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

The Market Week in Review :

Welcome to the Saturn-Uranus opposition preview.

IStarting on Election Day, November 4, 2008, Saturn will make five passages of its 45-year opposition cycle to Uranus, lasting through July 26, 2010. Those who study Financial Astrology know that this is one of the most significant geocosmic correlations to long-term stock market cycles, per the studies done in "The Ultimate Book on Stock market Timing Volume 2: Geocosmic Correlations to Investment Cycles." But this past week, we had a preview of what this longer-term planetary pair cycle might be like, as transiting Venus translated the midpoint of the developing opposition between Saturn and Uranus.

For most of the world's stock indices, the declines of the prior week continued this past week. However, these declines were not straight down. In fact there were sudden and sharp rallies. There were wide price swings. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average made a new 9 month low on Wednesday, falling top 12,501. That was below the low of last August 16, which represented the steepest decline so far of the expanded 4-year cycle. Wednesday's low exceeded that, suggesting that this expanded cycle is still unfolding, as suspected. But by the next day the DJIA soared over 400 points, up to 12,931 during the day. Yet that rally quickly fizzled as the DJIA gave back 400+ points into Friday's low of 12,543. Wide prices swings lime these in such very short periods of time, is the nature of Saturn (depressed prices or news) and Uranus (sharp price swings). Last week's Venus translation, as a T-square to that forthcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition, just gave us a preview what world stock indices may be like from November 2008 through July 2010.

The price behavior was also similar in the NASDAQ Composite, which fell to a low of 2407.39 on Wednesday, just a little above its 2386 low of August 16, for a potential case of intermarket bullish divergence if those lows hold. By the next day, it was back above 2500, but only briefly, as it sold off to as low as 2428 during the day on Friday.

There were no such rallies in Australia or Japan, where stock indices just fell the entire week. In fact the Japanese Nikkei is now testing the 14,000 mark, it lowest level since June 2006. The ASX All Ords index of Australia is now testing the 6000 mark, far off its all-time highs of 6873 posted on November 1. Even India's NIFTY index fell a bit after posting a new all-time of 6357 on January 8. It closed the week at 6200. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong was relatively quiet all week, not making any new monthly highs or lows.

Europe on the other hand was down all week too, but not too new multi-month lows in all indexes. The AEX of Netherlands is currently testing the 479 lows of last August. But the German DAX and London FTSE are holding well above the lows of not only last August, but November too. The Swiss Index took out those lows on Monday, falling all the way to 8070. But, after a strong rally to 8385 the next day, the Swiss index also started a decline that lasted well into Friday, taking prices back down to 8156. Most of the indices of the world thus closed the week rather to their lows, giving a sense of more troubles ahead for stocks.

Gold and Silver, on the other hand, soared sharply last week, with Gold poking above the 900 mark for the first time ever. March Silver closed right near its high of the week at 1637, a level not seen since 1980. Crude Oil did not fare so well, closing the week at 92.31, well off its all-time high of just over 1200 posted on January 3. Interestingly enough, Crude Oil made cycle lows within a week of the prior two passages of Jupiter trine Saturn in March and May 2007. It is coming up again January 21. Jupiter is a co-ruler of Crude Oil.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

The Venus-Uranus square ends on Saturday, January 12. With Venus in Sagittarius and Uranus in Pisces - both mutable signs - it should not be surprising that the stocks markets of the world experienced such wild swings last week. Mutable signs are known for their "changeable" qualities. That may be even more understandable given that the Moon was in Aquarius, the sign ruled by Uranus, Wednesday through Friday, when the steepest price swings were in force.

From here, the markets will head towards the third of five passages of the Jupiter-Saturn trine on January 21. The first two passes were in fire signs, back on March 16 and May 6. The March 16 date was just two days after the end of a very sharp 2-3 week stock market sell-off. May 6 was one day before a crest in the NASDAQ Composite, followed by a modest sell-off into May 16. But now we begin a series of three more of these passages, but in earth signs. From our studies reported in our Stock Market Timing series books, it is not unusual to see a 4-year cycle in U.S. stocks form within one month of one of these middle passes. That means any low forming now - or with the next passage, which is September 8 - could be the 4-year cycle trough (which is now stretched out to 6 years for the first time since 1932-38).

It will also be interesting to observe the movement of Venus into Capricorn on January 24. For the following 8 days, it will cross the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction. You may remember that Jupiter and Pluto conjoined exactly on December 11, the day from which the current sell-off began. If the influence of that conjunction is still in force, we might see a significant rally into January 24-February 1, the time band in which Venus translates the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction. But we must keep in mind that in December, the two planets were in late Sagittarius., This time they will be in early Capricorn. We will have to wait and see if the results are the same, or perhaps opposite, what we saw in December.

Long-Term Thoughts :

The Venus translation to the Saturn-Uranus opposition was not only noticeable for its surprises and sudden changes in the stock markets of the world. It was also evident in last Tuesday's primary election in New Hampshire. Going into that election, all the polls showed Barack Obama well ahead of Hillary Clinton, by 9-14%. Following his surprisingly large win in Iowa the prior week, Obama seemed to have a momentum that could not be stopped. Mike Huckabee also had great momentum following his victory in Iowa too. But both Huckabee and Obama fell far short of what they had hoped for, and what the polls had suggested, as Clinton (for the Democrats) and McCain (for the Republicans) executed remarkable comebacks to win. As last week's column stated, "This coming week will also feature a new moon at 17 degrees of Capricorn on Tuesday. This is where transiting Jupiter will be on Election Day, November 4, 2008. In fact, the Moon will also return to this position at the start of Election Day too (a lunar return to this new moon). Consequently we are getting a preview of what this election holds in the next two weeks, during the waxing phase (new moon through the full moon), in effect January 8 through 22. Any candidate who gains momentum during this period has a good chance of being on the ballot in November. Based on this principle, it would seem that New Hampshire may be more reflective of what to expect in November than Iowa was this past week - unless of course, these primaries mirror the Iowa results. But I wouldn't rest on those results if I were Obama or Huckabee."

As a Mundane Astrologer, it is tempting to predict that one of those two winners (Clinton or McCain) will be the next president of the United States, simply on the basis of the new moon position on last Tuesday's primary being at the same degree as the Jupiter position on the national Election Day. Historically, New Hampshire has an 85% historical rate of accuracy for choosing the presidential candidates of each party in its primary. It is shaping up to be one of the most exciting elections in the United States in a very long time. Previously this column had also pointed to the importance of Saturn and Uranus in opposition as being a period when one must follow "the youth" in order to spot new trends emerging. That 45-year cyclical aspect makes its first of five passages right on Election Day. The turnout of the youth may very well decide who the next president of the Untied States is. They turned out in unexpectedly large numbers the previous week to deliver Obama the victory in Iowa. Will they do it again in November, thus kicking off this longer-term planetary cycle's past history ? Or will the geocosmic similarities between last Tuesday's new moon and the position of the Moon-Jupiter on Election Day be the dominating astrological correlate? Or something else entirely? Any time Uranus is involved, there is bound to be "unexpected" developments that alter the most sophisticated forecasting tools - like polls, which were dead wrong for New Hampshire. Financial Astrology methods, on the other, were more accurate in this case. But which do you think the general public will follow most closely as this election unfolds? Astrology would suggest that the polls could be wrong again going into the voting on Election Day itself, based on both the New Moon in to Jupiter correlation, and the Saturn-Uranus opposition. It might be a good wager to task at the last minute.

Announcements :

I will be presenting the "Forecast for 2008" lecture live in Lansing, Michigan (actually Okemos) on Saturday, January 12 at 7:00 PM. Cost is $40.00. To sign up, call 517-676-1680. Or email LCASastrology@cs.com . Seating is limited, so reservations are advised.

The "Forecasts for 2008" book is now sold in the German version. The English version is also nearly sold out now (less than 100 copies left). The cost of this year's book is $45.00 while still available. The Japanese translated version came out in the last week of December, and is selling extremely well too. Remaining copies in Japan are still available through Toshi Nippou at tn@tkc.att.ne.jp. For a description of this book, please go to http://www.mmacycles.com and scroll down to news items. We anticipate that the remaining copies of the English version will be sold out within the next month. There will not be another reprint. You may also order the English version through Schogt Market Timing in Amsterdam at info@markettiming.nl.

My next financial presentations will take place in all-day workshops on January 26-27 in Zurich, Switzerland, respectively. For further information, please go to www.astrodata.ch, or call 044-700-10-12. I look forward to meeting several readers at that event!

The “MMA Cycles Report” and “MMA Japan Markets Cycles Report” came out last month. 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

Our MMA 2013 catalogue is now out and available to overseas clients on our web site at www.mmacycles.com, and then under MMA Catalogue, and then under MMA Catalogue (pdf). Or just click here. Due to high overseas postal costs, we will no longer send this catalogue out by postal mail except to clients in the U.S.A. So, if you are interested in this year's services and products, you can download it from our web site.

The special webcast of the Forecast 2008 presentation that took place Saturday, January 5, 2008, is now available in two formats. It is be available in audio and slide show via your home computer. Or it can be available in audio only, via CD, to be played in your CD player, such as in your automobile. In this format, it can be downloaded into an iPod too. This special on-line virtual discussion addresses the importance of Pluto in Capricorn, the forthcoming Cardinal Climax and the potential changes it implies for the Federal Reserve Board, plus the latest updates on the DJIA (and indirectly, all world stock indices), Treasuries, Euro and Swiss Franc currencies, and Gold and Silver, and Crude Oil. The cost for either format of this private discussion is $45.00, plus postage if ordering CD. If you are interested in purchasing one or the other, drop us an email (ordersmma@msn.com) or fax (248-538-5296), or call us at 1-248-626-3034. Both formats available van be ordered through our shopping cart at www.mmacycles.com

The Forecast book for 2008 : is done! It's out as of Friday, December 14. The response for this book in the last week has been overwhelming. I wasn't going to do this, but it looks like an immediate reprint will be necessary, because we may already be sold out, something that usually doesn't happen before March. We usually take the number of orders received by December 1 and add 40% to the print total. But that formula clearly isn't working this year, even though pre-orders were at a record level. I don't know what it is, but people seem to be extremely interested in what astrology has to say about this coming year, or at least my interpretation of this noble study. Its fine with me, of course, because I think this year's book is the best I have ever written. It was certainly the most intense of all the ones I have written over the past 32 years. If you wish to get a copy, you can still do so for the remaining copies that may still be available this week. But I will immediately order more and they should be ready in the next week. But that is it. When those new copies are gone, there will not be a further reprint. The cost of this year's book will remain at $45.00. Available also in German at www.mma-europe.de. For description of this book, please go to http://www.mmacycles.com and click the banner.

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.

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.

Many readers may also be interested to know that the largest gathering of Financial Astrologers in many years will be taking place May 15-20, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. In fact, the largest gathering of astrologers since 1974 will be taking place then. The United Astrological Conference (UAC) will convene for the first time since 2002, and approximately 1500 professionals and students of astrology will be present from all around the world. Whether you are a professional or student or novice, you will find one of the 15 tracks being offered to be of great interest. They even have a beginning track based on sun sign astrology for those who know very little about how astrology really works. In all, there will be 155 speakers from over 30 different countries. For more information on this conference, go to www.uacastrology.com. For more information on the Financial Astrology track (18 different presentations), go to http://www.uacastrology.com/cgi-bin/tracks.cgi?CODE=12. And the best news of all is that there is a pre-registration discount special in effect until December 31. Sign up now (before December 31) and save big bucks, for the most exciting astrological gathering of our generation!

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."

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.

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