REVIEW
It is possible the employment reports will be stronger than the 175K expected, as Jupiter will be on the MC at the time of the announcement. – MMA Daily Cycles Report for subscribers. Thursday night, March 5, 2020. www.mmacycles.com for information on these reports..
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 273,000 in February vs. a 175,000 estimate, while the unemployment rate edged lower to 3.5%. Job gains were widespread, with health care adding 57,000 to lead the way. December and January’s estimates were revised upward by a total of 243,000. – Jeff Cox, “Job Growth Smashes Expectations for February,” www.cnbc.com, March 6, 2020.
The global flight to the safety of government debt continued on Friday as investors piled into U.S. Treasuries…The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury sank to a record low of 0.676%… The plunge in yields came amid an exodus from stocks as disruptions to businesses on the back of the coronavirus outbreak heighten fears of a global slowdown. – Thomas Franck, “10-Year Treasury Yield Falls to New All-Time Low Under .7%,” www.cnbc.com, March 6, 2020.
It was another turbulent week for world equity markets, as well as for precious metals. It was also a turbulent week for the candidates vying for the U.S. Democratic Presidential nomination.
Senator Bernie Sanders held a commanding lead going into Super Tuesday. But that all changed when Democrats began to rally around former Vice-President Joe Biden, who was all but written off a week earlier. Suddenly, Biden commenced a remarkable comeback to take the majority of states on Super Tuesday, and soar to an overall lead over Sanders. This is another example of the Mercury retrograde “Trickster’s” character. Senator Sanders is a Virgo. Mercury rules Virgo. Sander’s status as the front-runner suddenly changed. The same thing happened to Virgo John McCain in 2008 after the Republican convention. He had a smart lead over Barack Obama, but during the three-week Mercury retrograde period of late September-early October 2008, that lead suddenly evaporated and he never recovered. Back then, the markets began their crash into the Great Recession. As Biden began his comeback last week, the U.S. stock market had a record up day as investors who feared a Bernie Sanders presidency began to relax. But they couldn’t relax for long, even with the 50-basis point cut in the Fed’s interest rate, because the spread of the Coronavirus transcends even politics. We are talking about the loss of human lives and the prospect of a major disruption/slowdown of worldwide business activity, consistent with the “Capricorn Stellium” that is now in force through much of 2020, as outlined in the Forecast 2020 Book.
After falling to a double bottom low of 24,681 last Friday, February 28 (double bottom to the 24,680 low of June 3, 2019), the Dow Jones Industrial Average roared back to 27,102 on Wednesday March 4, a gain of over 2400 points (and nearly 10%). But by Friday, March 6, the DJIA was re-testing the previous week’s low again. However, in the last hour of trading, the DJIA stormed back to gain over 700 points, cutting its daily loss considerably. It even closed up for the week. The same pattern was present in the NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500.
Secondary reactions were present in other world indices too, with most actually making new cycle and multi-month lows on Friday, March 6, such as in Japan, Australia, India, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland,, and Brazil. However, what is most bizarre is that China’s Shanghai Composite Index actually rallied to its highest level since January 21. What does it mean when China’s major stock index is rising when almost all other world indices are plunging, and the virus outbreak and its greatest damage has been in China? Perhaps it means that China has successfully slowed down the spread of Coronavirus. Perhaps it means that Mercury retrograde, which started in Pisces on February 16, and is now approaching its end under a full moon involving the Sun/Neptune conjunction in Pisces on March 9, has led to an equally troubling hysteria in other nations who are now at a similar point in addressing this issue as China was back in January. There may be hope of a more informed reaction to this virus hysteria very shortly. If it is not under greater control by the end of next week, equity markets could exceed our expected declines of 10-21%, and that could mean an even larger cycle is underway.
Other markets also experienced huge and significant price activity last week. The 10-Year Treasury Notes fell below .7%, a record low, which might bring excitement to homebuyers. With 2020 being the year of the Saturn/Pluto conjunction, and that aspect having a nice correlation with major reversals in interest rates every 32-37 years, this decline in rates may not last too long. Gold recovered from its massive sell off last Friday, February 28, to 1564. One week later, on Friday March 6, Gold was again testing its 7-year high, as it rallied intraday back above 1690 intraday, actually making a slightly higher high. Crude Oil went the opposite direction, falling to 41.11, its lowest mark since August 2016. Major price moves were also noted in currencies, which all rose sharply against the U.S. Dollar.
It was indeed a turbulent week. But it all fits very well with MMA’s Special Report on the stock market that was issued to subscribers last Monday.
SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS
Now we will see just how this Mercury retrograde cycle will correlate with the current state of hysteria and panic in financial markets. The retrograde will end on Monday, March 9. This is also the date of the full moon with the Sun conjunct Neptune in Pisces. With Neptune and Pisces highlighted, at the same time Mercury is changing from retrograde to direct motion, that is symbolic of a change in the collective’s reaction to something that has not been understood fully. It represents a time of many assumptions and theories, and not all are well-grounded, let alone accurate. But that could change shortly as the highlighting of Neptune, Pisces, and Mercury retrograde comes to an end. It doesn’t mean it all ends exactly on March 9, for Mercury changing direction takes about 4-5 days to reverse its trajectory with regard to accurate information versus assumptions. But with the conjunction of the Sun/Neptune and Venus/Uranus on March 8, and both being very strong Level 1 geocosmic signatures (highest historical correlation to primary or greater cycles in stock indices), we have to give it serious consideration of portending a “change.”
The next set of powerful geocosmic signatures arises March 20-April 7. This is when Mars will conjoin with Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn, ending with the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction of April 4. It is also when transiting Venus (money) will form a favorable trine aspect to Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn. The cosmos is telling us there is cause for hope (for a healing, a cure, knowledge, and accurate information and the end of speculation) to these wild days we are experiencing, possibly by April 7, and even by the end of next week. If not, then we will look forward to the period when Venus turns retrograde, May 13 through June 25. That aspect also has an excellent historical correlation to primary or greater cycles in US stocks. The current period and the one of March 20-April 7 also have a strong correlation to reversals in Crude Oil.
This is a dangerous time to trade with such huge price swings. But it is also a time that offers tremendous profit potential to those who are correct in their entry and exit points in a variety of financial markets. It is risky, but it is also a very exciting time to be a trader.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTE 1: LEARN ABOUT FUTURES TRADING USING MMA METHODS! We are hosting a three-part course over a 4-week period, 2 hours each class. These will take place on Wednesdays, starting March 11, at 7 PM EST. The objective of this 3-class webinar is to instruct attendees about trading futures, or ETFs that reflect futures’ prices, as given in each MMA subscription report. Ray Merriman will be the instructor. The class would be structured with the first hour of introduction and review of the current markets and trading opportunities that are setting up, especially during the important March 20-April 7 critical reversal zone. The second half of each 2-hour class will be Q&A. The cost for these three classes would be $295. If you are interested, please visit Trading with MMA Market Timing Methods. Attendance is limited to 30 people. As of Thursday, March 5, there are three slots still open.
For a closer look at this course and an interesting Q&A interview with Ray Merriman on these three classes, please visit our latest Article now live on our website.
NOTE 2: A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE US STOCK MARKET was issued last week to all MMA subscribers. In this report, the various cycles that are converging in equity markets, and the geocosmic time bands that are currently unfolding, was discussed. These will help pinpoint turning points (reversals), used in combination with our charting and technical studies. This is a report not to be missed! Contact us at www.mmacycles.com or 800-662-3349, 248-626-3034, or by email at customerservice@mmacycles.com for information on subscribing to receive a copy of this special 11-page report.
NOTE 3: The MMA Forecast 2020 Webinar recording is now available! It is still valuable! This once-a-year broadcast showed the odds for a potential stock market crash in 2020-2023 and discussed what to do about it to protect one’s portfolio. This 2+ hour webinar discussed the geocosmic importance of Saturn conjunct Pluto that took place January 12, which is very evident in today’s news (impeachment, assassinations, sports scandals, record high in stock prices, rallies in metals, etc.). It discussed the forthcoming Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on the Winter Solstice 2020, right after the U.S. election, and its historical correlation to economic and market cycles. Updates were provided on financial markets since the book was written in November 2019, including the U.S. and German stock market (DAX), Gold and Silver, Crude Oil, Bitcoin, and currencies. The stock markets and Gold were given most attention. Cost of the recording is $55.00 and includes the slides of the presentation plus instant access to the video recording of the event.
EVENTS
March 11, 25, and April 1: LEARN ABOUT FUTURES TRADING USING MMA METHODS! See Announcement above.
September 9-14, 2020: The ISAR 2020 Conference in Colorado on “Reimagining the Future.” The largest and most exciting international astrological conference taking place in 2020. With a faculty of over 100 of the world’s top astrologers from 25 different countries, and very dynamic tracks on Financial Astrology, Mundane and Political Astrology, and other topics, this is an event you will not want to miss. On Wednesday, September 9, Ray Merriman will be conducting a 4-hour workshop on “Astrology and the Art of Financial Market Timing: How to Forecast Market Trends and Market Reversals.” This course will provide research studies showing the correlation of astrological factors to short- and longer-term financial market timing in stock markets, precious metals, and Bitcoin. It is the only workshop Ray plans to conduct in 2020.
Saturday, September 12, 2020: Raymond Merriman will be presenting a lecture on “The Times, They Are a Changin’ – The Political, Economic, and Monetary Revolution.” It’s not just the convergence of the 20-, 200-, and 800-year long-term Jupiter/Saturn cycles. It is also Saturn in Aquarius, squaring its ruler, Uranus, in Taurus. The convergence of the Jupiter/Saturn cycle in air sign Aquarius symbolizes the dawn of a new socio-economic-political era; the waning Saturn/Uranus square, the demise of an older order. What does this bode for financial markets of the world, and what can you do? We will discuss that in this lecture.
Sign up by April 19 and receive a pre-registration special discount price for the Main ISAR 2020 Conference. A discount for pre- and post-conference workshops is also in effect until April 19. To register or see more information on this spectacular event, go to go to https://isar2020.org and be prepared to be amazed!
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.