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

The Market Week in Review :

Many equity and commodity markets rallied into late last week as the center of geocosmic cluster unfolded Thursday, October 11. The U.S. stock markets all made new all-time or multi-year highs last Thursday, as did Gold and Crude Oil. New all-time highs were also registered in India's Nifty index, Australia's All Ordinaries, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng. Japan and all European indices rallied smartly into Thursday as well, but did not attain new all-timer highs.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

The major planetary cluster in effect was centered on October 11 of last week. It involved the third and final waning square of Jupiter-Uranus (October 9), the Libra new moon and Mercury retrograde station on October 11, and the third and final conjunction of Venus and Saturn on October 13. I would expect that this week's activity would be a reaction to those signatures that peaked last week (or early this week).

For this week, we note the following geocosmic signatures. "The Sagittarius Factor" (Moon in Sagittarius will take place on Monday and Tuesday, coinciding with Venus sextile to Mars on Tuesday. This is followed by the ingress of both the Sun and Mercury over 0 degrees of Scorpio on October 23, the next week. The Sagittarius Factor has a tendency to produce sharp price swings in some financial and commodity markets, like currencies, T-Notes, and Silver. The Venus-Mars sextile also has a rather reliable correlation to reversals in many financial and commodity markets within an orb of just a couple of days. It is likely going to be related to the October 11 critical reversal date in this instance, +/- 3 trading days.

The ingresses of Sun and Mercury - involving Scorpio - can coincide with a change of sentiment regarding interest rate or debt matters. The concern might be about an increased in debt, either national or in regards to the level of personal debt. Perhaps a report comes out about an increase in foreclosures, bankruptcies, and business failures. Perhaps there is more spillover about the sub-prime fiasco of the last few years.

Keep in mind that Mercury is now retrograde through November 1. This is typically a time when technical studies become most unreliable. Support and resistance either do not hold, or fail to be reached as expected. Buy and sell signals are more like "fake-outs," and markets flip-flop in very short spans of time (compared to usual). Usually we give very few recommendations to position traders during this period. It is better to be a very short-term trader, even day trader, or stay out of the markets altogether and let others enjoy the confusion of contradictory messages and announcements from economic and political leaders.

Also, we will repeat comments from last week's column. "Everyone knows about the "October effect," when stock markets seem to incur a powerful sell-off. 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... . 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 :

Last week we discussed the importance of Pluto's transit into Capricorn, a 15-year journey that will begin January 26, 2008. But before that happens, we will experience a shorter-term signature that also has the potential to be a very powerful correlate to mundane and/or market phenomenon. This is the 13-year Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, which takes place nearby to the Galactic Center (26 Sagittarius) on December 12. The nature of Pluto was covered in detail last week. It pertains to matters of life and death, the termination of cycles related to the planets and their ruling signs that are involved. In this case it is Jupiter in Sagittarius. Jupiter also rules Sagittarius. The principle of Jupiter is to expend and enlarge, exaggerate and inflate. Sagittarius is also rules the domain of foreign affairs, publishing, philosophy, education, and law. Pluto rules the domain of debt and taxes. So at first glance, it seems that debt is on the increase, along with plans to increase taxes in many areas, in the mistaken belief that this will be a long-term solution to the debt crisis. It is only short-term, with more dire consequences long-term to the growth of the economy. It is interesting to note that the last time this signature occurred was in late 1994, when Orange County California defaulted on its municipal bonds that were due.

But we may also find many social programs ending, or being reformed, especially those that pertain to law and education. Religious matters are apt to come to the forefront too, not only because Jupiter and Sagittarius relate to religion, but because the Galactic Center refers to the quest to understand the origin of all things. Debates are likely to arise again between the creationists and proponents of evolution, on the origin of life itself. Event the issue about the existence of God may be stirred again. It is noteworthy that as Pluto has crossed this Galactic Center point over the past 1-2 years, there has been a sizeable increase in atheism, which is certainly a threat to organized religion. So within three months of this transit, we may see major reformations taking place in religion and religious attitudes pervading society. We may also see major changes of trends in financial markets that are affected by debt (Treasuries, currencies). Crude Oil is also connected to this Jupiter-Pluto 13-year cycle. Perhaps the all-time high is achieved during this time band, and the expected 60-90% decline in crude oil prices begins. Previously we have also associated this possibility with the transit of Uranus in Pisces. That too continues in effect from 2003 through 2010. Pisces rules crude oil. When Uranus is in a sign of a sector, that sector oftentimes makes new all-time highs around the time it is in the middle degrees of that sign, and then drops substantially before leaving that sign.

Before leaving, you can thank the author and the writer by clicking on one of the pictures (advertisements) located on the right hand side.... it will cost you nothing... !!!

Announcements :

The Forecast book for 2008 : The pre-publication offer for the "Forecasts for 2008" book, and the special super discounts for the MMA Cycles reports ends this Monday. 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” will come out this week. These reports come out every three weeks to subscribers of these reports, although it will change to a monthly issuance cycle next year, so that the "SOS Global Stock Market Cycles Report" can be increased to a monthly issuance cycle as well. 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.
He will be more than happy to assist you.

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.

Top of the page