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REVIEW AND PREVIEW
Revisions to economic data are widespread and normal. But occasionally the revisions are so big that they upend our shared understanding of what’s going on. The problem isn’t new, but it’s getting worse. Timely data is typically based on surveys, and even companies can’t be bothered to fill in surveys any more. Early reporting of figures that are later revised away can send investors in entirely the wrong direction. It can embed an understanding of the economy that takes a long time to be corrected. At worst it can lead to the misallocation of capital and influence government policy or interest rates. – James Mackintosh, “Economic Data Lead Markets and Governments Astray,” Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2023.
North Korea-linked hackers have stolen hundreds of millions of crypto to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons programs, research shows. “In recent years, there has been a marked rise in the size and scale of cyber-attacks against cryptocurrency-related businesses by North Korea,” said TRM Labs in a June discussion with North Korea experts. – Sheila Chiang, “North Korean Hackers Have Allegedly Stolen Hundreds of Millions in Crypto to Fund Nuclear Programs,” www.cnbc.com, September 6, 2023.
A deeply divided Congress returned Tuesday from a month long summer vacation with the clock ticking to pass spending legislation to avoid a government shutdown and boost U.S. emergency response funding following multiple natural disasters. The U.S. government will shut down at midnight on Sept. 30 if Congress fails to pass spending legislation. – Spencer Kimball, “Congress Returns with the Clock Ticking to Avert Government Shutdown, Fund U.S. Disaster Response,” www.cnbc.com. September 5, 2023.
The unusual phenomenon of seven planets either being retrograde or just changing direction continues to disrupt financial markets and produce unclear thoughts about the future of world economies. It is a very choppy, uncertain field of play right now, and it may continue to frustrate both traders and investors alike until at least September 15, when the Trickster – Mercury retrograde – will end its current cycle and turn direct. This would normally be a cause for relief, except there is another U.S. debt ceiling impasse looming ahead on September 30 that could once again shut down the government, just in time for the Sun/Mars conjunction in November that has a high correlation to severe selloffs in world equity markets within eight degrees of its exactness (October-December). With Mars now in Libra through October 11, investors may ignore this threat until the last minute, thinking once again that lawmakers will find a way to avoid hysteria. I am not sure they will succeed this time, not before November.
World financial markets seemed very chaotic and random during the past few weeks, but they actually moved very much in synch with the retrograde Venus cycle (July 22-September 3). That is, many global stock indices made their yearly highs within a week of Venus turning retrograde. Most of them then fell hard into August 17-23 as the retrograde brigade started. Most markets had a secondary rally into September 1-4 as Venus turned direct, then started another selloff at the end of last week as Jupiter turned retrograde (September 4) and was also the benefactor of a trine from the Sun on September 8. Normally, one would expect the rally to have continued into the Jupiter highlighted period of September 4-8. But then again, Mercury is retrograde (August 23-September 15), and the Trickster often does just the opposite of what one expects during its “prime time” shenanigan days in the spotlight.
So now the question is whether the Venus direct highs of September 1-4 were not secondary but primary cycle highs that will be followed by a multi-month sell-off. Or were they just the first leg up in a new bull run, making the decline into late last week a corrective low followed by a bullish impulse? We may not have that answer until the spotlight on the Trickster is turned off at the end of this week.
The choppiness and uncertainty corresponding to the abundance of retrograde planets are noticeable in other markets, too. Gold and Silver made important cycle highs on July 20 as Venus turned retrograde and with important lows around August 15-17 as the retrograde shower – along with a storm of Uranus signatures – began. But like stocks, Gold and Silver also could only muster a secondary high into Venus direct, and started falling once again into the latter part of last week. Was the September 1 high only a corrective rally? Or was the decline late last week just a corrective type in a new bull run? Only the Trickster knows. But we should all know shortly, for the Trickster’s battery is about to run out of juice.
In terms of markets, it all comes down to the currencies and in particular, the U.S. Dollar. The Dollar has been rising steadily since Venus turned retrograde, while the Euro has fallen steadily from its peak of July 18, just before Venus turned retrograde. That run may be about to end now that Venus is turning direct. If so, we could see a shift in many financial markets as the U.S. Dollar reverses and starts a decline. Venus, after all, is one of the co-rulers of currencies. It is no wonder that the currency markets are the place to watch closely under Venus retrograde.
Currencies peaked as Venus turned retrograde and went straight down until late last week when she turned direct. The world of finances may be returning back to a semblance of order. Of course, the dysfunctional nature of U.S. politics can still serve as a disruptor to that order as we approach the powerful geocosmic signatures of October and particularly November.
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS
“After reading de Tocqueville’s book on the French Revolution, the emperor’s brother, Grand Duke Konstantine, remarked, ‘If we do not carry out a peaceful and complete revolution with our own hands, it will inevitably happen without us and against us.’” – Quote from John Mauldin, “Noble Sacrifices,” September 2, 2023.
Mars is in Libra now, August 27- October 11. This is like war (Mars) and peace (Libra), aggression and diplomacy, rash decision-making versus indecisiveness. Markets usually like this combination because there is much talk about the need to do something, but very little effort as the urgency of the moment gets lost over the delay of time. Everybody sees the need for action, but there is no consensus on what that action should be. But still, markets usually go up as long as there is hope. The hope is dashed if nothing gets done, however, by the time Mars enters Scorpio. And then there is hell to pay by those who stood in the way of progress when it had the chance to advance. As Grand Duke Konstantine remarked in the quote above, ‘… If we do not carry out a peaceful and complete revolution with our own hands, it will inevitably happen without us and against us.’
Shorter-term, Mercury turns direct September 15, followed by Venus square Jupiter September 17, and the Sun/Neptune opposition of September 19. These signatures are likely to coincide with a change of trend in Crude Oil. But they do not lend much clarity in terms of politics. There could be hot rumors afloat – maybe even a scandal – so traders need to be aware of the “buy the rumor, sell the fact” (or vice-versa) mentality. But it’s really during October and November when the geocosmic patterns have the most intense narratives ready to release. And in that time frame, Gold is usually quite active (and bullish). We will be covering this correlation closely in our monthly, weekly, and daily reports.
PERSONAL STORIES
The popular Italian city of Venice has approved guidelines Tuesday for charging daily visitors a $5.50 entrance fee next year. “The aim is to disincentivize daily tourism in certain periods, in line with the fragility and uniqueness of the city,” the news agency quoted Venice as saying in a statement. – Greg Norman, “Venice, International Travel Hotspot, to Charge Daily Tourists a Fee Next Year,” www.foxbusiness.com, September 6, 2023.
Some people never find it, some only pretend. But I just want to live, Happily ever after, now and then” – Jimmy Buffett, “Growing Older but Not Up.” Coconut Telegraph, 1981.
I had an interesting summer. It was actually a “wake-up call” for me personally. About a month ago, I wrote about being sick – really sick- like COVID sick. It lasted all of four days. But that wasn’t the problem. It was a series of issues that were more ergonomic (muscular/skeletal problems from sitting too long in front of the computer). One thing would get cured, and then another would start, beginning in mid-May and finally ending in late August. That’s a long time to be struggling. I’m good now (thank you for all of your well wishes!).
But here’s the thing that woke me up: my astro twin is Jimmy Buffet, one of the best-selling musicians of all-time (tropical island and rock genre). Now, I’ve never been a big fan of Jimmy Buffet (I am not of the Margaritaville clan). But I watched him over the last several decades because, well, I am an astrologer, and I figured whatever happened with him could happen similarly to me. Our cycles of growth and success in business were close in time, though his was on quite a larger scale. Like, he was Jupiter and I was Mercury. So when I read he passed away last week, and I had just come out of my summer of intense health challenges. I thought, maybe it’s time for me to step back a bit and enjoy this lifetime and the people in it before it passes by.
I remember the great astrologer Chakrapani Ullal telling me upon our first meeting: “You will not die in your sleep.” I was devastated. What? “No,” he said, “You will die while working.” Oh hallelujah, I thought. That’s wonderful! But now I am not so sure. By the way, another interesting sidenote to my first consult with Chakrapani happened when he asked me what I do. I told him I study astrology and financial markets, and that I was a financial market timer. He asked me if I knew… he tried to think of the person’s name… maybe it was Merri… “Wait a minute,” he said. Are you?…. “ And we both had a good laugh as he realized I was the financial market timer/astrologer he was going to refer me to.
Back to my incredible summer, which, as always, I spent in Europe with my lovely wife Antonia Langsdorf. So, last week Antonia and I took a trip. We had the pleasure of meeting and dining with three of the most impressive mundane astrologers in the world (and our dear friends), Christoph Schubert-Weller and Christof Niederwieser of Germany, and Claude Weiss of Zurich. It was very special to each of us.
On the fourth day we boarded a plane to Venice, Italy, for three days. On our first night there, as we were checking into this fabulous hotel, Antonia’s luggage was stolen. Right there in this luxury hotel! I won’t go into all the details, but Antonia had a second iPhone in that stolen luggage with a tracking device. With the aid of four polizia, we ran through the dark streets of Venice into a very seedy section where there was a compound of actors with costumes in the hallway straight out of Tom Cruise movie “Eyes Wide Shut.” You know, the “Beek-man.” It was eerie, but the tracking device said the luggage was right in this area. The polizia asked us to move to a safer section of this dark and dreary compound while they investigated. A half-hour later, they came out and asked us to identify a bag, which contained most of Antonia’s jewelry. It was there! The luggage had been found! Moral of the story: put a tracking device in all of your luggage, especially if traveling to Italy. Deeper moral: track your own life and the things that you value in this life. As far as Venice itself, it was very crowded. Too many tourists! And yes, I know, I was one of them. But it made it hard to enjoy. I preferred meeting and dining with the great astrologers of the prior week.
Well, that’s my story for this week. I don’t know how long I will live in this physical temple I have nurtured all these years. But I do know that now I will try to make sure I don’t pass to the cloud while working. And if I do, I hope it will be upon the completion of whatever book I am writing. I wouldn’t want to stop the story halfway through. And I don’t want to stop this story before experiencing the “Aries Vortex” of 2023-2026. It feels like my duty – dharma – to help get us there first, with understanding and gratitude about how the cycles of human activity do indeed correlate with the cycles of the cosmos. You now have the subtext of the Forecast 2024 Book I am starting to write.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: The “Annual MMA Forecast 2024 Pre-Publication Sale” has now started!!! The sale will run through October 31 and will include our once-a-year sale discounts on both the annual Forecast Book and 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.
Want to save even more on Forecast 2024? Sign up for any subscription report between now and September 15th to be upgraded to our Active Subscriber Club. Club members receive a discount code to pre-order Forecast 2024 eBook for only $35 and print edition for $42!
MMA will also offer a special “bundle” discount rate for those who wish to order both the eBook and printed 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.
MMA offers discounts to our Forecast Fan Club Members and our Active Subscriber Club members. Check out our page on Forecast Club Levels to learn more about these discounts.
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 2: 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.
NOTE 3: The third episode of Casual Cosmic Conversations with Alexandra Schnedier, Antonia Langsdorf, and Raymond Merriman was conducted late last week and is now up on MMA’s You Tube station at https://www.youtube.com/c/merrimanmarketanalyst. In this episode we cover the unusual phenomenon of seven planets retrograde or changing signs, a look at the contenders for the U.S. Presidential Election in 2024 (besides Trump and Biden), and the cosmic prospects for a pandemic (or not) in 2024.
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! Tune in on Wednesday evenings to hear Gianni and his guests update financial markets on YouTube!
NOTE 5: MMA’S FREE WEEKLY COLUMN IS NOW ON APPLE AND SPOTIFY 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
New events coming up will be posted shortly, probably right after Mercury turns direct.
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.