of December 13, and others even remain below their highs of January 13-18, creating several intermarket bearish divergence triggers. These can be alleviated if their rallies can continue this week.
As we enter the new week and Groundhog Day (February 2), we see a couple of important squares looming ahead. The Sun will square Uranus on February 4, while Venus will square Mars the next day. Both are disrupters. The Sun/Uranus square can disrupt financial markets, especially those that pertain to interest rate gyrations like Treasuries and currencies. Venus/Mars squares can disrupt one’s plans for intimacy. I’m not sure which is worse: disruption of my financial plans or my intimacy plans. I hope the groundhog can shed light on this dilemma. Otherwise, I will probably suffer on both fronts and go back into hibernation for a few weeks. I don’t want to live with my shadow for six more weeks.
LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS (AND OPINIONS)
Kyle Davies and Su Zhu are back. They’re the co-founders of the collapsed Singapore-based hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which was ordered to liquidate last June after defaulting on a $2.4 billion loan from Genesis Global Capital—and have they got a deal for you. Messrs. Davies and Zhu are peddling a new exchange for trading stocks, crypto and—wait for it—claims on crypto companies that went bankrupt. Just as theirs did last summer…it takes a special kind of hubris for the founders of a hedge fund that lost billions to offer to help its former customers (among others) recoup fractions of the losses those same founders caused. As the saying goes, a pig always finds the mud. – Gregg Opelka, “Crypto’s New Bankruptcy Racket, “ Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2023.
A young banker asked a retiring banker what the secret of success was, to which the older banker responded, “Good judgement.” The rookie then asked, “How do you get good judgement.” The older banker said, “Experience.” To which the youngster asked, “How do you get experience?” And the retiring banker said, “Bad judgment.” Good judgement involves evaluating circumstances, weighing the positives and negatives and considering alternatives. – Harvey Mackay, “Here Comes the Judgment,” Arizona Republic, January 16, 2023.
It seems my opinion pieces are eliciting more positive feedback than my short-term market comments lately. So, in the hope that these longer-term comments continue to inspire thoughts beyond the next week’s geocosmic market conditions, I will share some more that I think relate to the huge shifts in the cosmos (corresponding to changes in world societies, governments, and financial markets) taking place from March 2023 and into 2026. But not this week. I just had the first of two eye operations for lens replacement therapy. The next eye is up for invasion in two weeks. Hence my concern about seeing only my shadow for the next six weeks. I can’t see very well at the moment. It’s a drag. Everything on the computer screen looks like a shadow.
So, for the next couple of weeks, you are going to get more than the usual number of quotes that I find pertinent to today’s social, political, and economic conditions. I will let others do some of the thinking while I rest and try to rehab myself back into clarity. If all goes well (and why shouldn’t it now that the retrogrades have found their way forward), I should be able to see better than ever. Maybe I will even spell better. But first, I have to figure out how to avoid disruption of my financial and intimacy plans for the next two weeks.
Hello shadow, and welcome groundhog! At least I am not going to be a pig in the mud.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: REGISTRATION IS NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT INTO THE 2023-2024 MMTA (MERRIMAN MARKET TIMING ACADEMY) TRAINING PROGRAM AS OF LAST WEEK. We would like to thank those who have applied and inform our readers that about half of the available spots for entrance into this 2023-2024 program have now been filled. Applications to this series of MMTA courses will remain open for the discounted tuition rate until March 11 or until all slots are filled. Course 1 begins on March 18. This is your chance to learn how to analyze and identify important time bands for market reversals in financial markets for traders and investors alike. This is the most complete course offered anywhere on the integration of cycles, geocosmics, trend studies, price objectives, chart patterns, and technical analysis. If you want to become a better trader, investor, or an analyst for traders and/or investors, this is the course for you! This will be the last MMTA program co-hosted by Raymond Merriman. For further information or assistance with applying, or regarding the program and course schedule, please contact – customerservice@mmacycles.com.
NOTE 2: THE AUDIOBOOK OF THE ABRIDGED EDITION OF FORECAST 2023 IS NOW AVAILABLE. Click here to order this abridged edition for only $19.95, or $13.96 if you are an Audible member, or for one credit (no cost) if you have earned Audible credits. Narrated by astrologer Thomas Miller (he does an excellent job!), this audiobook is 5 hours and 34 minutes. It covers all sections of the Forecast Book except the financial markets and the geocosmic calendar and ephemeris in the back of the book. It is an excellent way to listen to the major geocosmic trends underway that are affecting the entire world and nation. When you go to the Audible website linked here, click on the book cover > sample > to hear the introduction. ORDER NOW and load it onto your phone to listen to while you are working out or just taking a walk. It’s a great way to get prepared for the New Year!
NOTE 3: FORECAST 2023 – THE BOOK – is completed In both the print and eBook (English) versions. If you live in the U.S., you should have received it by now. If you live overseas, the actual delivery depends on your postal service.
The price for the printed edition of Forecast 2023 is $66 as long as supplies last. We are down to the last 25 copies now. Last year’s book sold out, so order now before they are gone. Once we get down to the final 10 copies, the price will increase to $95 for the print edition. There will be no additional printings. The price for the eBook edition will remain $55 and will continue to be available even if the printed edition sells out as it has four of the prior eight years.
This year’s printed and eBook versions of the full Forecast 2023 Book will also be available in these languages:
German: www.mma-europe.ch/ or email at info@mma-europe.ch
Japanese: https://www.toushinippou.co.jp/
Chinese: www.nodoor.com/
NOTE 4: Trends for the Twelve Signs 2023 is now available at Audible! Just go to www.amazon.com and type in the book title and the choice of eBook, printed version, or audible will come up.. Or Click here to order from Amazon. There are a lot of excellent sun sign books available each year. However, we don’t think you will find a more insightful and well thought-out book dedicated to the yearly trends for the twelve individual sun signs than this one. It is, in our opinion, the finest of all the 2023 sun sign books. Period. The book, Trends for the Twelve Signs 2023, is written by Antonia Langsdorf-Merriman and Raymond Merriman and is also available directly through MMA, print or eBook edition. The format of this year’s book covers the outlook for health, relationships, business, career, finances, and overall psychological factors of each sign for the year. It includes specific birthdates that are affected by the major geocosmic transits within and to each sign. There is a discount available for those who order the Trends for 2023 book along with Forecast 2023 Book.
NOTE 5: TUNE INTO MMA’S WEEKLY YouTube Channel on the geocosmic climate related to financial markets hosted by MMTA Educational Director Gianni Di Poce. These 5-15 minute video presentations review market activity of the past week and offer a preview of the geocosmic signatures in effect for the next week and beyond. You may subscribe to MMA’s YouTube Channel today at no cost and get announcements when each geocosmic market review is ready for viewing! To view this week’s MMA YouTube episode, click here.
NOTE 6: THE JANUARY ISSUE OF THE MMA Monthly Cycles Report Plus+ edited by Pouyan Zolfagharnia, was issued last week This report has become a very popular addition to the MMA Cycles Report. It has very attractive graphics and charts (people love it!) and is very readable. It contains more references and illustrations to geocosmics than most MMA Cycles Reports and is only available for subscription to those who also subscribe to the MMA Monthly Cycles Report. If you wish to try this month’s edition, sign up online at the link above. Cost for a monthly copy of both reports is $55. That will give you both the most recent copy of the MMA Cycles Report and the MMA Cycles Report Plus+ which came out last week. For further information and ordering instructions, please click here.
NOTE 7: The first official release of the MMA Grain Cycles report was last week. The feedback on this new report has been phenomenal. The analyst is Wyatt Fellows, a top MMTA graduate and owner of a large farm operation in Wisconsin. The report covers Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, and Cotton, from both a cyclical and geocosmic outlook, and also with attention to the fundamentals related to grains. Wyatt is an excellent analyst! He knows his business! To receive this report, click here and sign up now!
EVENTS
February 4, 2:00 PM, EST. Live Q&A on MMTA3. Raymond Merriman and Gianni Di Poce will answer questions about the next series of courses from the Merriman Market Timing Academy (MMTA) that starts on March 18. Stay tuned for an announcement of how to log into this live Q&A.
February 10, 2023: Ulric Aspegrén, MMA Euro Currency analyst, will be the special guest on the MMA YouTube channel hosted by MMTA director Gianni Di Poce.
February 19, 2023, 1:15 PM EST: The Annual Worldwide Webinar and Address on Forecast 2023 with Raymond Merriman. Save the Date! Starts at 11:15 AM, MST, which is 1:15 PM EST, 6:15 PM GMT, 7:15 PM CET. It will be very early in the morning in Australia, Beijing and Tokyo. In the comfort of your own home or office, you can tune into Raymond Merriman’s annual worldwide Forecast 2023 Webinar. This broadcast will address themes from this year’s Forecast 2023 Book, with updates on financial markets since the book was written in November 2022, including the U.S. stock market, Gold, Silver, Crude Oil and Bitcoin. Cost is $55.00, and includes the slides of the presentation, plus access to the video recording of the event. Questions will be answered that are submitted one week before the event if they are deemed of interest to the overall audience. If you are unable to attend live, the video recording will be available the following day. To register, click here.
March 18, 2023: The third MMTA (Merriman Market Timing Academy) since 2013 will commence. This two-year educational and training experience will change your life and how you view financial markets. Yes, the course is challenging, but it is also very exciting and fun! With this course, you will know where the market is at any given interval of time, and the trading or investing strategy to employ. These 8 courses consist of 6-7 zoom meetings (100+ hours of live instruction and interaction with instructors Ray Merriman and Gianni di Poce, including review and preview of current markets each session) over a two-year period, on Saturdays (noon, EST), with 1-2 month breaks in between each course. That is, you will be in 2-hour Saturday sessions 18 weeks/year, two in-person, live weekends, all over a two year period (March 2023-September 2024), plus one additional voluntary review session for each test after every course. There is nothing else as comprehensive in the field of market timing as this program available anywhere! It covers MMA’s market timing methodology for long-term and intermediate-term investing, plus position and aggressive short-term trading. Please note: This will be the last 2-year MMTA program taught by Ray Merriman. Cost is $2500/course, with a discount if registering for the full two-year program. Applications for enrollment will be limited to 40 full-time students (last time we had to turn applicants away). Enrollment includes an interview prior to acceptance. Below are just a selection of the many comments received from MMTA 2 graduates. More to come.
I noticed that learning your method, which has made me rather well off, is already leading me to think beyond profits. These courses are worth more than what you are charging. So what you are doing will challenge the weight of Gann and Elliot in technical analysis. – Vincent W., Bank Career Trader and Head of Foreign Exchange Desk at major bank, Singapore.
“My perspective on the markets, and perhaps life, have changed dramatically since being gifted the privilege of joining MMTA2. I am extremely grateful for having been given the opportunity to learn directly from you.” – Kyle M, MMTA2 graduate, North Carolina, programmer, trader, and high school math teacher.
“Attached is my final research project on the cotton market…as always critiques are welcomed!! Doing these research projects and really dissecting the cotton market during this course has allowed me to trade cotton very successfully over the last year. It is extremely rewarding to do the work and then to watch it unfold according to plan.” – Wyatt F, Wisconsin, MMTA2 graduate, Owner of large family farm operation, and now an MMA analyst.
” MMTA2… was one of the best things I have ever done.” – Renato R, Australia, MMTA graduate.
Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to forecast 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 often cite 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 may affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from the perspective of a cycles’ 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 the psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and their potential effect on financial markets.
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 of this column assume any responsibility whatsoever for anyone’s trading or investment decisions. Readers of this report should understand that commodity futures and options trading are considered high risk.