REVIEW AND PREVIEW
The Federal Reserve did not change interest rates (it was not a skip, according to Fed Chair Powell). The press conference presumably did intend to sound hawkish, and presumably did not intend to sound economically incoherent. The fabled “dot plots” signaled two rate hikes—given how these are prepared; they are unlikely to be a coordinated Fed message. Powell said pausing allowed the Fed to get more information before making decisions. At a time when data is less reliable, pausing to reflect should be a way of life for policy makers, not a revelation at the eleventh hour. Dr. Paul Donovan, “Not the Fed’s Finest Hour,” UBS Morning Audio Comment, June 15, 2023.
In English, redux describes things that have been brought back—metaphorically, that is. For example, if the relationship between two nations resembles that of the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 20th century, one might call the situation a “Cold War redux.” Dictionary, www.merriman-webster.com.
Things are looking up for global equity markets after their strong showing last week. Some, like the German DAX, soared to a new all-time high on Friday. Others, like the Indian NIFTY index, are testing their all-time highs. The Japanese Nikkei exploded to multi-decade highs, while other indices look poised to do the same shortly.
However, this week finds the powerful ringed planet, Saturn, turning retrograde at the same time it forms a favorable sextile aspect with Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Could it be that the elusive sound of a gong everyone is looking for to announce the top of the global economy and stock markets is nearby? It’s always a possibility, and the sentiment is surely bullish, so very few are expecting it. But these are the conditions under which tops form, and the cosmic signatures (mid-June through late July) give the “gong show redux” added gravitas.
In other markets the Dollar is back above the 140 mark against the Yen, but strangely enough the Euro is testing its yearly high against the U.S. Dollar. It’s not the Dollar that is the leader, but rather it is the buffer between other currencies, some of which are rising and others falling. This is causing a mixed impact on Gold and Silver. Gold fell to a new cycle low in the August contract when it fell to 1936 on Thursday before rising again to 1980 the very next day. Silver did not make a new cycle low on Thursday’s decline back to 23.27, but by Friday, it too was up nicely to a high of 24.29. Bitcoin, like Gold, also fell to a new cycle low on Thursday, and then bounced back smartly by over $1700 by Friday.
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS
Congress may have ducked a federal default by voting to lift the debt ceiling two weeks ago. But the real challenge may come in September… McCarthy has made it clear that he won’t allow lawmakers to cram together a potpourri of appropriations bills into an omnibus behemoth and pass that to avert a shutdown. He wants the House to consider each of the 12 spending bills one by one. This is why it could be a monster to fund the government this fall and avert a shutdown by September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. – Chad Pergram, “Congress Marches Toward September Budget Showdown to Avert Government Shutdown,” www.foxbusiness.com. June 15, 2023,
Poverty, according to (Adam) Smith, wasn’t preordained, and above all, he didn’t trust government. He points out that only economic growth can raise living standards. Continuous economic growth is the only way to raise wages, and a stagnant economy leads to falling wages. Elsewhere he writes that famines are the result of government price controls. While Karl Marx claimed nearly a century later that capitalism would lead to growing impoverishment for workers, Smith predicted that economic growth would lead to an increase in living standards. – Rainer Zitelmann, “Adam Smith’s Solution to Poverty,” Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2023.
Pluto retrograded back into Capricorn last week, and it will remain there until January 23. Thus, many of the themes involving debt, deficits, taxes, and the power of governments over people that were present from January 2008 through March 2023, are due to return. This is apt to be especially critical for the United States, whose natal (founding) Moon/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn will be ignited once again. In truth, it never ceased, and won’t cease for at least two years because that is how long Pluto’s incubation period requires to manifest the consequences of decisions made under its transiting aspect to a natal planet.
Shorter-term, there are three periods that stand out in June-July 2023. The first is right now as Saturn turns retrograde, and is in a favorable sextile with Jupiter as noted earlier. Additionally, the Sun squares Neptune this weekend, creating a powerful geocosmic reversal zone. Second, financial astrologer Rob Robinson reminds us via the ISAR financial chat room that transiting Mars and Uranus will square one another in late June, touching off the NYSE Mercury/Pluto square at the same time. Neptune just happens to turn retrograde then too, which is one of the very strongest correlations to primary cycles in the DJIA. Third, Venus turns retrograde on July 22, another powerful reversal signature that was present at the low of the dot-com bubble (NASDAQ) stock market crash in October 2002 (the NASDAQ had lost 80% of its value by then) and the Great Recession low of March 6-9, 2009. It also unfolded within two weeks of the all-time high in the DJIA on January 5, 2022.
Thus, the entire period from now through the end of July is vulnerable to a cosmic version of “For Whom the Bell (gong) Tolls.” Listen carefully because it may happen when no one is listening. Neptune highlighted prefers silence, when activities are nearly invisible and unnoticed. The Sun squares Neptune this weekend, Neptune turns retrograde on June 30, and Jupiter will make a semi-square to Neptune on July 22. But it may not be that quiet in late July, for the almost-too-loud Mars/Saturn and Sun/Pluto oppositions will also be thunderous July 20-21. That’s a combination that probably can’t avoid being heard or seen. That’s a cannon blast from deep within the earth’s surface or well below its waterline. Investors (and refugees) could be in a rush to get their life vest on at some point in June or July, for anytime we see Jupiter in hard aspect with Neptune, it may coincide with a climate of irrational exuberance (euphoria) or hysteria. The latter follows the former.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: MMTA3 Course Three: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles in Financial Markets will begin on Saturday, June 24 at 12 PM EDT. This online course will be conducted over six Saturday sessions lasting 2.5 hours each, via Zoom. Instructors will be Raymond Merriman and Gianni Di Poce.
This 6-week course will cover the role of Transiting Aspects and Ingresses to trading cycles (primary, half-primary, major, and shorter trading cycles) in the financial market. With this course, one will learn to identify time bands that historically have coincided with the crests and troughs of the primary cycle and its phases and how to determine CRDs (Critical Reversal Dates). Strategies will be discussed for trading them based on cycle studies as well as geocosmic correlations to strength and consistency of the reversals historically. Every class will include a discussion of how these cycles and geocosmics pertain to the current time and next week’s various markets (such as stock indices, Gold, Silver, Treasuries, Euro currency, and Bitcoin), with the goal of identifying when the next excellent trading opportunities are most likely to take place.
Although this course is part of the overall MMTA graduate program, it may be taken as a solo course for up to ten non-MMTA3 students who wish to learn this material as well.
The cost for this course is $2500 and includes a 90-page workbook, access to all live classes, video recordings of the classes, and slides of the class presentations. For further information on this course, contact MMA at 1-248-626-3034 or by email at customerservice@mmacycles.com.
NOTE 2: RECORDINGS OF THE 2023 MMA INVESTMENT RETREAT on “GEOCOSMIC CORRELATIONS TO LONG-TERM INVESTMENT CYCLES” are now available! The 4-day investment retreat took place June 1-4 at the Michigan State University Management Education Center in Troy, Michigan. Instructors and presenters included Ray Merriman, Gianni Di Poce, Kat Powell, and Rita Perea.
This 4-day intensive described the role of Outer-Planet Aspects and Ingresses to long-term financial market cycles. With this course, one will learn to identify time bands that historically have coincided with the most favorable long-term investment opportunities as well as time bands that have correlated with long-term market peaks or selling opportunities. Outlooks were given for long-term cycles in various markets (such as stock indices, Gold, Silver, Treasuries, Euro currency, and Bitcoin), with the goal of identifying when the next excellent investment and trading opportunities are most likely to take place.
The cost for these recordings is $2750 and includes all 20 of the video recordings, a 120-page workbook and slides of the class presentations. For further information on this unique and special event, contact MMA at 1-248-626-3034 or by email at customerservice@mmacycles.com.
NOTE 3: THE JUNE ISSUE OF THE MMA Monthly Cycles Report was released last week. This month’s report had a special update on the current status of the 4-year cycle in stocks as well as the 7.83-year Gold cycle and Silver’s 4.34-year cycle. Every issue provides an intermediate-term investors’ and near-term traders’ outlook for the U.S. Stock Market, Gold, Silver, Copper, Treasuries, Euro Currency, Crude Oil, and Soybeans. The Monthly Cycles Report reviews MMA’s original geocosmic critical reversal dates (CRDs) and Solar/Lunar reversal dates over the next several weeks as well as trading strategies for position and aggressive traders during the next month. With the June 21 summer solstice coming up, Saturn turning retrograde June 17, and Neptune turning retrograde June 30, this is an important period for financial markets! If you would like to try out a subscription, you can sign up for the June Report for only $35!
NOTE 4: SUBSCRIBE TO MMA’S WEEKLY YouTube show, Geocosmic Week in Review and Look Ahead. Each 5-15 minute FREE episode reviews market activity of the past week and offers 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 alerted when a new weekly episode is released! To view this week’s MMA YouTube episode, click here.
NOTE 5: Now you can listen to a podcast or broadcast of this weekly column by Thomas Miller. The Free Weekly Forecast Podcast is now available on Saturday. Just follow Merriman Market Analyst Spotify to listen to all our episodes. New Podcast episodes will be released every weekend. This is a FREE service and is available to everyone. Checkout out our Podcasts on Spotify, MMA- Merriman Market Analyst Podcast and on YouTube, Merriman Market Analyst. It makes for great listening!
EVENTS
JULY 16: 12:00 PM EDT: The Annual Mid-Year Market Update Webinar with Raymond Merriman and Team. Save the Date! Starts at 12PM EDT, which is 5:00 PM GMT, 6:00 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 MMA’s annual Mid-Year Financial Markets Update Webinar. This broadcast will address themes from this year’s Forecast 2023 Book, with updates on the U.S. stock market, Gold, and Bitcoin by Ray, Crude Oil, T-Notes and Euro by Gianni Di Poce, Copper by Matthieu Kaiser, and Soybeans by Wyatt Fellows. Cost is $55.00, and includes access to the live presentation via Zoom, the slides of the presentation, plus the video recording of the live event 24 hours after the presentation. 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.
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.