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REVIEW
“Oil, U.S. Treasuries, and gold prices rose on Friday, with crude soaring nearly 6%, on safe-haven buying driven by the escalating Middle East conflict as Israel urged civilians to leave the northern Gaza Strip. – Caroline Valetkevitch, “Oil, Treasuries, Gold Prices Jump Amid Mideast Fears,” Reuters, October 13, 2023.
The war in Ukraine, along with the unprecedented attacks in Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas last weekend, may have “far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade and geopolitical relationships,” Dimon said in a statement accompanying the bank’s third-quarter earnings release. “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades,” Jamie Dimon said. – Megan Henney, “JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warns: ‘This May be the Most Dangerous Time the World has seen in Decades’: Sounds Alarm over Economic Outlook Amid Israel-Hamas War,” www.foxbusiness.com, October 13, 2023.
It was a week in which Gold and Crude Oil soared, which right away tells one that there is trouble in the world.
Despite the heightened alarm of danger in the Middle East following last Saturday’s horrific invasion of Israel by Hamas, global stock markets performed rather well. Most followed a similar pattern. They held their recent lows of October 4-6 and rallied smartly into Thursday, October 12. This was not surprising from a geocosmic point of view, for equity markets often rise into a Venus/Saturn opposition, +/- 4 trading days. The opposition occurred on October 10. On Friday, October 12, most sold off as Israel announced that all residents of the northern Gaza Strip must evacuate immediately. The retaliation is about to begin, and the goal is to exterminate all members of Hamas.
Yet the Venus/Saturn opposition is not what drove other markets last week. It was Mars square Pluto, Pluto turning stationary direct, and Mars ingressing into Scorpio. These are signatures of life, death, and rebirth. We are witnessing the middle part of this triad, and investors flocked to the markets that appreciate during times geopolitical crises: Gold, Silver, and Crude Oil. They didn’t run for Bitcoin and crypto, which is interesting. Bitcoin fell most of the week, and Ethereum dropped to its lowest mark in over six months. Gold, on the other hand, skyrocketed $125 from its contracted primary cycle low of October 6 to Friday’s high on October 13. Silver exploded up nearly 10% over the past week.
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS
Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Sun Tzu, “The Art of War.”
“We made them think that Hamas was busy with governing Gaza and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians there and has abandoned the resistance altogether. All the while, under the table, Hamas was preparing for this big attack.” – Ali Baraka in an interview on Russia Today, “Hamas Explains How They Did It,” Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2023.
There are no major planetary aspects this week other than the solar eclipse this weekend (see below). But that doesn’t mean it will be a quiet week.
The events of last week’s violent attack on Israelis by Hamas will likely alter the course of policies in that region for many weeks, even months, and possibly years. The vast majority of the world is condemning the attack, with a few extremist sympathizers supporting it. I can understand the frustration, anger, and even utter hopelessness of Palestinians in Gaza, who feel as if they are living in a cage with no chance in life. And I can understand how such frustration can erupt into violence. Yet, it is hard to empathize with the scope of a planned attack intentionally designed to brutally murder so many innocent civilians, including the decapitation of children along with other depravities too disheartening to print. It is difficult to understand the level of depravity that would lead to that scope of violence against an unarmed, unprotected, and innocent mass of people. I can understand launching a campaign of war against the military or government of one’s enemy. But intentionally targeting innocent civilians and children? This is an act beyond any normal cause for empathy, especially since so many Palestinians and Israelis have been working cooperatively to forge an alliance to improve the conditions in the region recently. There had been promise that these alliances were working. But that is all shattered now after being undermined by a dangerous minority of terrorists and their sympathetic extremists once again controlling the narrative. And this narrative is about to be upstaged by the Israeli leadership and military who vow to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth. Retaliation and vengeance – even death to the end – is a chant to be expected under a highlighted Pluto and Scorpio when someone is wronged to this level of degeneracy.
When we look for the astrological correlates to this horrific event and the consequences that will surely follow, there is no lack of signatures present, as described in last week’s column (written before the attack) or in last year’s Forecast 2023 Book. As mentioned above, October 7 was the day before Mars squared Pluto, three days before Pluto turned direct, and four days before Mars entered Scorpio, the sign co-ruled by Mars and Pluto. And to that list, we can add this weekend’s solar eclipse on Saturday, October 14, at 21° Libra, in opposition to Chiron near 18° Aries.
Chiron is something between a minor planet and an asteroid located between the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt. It has a 50-year orbital cycle around the Sun, which is interesting because the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel was exactly 50 years and one day from the October 6, 1973, surprise attack by an Arab coalition on the holy day of Yom Kippur. This was the last assult of this magnitude on Israel, though it always seems Israel is on the brink of a severe conflict. Chiron was about 18°Aries then also. There was no eclipse at that time, but Chiron was in opposition to Uranus, and Saturn was square Pluto, with the South Node of the Moon on Saturn. That’s equally as powerful as the transits and solar eclipse of October 7-14.
In the study of astrology, Chiron is considered the “wounded warrior.” In Aries, it is motivated by the principle of fighting for one’s rights or in defense of one’s beliefs, as in war or aggression, which can explode into violence if negative. But with Chiron, the key word is “wounded.” With Aries, the keywords are assertion or aggression, to take action. The combination is now manifesting as an all-out war in which lives will be in danger, and many will be severely wounded or lost to violence.
How long will this war last? In 1973, the Yom Kippur War lasted only 19 days before the Israeli army put down the aggressors and regained their land. This one could last longer for several astrological reasons. First, the Sun is applying to a conjunction with Mars on November 18, 2023. It seems likely that the drive to fight and/or defend one’s territory and people will increase during the applying phase of this aspect. Both sides will be aggressive. This is also the aspect we have been pointing to as a correlation of 8% or greater declines in many world stock indices within about six weeks of a crest. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it yet.
Second, Mars will enter Sagittarius and Capricorn on November 24, 2023, through to February 14, 2024. Several years ago, I published a study in the ISAR Journal illustrating the correlation of this planet/signs combination to larger-than-normal price swings in Crude Oil, further related to disputes, unrest, and wars in the Middle East involving Israel. This new round of conflict may not end until sometime during this period. But even beyond that, the opening chapters of the Forecast 2023 Book provided a correlation between wars involving the United States and Uranus entering Gemini (WWII), Neptune entering Aries (Civil War), and Pluto entering Aquarius (American Revolution). The last time each of these planets entered each of these signs, it corresponded to the three most important wars in the history of the U.S. All three of these conditions unfold between 2023 and 2025.
This doesn’t mean the Israeli-Hamas war continues that long, for the U.S. is involved in conflicts with several other regimes as well that could erupt into greater wars for the nation. But its involvement that long in a Middle East war can’t be ruled out, either. A copy of that opening chapter from Forecast 2023 was sent out to everyone on this Free Weekly Report list in an effort to facilitate understanding of the times we are living in. If you didn’t receive a copy of this chapter and would like one, please let us know. There is no cost. We want everyone to understand what astrology says about the cosmic dynamics of this time, at least from the perspective of this astrologer.
It all seems so bleak right now. But then again, we are headed for the Aries Vortex of 2025-2026, after which a new world of opportunities is still very possible, even probable, in my view. This will be described in depth in the forthcoming Forecast 2024 Book (see below for info).
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF THE MMA Monthly Cycles Report will be released this Monday/ Tuesday, October 16-17. The major moves (reversals) we anticipated for precious metals in the last report are now underway. This issue will point out when this rally might end, according to our market timing studies. It will also cover our outlook for when the next important stock market rally might commence (we’ve been bearish). Each Cycle’s report covers the outlook in the U.S. Stock Market, Gold, Silver, Copper, Treasuries, Euro Currency, Crude Oil, and Soybeans. The MMA Monthly Cycles Report reviews MMA’s original geocosmic critical reversal dates (CRDs) and Solar/Lunar reversal dates over the next several weeks with trading strategies for position and aggressive traders during the next month. If you would like to try out one month of the MMA Monthly Cycles Report, you can sign up for the October Report for only $35! And if you become a subscriber before October 31st, you will receive a code to save on Forecast 2024.
A Special Update on Gold was issued late in the evening of October 4 to all MMA report subscribers. It covered the special geocosmic situation now in effect for Gold, including price targets and chart patterns. It also notes the current situation with stock indices. If you are a subscriber to any of these reports and did not receive this special update, let us know at once! If you are not a subscriber and wish to have a copy of this report, consider a minimum one-month subscription to the monthly MMA Cycles Report for only $35, which will cover this special Gold update as well as the next monthly MMA Cycles Report, due out the following week. Yearly subscriptions are also available now at reduced rates during the annual Forecast 2024 pre-publication special (see below). To order the MMA Cycles report and receive this special Gold update, too, click here.
NOTE 2: ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!!!! The “Annual Forecast Pre-Order Event” is underway!!! But this annual pre-publication sale will end on October 31. This super sale includes our once-a-year sale discounts on both the annual Forecast Book and all MMA Subscription Reports. You may pre-order Forecast 2024 Print at the discounted rate of $55, or the eBook at $45. And the best deal on MMA Subscription Reports is also offered at this time! Save 10% off any subscription ($275+) with purchase of Forecast 2024.
After the pre-order event ends on November 1st, the retail price of Forecast 2024 Print increases to $66, and the eBook increases to $55.
MMA will also offer a special “bundle” discount rate for those who wish to order both the eBook and print editions of Forecast 2024. The eBook usually comes out 1-2 weeks before the print edition, and avoids delays caused by the postal system, especially if overseas. Yet many readers prefer the print edition, so ordering both via The Forecast 2024 Bundle makes sense. You will receive the eBook on December 15th, and your Print copy will be mailed mid-December.
This year’s printed and eBook versions 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/
We created an updated list of our most common Forecast FAQs to help this Forecast season.
The Forecast 2023 Scorecard of the Forecast 2023 Book can now be viewed by clicking here.
NOTE 3: Special Offer this season!!! MMA’s newest monthly report, “MMA Monthly Grains Report” by Grains Analyst Wyatt Fellows. The cost of this subscription is normally $325, but on sale now for only $300 for a 1-Year subscription. If ordered together with the Forecast 2024 Book, there will be a further 10% discount bringing the cost of the report down to only $270 for a 1-Year Subscription! To order, click here. The next Grain Cycles Report was issued last week.
NOTE 4: THE MMA WEEKLY YouTube show, Geocosmic Week in Review and Look Ahead, with Gianni Di Poce, is now conducted on Wednesday evenings! Each 5-15 minute FREE episode reviews the 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!
NOTE 5: MMA’S FREE WEEKLY COLUMN IS NOW ON SPOTIFY, APPLE, AND AMAZON PODCAST! Now you can listen to a podcast of this weekly column by Thomas Miller on Saturdays! Just follow Merriman Market Analyst on Spotify or Apple 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 Apple, Spotify, MMA- Merriman Market Analyst Podcast and on YouTube, Merriman Market Analyst. It makes for great listening!
EVENTS
December 10, 2023: SPECIAL WEBINAR ON OPTIONS STRATEGIES USING MMA MARKET TIMING TECHNIQUES. This three-hour Zoom workshop will be led by veteran options trader and MMTA student Derek Panaia, who made a splendid presentation to the class just before the Gold move that began October 6. Derek will discuss the nature of options (terminology, calculations of Delta, and other Greeks) to determine the best value options to trade at a given time, and option strategies like bull and bear spreads. His strategy to buy Gold calls and bull option spreads in early October has already resulted in exceptional profits for MMTA students. He will revisit this trade and discuss new strategies in other markets that look attractive for options trading in early December. The cost will be $195.00 if registered before December 1 and $250 afterwards. Registration for this workshop will open next week at www.mmacycles.com > Shop > Webinars.
January 12, 2024. “Trends for 2024,” sponsored by AstroData of Zurich, Switzerland. Speakers to be announced shortly, but will include Ray Merriman giving his outlook on 2024. This event is in German, and Merriman’s presentation will be translated from English to German. For further information, contact www.AstroData.com.
February 18, 2024, MMA’s Annual Forecast 2024 World Webinar. Details and reservations will be opened after January 1. Save the Date!
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.