REVIEW AND PREVIEW
U.S. equity markets ended the (Friday) session flat in what was a quiet summer Friday trading session after lawmakers went on break without agreeing on a coronavirus relief package and retail sales softened. – Jonathan Garber, “Stocks Finish Little Changed as COVID Relief Hangs in Limbo,” https://www.foxbusiness.com, August 14, 2020.
If you looked at the end of the week in Asian equities, you may have the impression that Uranus turning retrograde this weekend is leading to an upside breakout. The Nikki and NIFTY indices are breaking out to a new post-crash high.
If you look at the European equity markets, they are reversing downward and appear ready to break lower as we approach Uranus retrograde. Each rallied into Wednesday, August 12, but by Friday, they were starting to fall somewhat sharply. None took out their highs of July 21, following the triple opposition of the Sun to the Capricorn stellium (Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn) of July 14-20, but each made secondary highs and started declining after Wednesday of last week.
In the U.S., the DJIA and S&P made new post-crash highs on August 11 but the NASDAQ did not. However, the NASDAQ made a new all-time high the week before, on August 11, and the other indices have not yet made new all-time highs, for cases of intermarket bearish divergence. Yet none of these indices sold off sharply following those highs. They have just traded sideways. Thus, it is still unclear if Uranus retrograde will correspond to a reversal of the current bullish trend, or a breakout to new post-crash or even new all-time highs.
Gold and Silver, on the other hand, made a very dramatic, Uranus-like, statement last week. After posting a new all-time high last Friday, August 7, at 2089, Gold fell sharply to a low of 1874 three trading days later, on August 12. That was a loss of $215. As pointed out to daily subscribers the day before that low, the pattern was looking a lot like the runup in Gold in 2011. In mid-August 2011, Gold made an initial peak and then fell $212.50 in two days, before continuing to its all-time high on September 6. Daily subscribers were advised to buy if a similar decline happened the next day. It did. Silver’s behavior was similar. It rallied to a new multi-year high of 29.91 on Friday, August 7. By Wednesday, it had plunged to 23.58, a loss of 21%. Again, traders were advised to buy going into August 12, and by Friday, Silver was again testing 28.00.
Crude Oil and Bitcoin continued strong last week, but couldn’t exceed their highs of the prior week, which could be a sign also of a reversal about to happen, or a breakout, related to Uranus retrograde.
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS
“United we stand. Divided we part.” – Patrick Henry, March 1799. He followed it with, “Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”
“A division of the republic into two great parties … is to be dreaded as the great political evil.” – John Adams from “The Works of John Adams,” by Charles Francis Adams, Little, Brown, &Co, Boston, MA 1856.
“Ask not what the country can do for you… ask what you can do for your country,” – John F. Kennedy, Inauguration speech, January 1961.
Mars is right in the middle of its first waxing square to the Capricorn stellium of Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn, August 4-24. The combative and forceful square of Mars/Pluto was in force last week, as Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, selected former prosecutor and current U.S. Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate. Immediately Republicans started attacking her as being “nasty” and “mean-spirited,” typical of Mars/Pluto. But Wall Street was rather happy with the choice. It remains to be seen just how much she will help or hurt the ticket but given the heavy presence of Mars through the election, people seem to love her or hate her, much like President Trump.
According to www.astro.com, Kamala Harris was born October 20, 1964 at 9:28 PM in Oakland, CA. Like Trump, she too was born under a full Moon. In her case, the Capricorn Stellium of Jupiter, Pluto, and Mars make a T-square to her natal full Moon the rest of this year. In President Trump’s case, those planets make an opposition to his natal Venus/Saturn conjunction. In other words, the Capricorn stellium makes a grand square between important positions in their combined natal charts. The prominence of Saturn and Pluto to these personal points does not imply popularity in either case. Expect each to make the other the object of stinging attacks. Trump may be fighting Harris more than Biden, and “nasty” is just one of the milder descriptions as to how this fight may unfold between the two.
Cosmically, each is apt to get under the skin of the other. There will be no punches pulled, no surrender, and no survivors. It’s a fight to the finish. With Pluto, neither is likely to get out of this unscathed.
It is also interesting that the Moon’s North Node conjuncts Trump’s natal Sun, a harbinger of success. At the same time, Harris’ natal chart shows her undergoing a nodal return, and both the transiting and natal lunar North Node conjunct her natal ascendant, also a sign of success. Transiting Pluto shows they may both suffer and be damaged by this election period, while the Moon’s North Node shows they may both be successful and could end up victors. Politically, this choice may appear risky. Astrologically this isn’t a bad choice for Biden and the Dems at all, as Harris has transiting Saturn moving well up her chart, a sign of rising power. It cannot be ruled out that Kamala Harris may become the U.S. president within the next four years based on the transits of Saturn and the Moon’s North Node.
Now, how will stock markets react to this? I think we will get a strong glimpse September 29-October 19 after transiting Mars has turned retrograde and once again makes the first quarter cycle (waxing square) to Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn. For now, we await to see if this weekend’s Uranus station correlates with an upside breakout to new stock market highs or begins a severe multi-week decline.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: Get Ready! The Forecast 2021 Book now begins its Annual Forecast Pre-Order Event. Our preliminary outlook is that 2021 will be another very important year with the long-term Saturn/Uranus square aspect taking place. Although 2020 is not yet over, several forecasts made in the 2020 book have already unfolded. For a review of the Forecast 2020 Book so far, please visit our Scorecard.
This pre-publication period will be in effect 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 2021 at the discounted rate of $45. After the pre-order event ends, the price will increase to $55 on November 1st. Order both an eBook and print book (Forecast 2021 Bundle) for only $65, a savings of $45 off the standard rates. Save 10% off any subscription ($275+) with purchase of Forecast 2021. Use code SALE2021 at checkout to receive the subscription discount.
This year’s Forecast book will no longer include the individual Sun Signs forecasts. Instead, there will be a separate publication for those who enjoy the yearly trends for the twelve individual signs. It is titled “Trends for the Twelve Signs 2021,” and will be written by Antonia Langsdorf-Merriman and myself. Antonia has written an annual Sun Sign book in German for the past several years, based on interviews conducted with me beforehand. We will follow that same format for the “Trends for the Twelve Signs 2021” book. The cost of this book will be $25, with a further discount if ordered with the Forecast 2021 Book.
NOTE 2: The start date of the second 2-year program of the Merriman Market Timing Academy is being changed from on October 24, 2020 to January 16, 2021! Sorry! We didn’t realize at the time that October 24, 2020 is a Mercury retrograde. We don’t want to start an important distance, online learning program under Mercury retrograde. So, all courses are being moved up one cycle, starting with January 16, 2021, which was to be the start of Course 2. It will now start Course 1.
This is the rare opportunity (only the second time in 7 years) to learn the MMA Methodology of financial market timing and financial market analysis. The first course took place 2013-2015 and graduated 20 apprentices, many of whom are now professional market analysts. Several of the graduates now serve as analysts of specific markets for various MMA subscription reports. This second 2-year program will be offered online and will be led by MMTA graduate Gianni Di Poce and founder Raymond Merriman. There will be 6-7 classes per course, 8 courses in all. Each class will last 2 hours each. These will take place live on Saturdays, and video recordings will be available the following Monday to those who register. There will be a one-month break between each course. The cost for the 2-year program in 2013-2014 was $20,000 and required students to spend 3-4 day courses onsite. This second series of courses will be online, and will cost $12,000, with a 10% discount for those who register by December 14, 2020. To those who enroll for the “MMTA Apprentice,” designation, you will need to know how to read an ephemeris and/or take a pre-entrance exam to demonstrate this aptitude before beginning Course 2. If you don’t know how to “Read an Ephemeris,” a link to a video presentation will be provided at no cost to those who sign up for at least the first year. An “MMTA Certificate of Graduation” (as an MMTA apprentice) will be awarded for those who take and pass exams at the end of each course and complete a research project with teams of up to three members each between courses. However, courses may be taken separately, without an entrance exam, course exams, or research papers if one only wishes the knowledge without the certificate of graduation as an “MMTA Apprentice.” For more information and schedule, please visit MMTA and find out how you can become a financial market timer and analyst, the MMA way.
NOTE 3: The MMA Monthly Cycles Report came out last week, Monday-Tuesday. This issue included an overview of the current long- and intermediate-term cycles’ status on Gold. Every issue provides MMA’s outlook for the U.S. stock market (DJIA and S&P futures), Gold and Silver, Treasuries, Euro Currency, Crude Oil and Soybeans. Each issue also contains MMA’s original geocosmic critical reversal dates (CRDs) and Solar/Lunar reversal dates over the next several weeks for DJIA, Gold, and Silver, complete with trading strategies for position traders. If you are not a subscriber to the monthly MMA Cycles Report and wish a copy of our outlook for financial markets, consider a one-month subscription for only $35.
EVENTS
One month to go! September 13, 2020, 1 PM, EDT. “The USA 2020 Presidential Election: An Astrological Perspective,” featuring an online analysis on the charts of the election, between world class astrologers Lynn Bell (Paris), Caroline Casey (Washington D.C.), Lee Lehman, Ph.D. (Asheville, NC), Christeen Skinner (London), and emceed by Raymond Merriman. The cost for this event is $55. For more information and reservation, please visit the ISAR website at https://isar2020.org/ and prepare to be amazed! If you are interested in this election, this is an event not to be missed!
October 11, 2020 (Changed from September 17): Special Q&A webinar for MMA Subscribers with Raymond Merriman! 4:30 PM, EDT or 1:30 PM PDT 9:30 PM GMDT). This webinar is free to those who subscribe to any MMA subscription reports, or $55 if not a subscriber. Subscribers may send in a question they wish Merriman to address ahead of time. The only requirement is that the questions be of general interest to everyone attending the Q&A. Questions about a specific market are fine. It is possible that there may not be enough time to address all questions, so they will be answered on a first come, first serve basis. This event will last 90 minutes. You must register to attend at least two days before the event and a link to enter the meeting will be sent to all registrants that week.
January 16, 2021: The first class of the 2-year program of the Merriman Market Timing Academy begins! For details, see the above announcement, or visit MMTA.
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 a 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 hence potentially affect 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.