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That’s a wrap for 2022. Stocks closed out the year with a whimper. All three major indexes posted modest losses Friday, capping their worst year since 2008. The S&P 500 ended the year down 19%. “U.S. Stocks Close Out Worst Year Since 2008,” www.wsj.com, December 30, 2022. 

The Biden administration is planning to begin refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a senior administration official said Friday, marking the end to the massive supply releases that the White House ordered to tame the sharp price spikes earlier this year… The administration had announced in October it would set up a process to purchase oil from companies to refill the SPR at a price of $67 to $72 a barrel. – Ben Lefebvre, “Biden Administration Set to Start Refilling Oil Reserve,” Dec 16, 2022, www.politico.com. 

The level of the SPR — an emergency stockpile of crude oil managed by the Department of Energy (DOE) — declined to 375.1 million barrels last week, marking the first time it has fallen below 378 million barrels since December 1983, according to the Energy Information Administration. Prior to last week, the reserve’s lowest level since 1983 was recorded on Dec. 30, 1983, when it hit 378.3 million barrels. – Thomas Catenacci, “US Emergency Oil Stockpiles Drop to Lowest Level Since 1983,” Dec 28, 2022, www.foxbusiness.com.

We are back. And so is Mercury retrograde, otherwise known as “The Trickster.” Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING JANUARY 2, 2023 ©

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is nosediving again on Friday following another Federal Reserve decision to hike interest rates. – Joe Toppe, “Dow Nosedives as Traders Continue Selloff on Fed Hike,” www.foxbusiness.com, December 16, 2022.

The Sun/Neptune square has a strong correlation to reversals in the DJIA within four trading days. Like all aspects with Neptune, this one too can correspond with hopes and wishes about the future of equity prices. However, if it corresponds with a high, or secondary high to the crest of December 1-2, it could lead to a sharp reversal down into and beyond the Jupiter/Uranus semi-square of December 23. – Last week’s column.

Sure enough, the U.S. and many other world stock indices topped out last week, December 13-14, and began a nosedive as the cosmos shifts from Neptune’s “irrational exuberance” to the more chaotic Jupiter/Uranus theme that culminates next week.

The DJIA, for instance, peaked at 34,712 on December 13, its highest level since April, and up 21% from its yearly low of 28,660 on October 13. By Friday, just three trading days lower, it had declined to a low of 32,654, a decline of over 2000 points and nearly 6%. This fits with our studies reported in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing, Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles. Those studies showed a 78% rate of frequency to 4% or greater reversals in the DJIA within 4 trading days of the Sun/Neptune waning square. Monday will be the fourth day. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 19, 2022 ©

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The Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates elevated through 2023, dashing Wall Street’s hopes for rate cuts in the second half of 2023 and almost guaranteeing a recession. – Megan Henney, “Fed To Keep Interest Rates High All Next year, Making a Recession Very Likely: Survey,” December 9, 2022, www.foxbusiness.com.

“When Donald Trump won in 2016, he said we were going to get so tired of winning we would ask him to stop winning so much,” Christie told a gathering of Republican governors, noting the party lost House seats in 2018, the White House in 2020 and winnable Senate races in 2022. “I’m tired of losing,” Christie added. – Brett Samuels, ”GOP Tired of Losing,” The Hill, November 18, 2022.

Last week’s financial markets were a tug of war between the aggressive symbolism of a full Moon conjunct Mars (it was even an occultation, a lunar eclipse of Mars) on December 7-8, caught between the passivity inclination of Neptune turning direct on December 3, squared by Venus on December 4, and squared by the Sun on December 14. In other words, markets wanted to do something – go somewhere – but they didn’t quite know what or where. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 12, 2022 ©

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Job growth was much better than expected in November despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive efforts to slow the labor market and tackle inflation. Nonfarm payrolls increased 263,000 for the month while the unemployment rate was 3.7%. In another blow to the Fed’s anti-inflation efforts, average hourly earnings jumped 0.6% for the month, double the Dow Jones estimate. Wages were up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis, also well above the 4.6% expectation. – Jeff Cox, “Payrolls and Wages Blow Past Expectations,” www.cnbc.com, December 2, 2022.

Yields on longer-term U.S. Treasurys have fallen further below those on short-term bonds than at any time in decades, a sign that investors think the Federal Reserve is close to winning its inflation battle regardless of the cost to economic activity. A scenario in which short-term yields exceed long-term yields is known on Wall Street as an inverted yield curve and is often seen as a red flag that a recession is looming. – Sam Goldfarb, “Treasury Yield Curve Inverts to Deepest Level Since 1981,” Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2022.

The holiday joy continued for world equity markets after Fed Chair Powell’s comments on Wednesday that rate hikes won’t end, but may ease the pace of their ascent. On that news, most of the world stock indices made new cycle highs on Thursday-Friday, December 1-2, and in some cases they exceeded the highs of their previous primary cycles made in mid-August. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 5, 2022 ©

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“Investor psychology remaining optimistic is driving the rally in this market,” said Eugene Profit, CEO at Profit Investments, said Tuesday on CNBC’s ‘Closing Bell Overtime.” – Carmen Reincke and Sarah Min, November 23, 2022, www.cnbc.com.

“It is now clear that QE Was a Colossal Policy Mistake.” – Judy Sheldon, in an article written by Allison Schrager on Bloomberg News, November 22, 2022.

It was a holiday week in the U.S., but the DJIA continued to rally to new multi-month highs, even exceeding its previous primary high of 34,282 made on August 16. This fits the expected pattern of several Jupiter transits that were in effect November 15-23. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 28, 2022 ©

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Global banking giants are starting a 12-week digital dollar pilot with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Earlier this month, Michelle Neal, head of the New York Fed’s market’s group, said it sees promise in using a central bank digital dollar to speed up settlement time in currency markets. – Lananh Nguyen, “Banking Giants and New York Fed Start 12-Week Digital Dollar Pilot,” Reuters, November 15, 2022. 

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said Thursday that “the policy rate is not yet in a zone that may be considered sufficiently restrictive.” He suggested that the appropriate zone for the federal funds rate could be in the 5% to 7% range, which is higher than what the market is pricing. – Tanaya Micheel and Alex Harring, “S&P 500 Closes Higher on Friday, but Ends Week with Losses,” www.cnbc.com, November 18, 2022.

The DJIA followed the lunar cycle to a ‘T’ last week with a new high on Tuesday and a low on Thursday, followed by another healthy rally on Friday. Tuesday was the day of Venus trine Jupiter (‘Law of Abundance’ signature) and Thursday was the Moon in Virgo headed to the Mars/Neptune square. The U.S. stock markets basically paused their prior gains since the primary cycle low of October 13, when Mars also squared Neptune. It’s doing it again this weekend, only this time Mars is retrograde and the market is closer to a new cycle high than low.  Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 21, 2022 ©

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Inflation eased last month to the slowest pace since January but remained high, likely keeping Federal Reserve officials on course to start slowing the pace of interest-rate rises aimed at taming price pressures.The Labor Department on Thursday said that its consumer-price index increased 7.7% in October from the same month a year ago, down from 8.2% in September and June’s 9.1% rate, which was the highest in four decades.– Gwen Guilford and Nick Timiraos, “Easing Inflation Fuels Stock Surge,” Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2022.

This week’s investor run on the FTX crypto-currency exchange marks round two of the great crypto crackup, and so far the victims are consenting adults. Barring an unexpected spread to the banking system, this is another in the long line of easy-money manias turned to panic. “The FTX Crypto Fiasco,” Wall Street Journal Opinion Page, November 11, 2022. 

Where do you even start with a week like last week?

How about starting with Uranus? More specifically, let’s begin with the awareness that the last “translations” of key planets (Sun/Venus) to the departing Saturn/Uranus square of 2021-2022 happened November 5-11. That’s big. And the middle of that November 5-11 passage was Election Day, November 8, which just happened to also be the day of a powerful lunar eclipse. You expected something unexpected – upsets – would happen in the election and financial markets. They did. There was no huge red (Republican) wave that all the pundits were predicting, unless they knew astrology. There may not even be a clear cut majority in the Senate until a runoff in Georgia (again) takes place. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 14, 2022 ©

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Employers added 261,000 nonfarm jobs, more than expected and in line with the previous month’s 263,000. The unemployment rate edged higher to 3.7%, up from 3.5% in September. Hourly pay remained brisk rising at 4.7% year over year, matching September. – “October’s Jobs Report Solid, Making Fed’s Inflation Fight Harder,” www.foxbusiness.com, November 4, 2022. 

“Since 1942, there have been 20 midterm elections… US stocks climbed higher in the next 12 months after every single one.” ­– Stephen McBride, Risk-Hedge Report, “Should You Sell Your Stocks Ahead of Tuesday’s Big Election?” www.riskhedge.com, November 3, 2022.

We are back to the state of five retrograde planets following the turn of Mars on October 31. This, on top of the potent T-square between the Sun/Venus in Scorpio opposing Uranus in Taurus and square Saturn in Aquarius, November 5-11, now in its orb of influence. And this is in addition to the lunar eclipse on November 8, right in the middle of the T-square, and also the date of the U.S. mid-term elections. The good news is that the geocosmic hurricane/tsunami season for financial markets (and geopolitics) ends after that.

For now, financial markets are starting off every bit as wild as these cosmic signatures suggested they would. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 7, 2022 ©

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The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter but showed signs of a broad slowdown as consumer and business spending faltered under high inflation and rising interest rates. Gross domestic product—a measure of goods and services produced across the nation—grew at a 2.6% annual rate in the third quarter after declining in the first half of the year. – Sarah Chaney Cambon, “Economy Grows, But Warnings Flash,” Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2022.

It was a tale of two markets in U.S equities. The DJIA and S&P soared to new monthly highs on Friday with the former up every day. The tech-heavy NASDAQ topped out on Tuesday, October 25, the day of the solar eclipse, then sold off hard into Thursday before recovering on Friday, but was not able to make a new weekly high. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING OCTOBER 31, 2022 ©

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The Dow ended up more than 700 points as stocks rose sharply Friday, with investors weighing the possibility of a slower pace of rate increases. All three major indexes gained during the week, with the Dow notching its third straight week of gains.– www.wsj.com, October 21, 2022. 

Yesterday’s US jobless claims decline kept bond yields elevated. US Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s poor communication does not help—markets are not sure whether the Fed wants to squeeze workers or profits to reduce inflation (the latter would be more appropriate), creating unnecessary sensitivity to data releases. – Dr. Paul Donovan, “Moving On,” UBD Morning Audio Comment, October 21, 2022. 

The week started off with a grand air trine between Sun/Venus in Libra to Mars in Gemini and Saturn in Aquarius, October 12-19. The most recent lows in several global stock indices were at the beginning of the period, on October 13, which also sported the Mars/Neptune square on the same day. The stock market plunged immediately after the CPI report was announced that day, then started a sharp rally that has continued through last week. The DJIA ended up over 700 points on Friday for its best weekly gain since June.

However, the gains and new multi-month highs were not even across the board. Continue reading… MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING OCTOBER 24, 2022 ©