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The year 2020 is going to be an incredible cosmic year, which indicates a major shift and is likely to begin in world affairs, leadership, and financial markets. It’s not just a 1-2 year shift, this is the end and beginning of a 20, 60, 200, and 800-year cycle involving the Great Chronocrators, Jupiter and Saturn. To astrologers, this is known as the “Great Mutation.” You won’t want to miss this year’s Forecast Book and active subscribers to MMA Subscription Reports will get the best pre-order price we offer starting on August 12th.
REVIEW AND PREVIEW
“What the Market wanted to hear from Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve was that this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle which would keep pace with China, the European Union and other countries around the world,” Trump tweeted. But that’s not what the market got. At the press conference following the decision, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said, “Let me be clear – it’s not the beginning of a long series of rate cuts.” Powell also added that he didn’t say there would be “just one rate cut.” – Jonathan Garber, “Trump Bashes Fed’s Rate Cut,” https://www.foxbusiness.com/, August 1, 2019.
The U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs in July, just below a Dow Jones estimate of 165,000. The job gains pushed the size of the U.S. labor force to a record high. Wages topped analyst expectations. They rose 3.2% on a year-over-year basis, surpassing a Dow Jones forecast by 0.1 percentage points. The strong wage number could be seen by traders as a sign of rising inflation, which could keep the Federal Reserve from cutting rates multiple times later this year. – Fred Imbert and Dam Meredith, “Dow Futures Surge 100 Points in Sudden Reversal,” https://www.cnbc.com, August 2, 2019.
Global stock markets were every bit as whacko as the tenets of Financial Astrology would suggest last week, given that 1) Mercury, “the Trickster,” was highlighted as it went stationary direct, and 2) the Sun and Venus formed a square aspect to Uranus, the maverick, all between July 29-August 2.
Take the Dow Jones Industrial Average, for instance. Monday and Tuesday were relatively quiet as investors awaited Wednesday’s Fed announcement on interest rate cuts. Convinced that the Fed would cut rates maybe by as much as ½-%, and express a dovish sentiment towards future rate cuts, the DJIA was trading close to 27,300, near its all-time high of 27,398 recorded on July 16, one trading days after MMA’s two-star critical reversal date. Within minutes after the Fed announced a ¼-% rate cut, with language that suggested this might be a one-off event and not the start of a series of future rate cuts, President Trump unleashed his first tweet critical of the Fed’s decision. The following hours saw the DJIA plummet to 26,719, a swing of over 500 points. But that didn’t really matter. The next day, August 1, the DJIA had regained almost all of its losses, and was back to 27,175, up over 300 points. Then Trump launched his second market-devastating tweet. He would start a new round of tariffs on the Chinese, starting September 1. The market promptly reversed, giving up all its gains in a 600+ point swing down from the highs of that day. By Friday, the DJIA had declined to 26,249, off 1149 points and down over 4% from its high of July 16.
Once again, global investors are suddenly unsettled with a new round of uncertainty about what lies ahead, which itself is a reflection of the greater geocosmic signature that is in effect most of 2019: the waning square between Jupiter and Neptune, which ends September 21. After that, the collective psychology, as measured by the symbolic dynamics of the cosmos, shifts from wishful thinking and complacency to the realization that there are some serious problems that require serious thinking to resolve. The “Capricorn Stellium” of late 2019 through 2020 and even beyond is fast approaching. One of Capricorn’s qualities is seriousness, as opposed to Jupiter square Neptune, which is more about silliness when dealing with the mundane, but also transcendence when it pertains to spiritual or aesthetic matters.
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS
President Donald Trump’s former top economic advisor says the trade war with China is unwinnable and is hurting the U.S. economy. Gary Cohn told the BBC that tariffs were raising the cost of importing much needed products from China and were in fact neutralizing Washington’s plan to stimulate growth through tax cuts. “When you build plant equipment, you’re buying steel, you’re buying aluminum, you’re buying imported products and then we put tariffs on those, so literally the tax incentive we gave you with one hand was taken away with the other hand,” said Cohn. – David Reid, “Gary Cohn: Trump’s Trade War with China is Hurting the U.S. Economy More,” https://www.cnbc.com, July 26, 2019.
President Trump stood fast by his decision to implement 10 percent tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of goods coming into the U.S. from China on Thursday, saying the pain will continue for Beijing until an agreement is struck. “Until such time as there is a deal, we will be taxing the hell out of China,” Trump said. In reaction to the tariffs, Chinese sources exclusively told FOX Business that the directive in Beijing is to “decouple” from its reliance on the U.S. economy… Trump sounded an optimistic note about trade discussions earlier in the day, classifying the dialogue as “positive” and the future as “very bright.” – Brittany De Lea, “Trump: ‘We Will Be Taxing the Hell Out of China’ Until a Trade Deal is Reached,” https://www.foxbusiness.com/, August 2, 2019.
The sudden and abrupt changes in financial markets last week were directly related to the sudden and abrupt pronouncements from the Uranian U.S. President Trump, regarding his displeasure with both the Federal Reserve Board’s ¼-% rate cut and the unwillingness of China to bend to his terms for a trade agreement. In both cases, his announcements were followed by severe selloffs in the U.S. stock market, accompanied by a rally to new two-years highs in T-Notes, and another new 6-year high in the nearby Gold futures contract. When Gold and T-Notes rally to new yearly highs, it usually means investors are seeking safety against an uncertain future in the world economy.
The ironic thing is that these are the same two factors (Fed criticism and tariffs) that led the market to sell off steeply last November-December, and the very two things that President Trump was informed had caused the 19% stock market drop in late 2018. As told to him by the very people he consulted for advice on why the market was selling off in late 2018, the reasons provided were 1) he (Trump) was publicly criticizing the Federal Reserve Board’s policies and thereby directly threatening its independence, and 2) his tariff polices and trade dispute with China were making investors nervous of a full blown trade war. It makes one wonder: did he think the same approach would produce a different result this time? He is under a very harsh Neptune transit, which can coincide with periods of forgetfulness.
Some things never change. Except, in this case, one thing may have changed. The bull market may have just ended. As stated all year, the 12-year cyclical transit of Jupiter in Sagittarius has a strong historical correspondence to long-term cycle crests in U.S. stocks, especially when it transits the middle degrees of Sagittarius. Between July 10 and September 13, Jupiter is located between 14-16° Sagittarius (there are 30° in a sign). In other words, Jupiter is now in the middle degrees of Sagittarius that have the highest correspondence to long-term cycle crests. In our previous column, we referenced August 7-11 as a strong possibility for this crest, due to the fact that Jupiter and Uranus change directions then, while at the same time Jupiter forms a favorable trine aspect with the Sun and Venus. But even with that, we always allowed a 2-month orb. Given the extent of the break last week, it is possible that these all-time highs of July 22-29 in the various U.S. indices may mark the timing of that crest.
Regarding the next two weeks, the major geocosmic signatures on the horizon are the Sun and Venus trine Jupiter, August 7 and 8, followed by Jupiter turning direct and Uranus turning retrograde on August 11. The combination of Jupiter and Uranus changing directions on the same day is a very powerful cosmic duel, often correlating with very large price movements in financial markets within one week. We are already seeing symptoms of that since Wednesday, July 31. Jupiter relates to the principle of exaggeration and usually optimism. Uranus represents the urge to break boundaries, like support and resistance. When these two planets are highlighted at the same time, more often than not there is a sudden change and new hope leading to sharply rising stock prices. However, it can also be the opposite. When Jupiter is not optimistic and hopeful, it is instead given towards panic and crisis. Thus, the next two weeks could witness either a sudden reversal and surge to new all-time or multi-year highs in some market prices (we already see that with T-Notes and Gold), or a serious collapse of prices, such as was witnessed in early and late 2018 in world equity markets.
We will be back in two weeks. Enjoy the Jupiter/Uranus signatures coming up this week, for they favor immense enjoyment and meeting of many new and old friends. It’s a great time for a party, and an even better time for a wedding, or so I think. It is also a favorable time to be inventive and think outside of the box. There are solutions if you are stuck on a matter. This is a good time to get unstuck. It is a good time for travel to new places and engage in exciting new adventures.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: The New ICR (International Cycles Reports) from MMA was issued last month, July 30-31. The ICR Financials included analysis on ASX (Australian Stock Index), RUT (Russell 2000), SSE (Chinese Shanghai Stock Composite), HSI (Hang Seng Index), AUD (Australian Dollar), DXY (US Dollar), and GBP (British Pound). The ICR Commodities Report included analysis on LC (Live Cattle), MJ (Cannabis), XAU (Gold and Silver), KT (Coffee), KA (Sugar), C (Corn), and W (Wheat). These reports are written by MMA Analyst and editor Mark Shyterman (Metals, Stock Indices, and soft Commodities), MMA Analyst Raymond Merriman (China Markets), MMA Analyst Ulric Aspegren (Currencies), Isabella Suleymanov (Grains), and Massimo Moras (Live Cattle and Hang Seng). Consider taking out a subscription now to be included in our annual subscriber-only sale that begins next month. For further information, visit Shop > Subscriptions.
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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.