MMA WEEKLY - Financial Astrology commentary, Market timing, MMA Cycles, The Merriman Market Analyst

Note : Due to European lecture tour, this column may not be available until Sunday for the next week as well.

The Market Week in Review :

This week's column is being written from the DAV (German Astrological) Congress, taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany. There are approximately 500 professional astrologers and students of astrology convening here this weekend, as we approach the final waning square of Jupiter-Uranus, Mercury turning retrograde, and the third and final conjunction of this season between Venus and Saturn - but this time in Virgo, instead Leo as in the first two instances.

As we enter this powerful geocosmic week, we note that the previous week ended with the Dow Jones Industrial Average making yet another new all-time high. It was matched with a new high in the NASDAQ and S&P cash market too (but not the nearby S&P futures). New all-time highs were also noted in Asia and the Pacific Rim last week, notably India's Nifty Index, the Hang Seng of Hong Kong, and Australia's All Ordinaries. The Japanese Nikkei also closed above 17,000 for the first time since the lows of August 17, but it is still well off its yearly high of 18,300.

The same rally last week did not produce any new all-time or even yearly highs in any of the Euro indices we track. From this we can conclude that the underlying fundamentals in Europe are not as strong or as optimistic about the future as they are in other parts of the world. Perhaps this is because of the soaring value of the euro currency, which made yet another new all-time high against the dollar early last week. This strong Euro may be causing investors to worry about potential loss of global market share by European companies. In Japan, by contrast, the Dollar started to rally nicely against the Yen last week, testing the 1.1700 area, well above its 1.1158 low of August 17.

So what are we to make of the Dollar in the next week ? Will it reverse its rally against the Yen, or its decline against the Euro ? And regardless of which, it appears to be not so good for stock indices, for each of them, are rallying into this powerful geocosmic week coming up.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

Planetary cluster forming this week is very tight, and each of the signatures involved have the possibility of coinciding with a reversal in all financial and commodity markets.

It could be the first one to unfold that causes the reversal. This would be the third and final passage of the Jupiter-Uranus waning square of 2007, occurring this Tuesday, October 9. Although this 14-year signature has a very strong and consistent correlation to primary and greater cycles in the past, the first two passages of this year did not produce changes until at least three weeks later. In the first instance (January 22), the market was rising, and kept on rising into late February. Then it suddenly broke down as the transiting Sun translated this signature with its conjunction to Uranus. The second instance was May 10-11. Again the stock market was soaring to new all-time highs. But it continued making new all time highs into the first days of June - and then it once again broke down sharply, as the Sun began its translation again over this signature. This time it was the Sun forming a T-square to the Jupiter-Uranus square. There won't be any translations this time of the Sun to the two planets involved in this signature until early December through December 21. And by that time, Jupiter will already be in the next sign of Capricorn, so we can't count on it to produce as much.

However, this week also finds Mercury turning retrograde on Thursday, which is also the day of the new moon in Libra. Both of these geocosmic events have important historical associations with reversals in many markets. But the new moon in Libra is especially important in stock markets. Everyone knows about the "October effect," when stock markets seem to incur a powerful sell-off. In many cases that sell off only lasts a couple days, maybe 2 - 10 days. But these declines have been very sharp in many cases. Well, the new and full moons of the Libra Sun have the highest correlation to highs from which those declines begin, or lows from which the declines end. This is a new moon week, and it happens on the day Mercury turns retrograde. That too is a geocosmic indicator of a reversal in the area of one's focus. What was important to the market until then is no longer most important. Something else begins to worry the market more. It may be a political, or business, decision. With Saturn in Virgo (Mercury's sign of rulership), it may have something to do with new fears in worker strikes that disrupt transportation and communications. The two days later (October 13), Venus will make its last contact to Saturn. This is generally a time of worry about money - values are decreasing again, somewhere. And there is fear it will continue. But this signature suggests that maybe not. If prices are already falling into this time, they can find a bottom and start to rebound again. But if they haven't started to fall much, this could be the deciding factor that pushes prices down well into October, for between October 8-27, Saturn and the South Node of the Moon will be conjunct. It's possible that worry becomes heavy, and if prices do continue to decline into the following week, they may continue to do so for several more days. But in all likelihood, these signatures suggest that many declining markets will find a bottom by the end of this month, however sharp the decline is.

Long-Term Thoughts :

Pluto in Capricorn. A new era begins January 26, 2008, according to the astrological calendar. I call this period "The Good, The Bad, Even Worse, and then Redemption." In every historical case of financial markets (dating back to the mid-1700's), the stock market made an all-time high, followed by one of the worst devastating crashes to historic lows, before recovering again. All while Pluto was in a cardinal sign - and it was in that order: new highs, declines of at least 50% of its value, and then recovery. And so I look for threes new all-time highs to continue into 2008, maybe even into as late as 2011. Then a devastating decline of 50-90%, due sometime between 2011 and 2016 as Uranus square Pluto. Perhaps there is a secondary low - a double bottom - within 10 months of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of January 2020. And then a recovery (redemption) for many years afterward.

So what causes this? That's not my job (smile). My job is to identify turning points in the markets, in collective psychology, in the mundane direction of world politics by means of my understanding of astrology.

Perhaps it pertains to the massive change of direction that I suspect will take place in American (U.S.) politics, starting with the next election. For one thing, I think there is reason to suspect the party in office will not return. Not unless they can convince the American middle class and common worker that they can provide best for them. With Saturn in Virgo, I think the working class will determine the next authority in office of presidency. It will not be determined on the basis of national security, as was the case when Saturn was in Cancer (2004), even though that card is surely to be played again while Saturn is still in a hard aspect to a further out planet (Uranus in this case).

Secondly, let's be hypothetical and assume that a Democrat is the next U.S.A. president. And let's take it one step further and assume it is Hillary Clinton (for the moment, she leads). Everyone thinks she will be a president like her husband, Bill - who Alan Greenburg referred to as the best president the Republicans have elected in the last several years. But Hillary Clinton as president is no Bill Clinton as President. I believe she will be a lot more like Jimmy Carter - a hard-nosed worker who wanted to do as much as possible for the "common man," the middle class, and for world peace. Never mind that Hillary Clinton may be supported by more corporate monies and/or special interests groups than any candidate ever in history. The question is what will she do as President ?. As a Scorpio, you know she will make changes. She will fire people who have been in certain positions for a long time. She will bring to an end various departments that she sees as no longer relevant to her goals (which are our goals, right? I mean, she will take a census on everything to justify her actions). And if there is a financial (or currency) crisis, one of those areas affected may be the Federal Reserve Board, which will find transiting Pluto moving over its Sun, and in opposition to its natal Pluto (0-1 of Capricorn and Cancer respectively, 2008-2010). When Pluto is involved, things to which it pertains come to an end. They are oftentimes terminated, or at least transformed significantly from their present incarnation. In the case of an entity's Sun, it means its leader. In the case of its own natal Pluto, it may be the end of the entity itself - at least as it has been known to be. And it is interesting that at the same time Pluto hits this Sun-Pluto opposition in the natal chart of the FRB (born Dec 23, 1913), the transit of Uranus will square FED Chairman Bernanke's Sun (21 Sagittarius), square his natal Jupiter (21 Gemini), and conjunct his natal Moon (around 21 Pisces). By the end of 2008 and into 2009, Saturn will go through 21 Virgo, thus completing the grand square to the FED chair's chart. His birth data and its source were provided in previous columns.

If you are looking for a reason why the markets may collapse in the not-so-distant future, I would look in this direction, for these are the key players in the cosmic drama that is unfolding 2008-2010.

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Announcements :

The Forecast book for 2008 : One more week remains to take advantage of the pre-publication offer for the "Forecasts for 2008" book, and the special super discounts for the MMA Cycles reports. The "Forecasts for 2008" book can now be pre-ordered at a pre-publication discount rate of $39.95 until October 15. After that, it will increase to $45.00. It will be available in both English and German again this year. And for those who place an order for next year's Forecasts Book, you can also take advantage of our special introductory rate on the new "SOS Global Markets Report" at $157.50/yr, instead of the $249.00 rate that will be in effect afterwards. For more information, go to our website at http://www.mmacycles.com, and read the latest "News" items. This new report will be issued once/month, instead of the previous schedule of 8 times per year.

My next financial presentations will take place in all day workshops on January 19 and 26 in Cologne, Germany and Basel, Switzerland, respectively. For further information, please go to EVENTS on our web site at www.mmacycles.com . The German version of "Merriman on Market Cycles : The Basics" is now in print. It is also a revision of the earlier work in English. For more information on this book, please go to our German web site at www.mma-europe.de.

If you have been waiting for a chance to subscribe to one of the MMA Cycles report for a discounted rate, now is your chance. Now through October 15, MMA is offering a special introductory rate to its new "SOS Global Markets Report" to those who also order the "Forecasts For 2008" book at the special pre-publication rate. For more information, go to our website.

The newly revised The Sun, The Moon, and Silver Book : Secrets of a Silver Trader, is now out. This is a book that you will use as a reference guide for...many, many years. It identifies all the key Sun-Moon combinations that have a higher (and lower) than expected probability of correlating with 4% or greater reversals in COMEX Silver. It also identifies “Big Range Days” - those days in which the range of Silver is most likely to be 3.5% or more of the price of Silver, which is a great tool for day traders. This book fulfills the dream of all traders: high probability winning trade possibilities, with minimal market exposure. It is that “extra edge.” And Silver is a great market to trade now. The cost is $125.00. For ordering on line.

If you are an active short-term trader, you may wish to consider subscribing to our Weekly or even Daily Market Reports with short-term trading recommendations. It is the only way I keep in touch with traders on a daily or even weekly basis. These reports give in-depth analysis of the DJIA, S&P and NASDAQ futures, Euro currency (cash and futures), Swiss Franc, Dollar/Yen cash and Yen futures, T-Bonds, Soybeans, Wheat, Gold and Silver. The daily reports cover all stock indices listed above, as well as futures in Euro, T-Bonds, Soybeans, Gold and Silver. Subscription to the daily report also includes the weekly report. For more information, or call our offices at 1-248-626-3034. In the words of one of our subscribers : "I recently subscribed to your weekly report and am finding it to be excellent and a very useful companion to the MMA Cycles Report. I can't imagine now managing my investments without them."

The “MMA Cycles Report” and “MMA Japan Markets Cycles Report” came out last week. These reports come out every three weeks to subscribers of these reports. The “MMA Cycles Report” (Monday night by email) is our market advisory report for traders of the U.S. stock indices, T-Notes, Gold, Silver, Euro, Swiss Franc, Grains, and Crude Oil. The “MMA Japan Cycles Report” covers the Nikkei, Dollar/Yen, and JGB Bonds, and comes out Tuesday afternoon. For more information

I have had several calls regarding a “crisis investing” portfolio that I suggested could be developed with the help of a money manager who subscribes to my reports, and shares my views about the next few years. If you are interested, you can contact him at ted.fisher@comcast.net.
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Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to predict 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 oftentimes report 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 will likely affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from a perspective of a cycle’s 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 these psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and hence financial markets of the day.

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 assume any responsibility at all for those individual decisions. Reader should understand that futures and options trading are considered high risk.

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