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

Please note that there will be no weekly column next week due my presence at the Pluto in Capricorn symposia in Zurich, Switzerland. With the time difference, it was just be too late on Friday night to complete it.

The Market Week in Review :

Stock markets around the world continued their plunge all last week. Many fell to new yearly lows, and many others are now testing their lows of last August. In the United States, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ Composite have now fallen well below their lows of August 16. In fact, these indices are now immersed in their steepest declines since the 4-year cycle of late 2002, early 2003. The DJIA, for instance, has now fallen over 2000 points and over15% from the crest of the 4-year cycle back on October 11. This supports our views that this 4-year cycle has stretched out to six years for the first time since the 1932-1938 instance.

In Europe, both the Swiss stock index and the Netherlands AEX have now made new yearly lows. But in England and Germany, the FTSE and DAX respectively are still holding those lows of August, but not by much. The DAX, for instance, fell to 7287 intraday on Friday, still above the 7190 low of August 17. The FTSE fell to 5856, just barely above the 5821 low of the same day.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, we find the Japanese Nikkei falling below its 14,045 low of June 2006. The Australian All Ordinaries plunged to 5799 on Friday, which is still above its lows of August. The Hang Seng fell to 23,957 last Thursday, still well above its lows of August 17. And in India, the NIFTY index fell to 5677, which back to the levels of only last December 19.

In other markets, Crude Oil continued its decline from the 100.00/barrel mark, falling below 90.00 last week. Gold and Silver both made new all-time or multi-decade highs early last week, then fell sharply into Wednesday before recovering somewhat into Friday. The European currencies however, continued to fall into Friday after posting secondary highs last Tuesday.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

Monday, January 21, will mark the third of five passages of the Jupiter-Saturn trine. As stated in last week's column, "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)."

Venus will also begin its ingress of Capricorn on January 24, lasting through February 17. For the first 8 days of this ingress, it will cross the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in early Capricorn. When these two planets (Jupiter and Pluto) conjoined on December 11, the stock markets of the world made a peak, and the current sell-off began for many of them. Thus we now watch to see if they can post a significant rally into January 24-February 1, the time band in which Venus translates the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, much like they did into December 11.

There is a lot of fear in the market place today, consistent with Jupiter in Capricorn. But if history serves as an accurate guide again, one would expect the market to find support within 10 trading days of the trine between Jupiter and Saturn. And it is interesting to note that we are fast approaching our 20% minimum decline level that defines 85% of the declines from the crest to the trough of the 4-year cycle.

Long-Term Thoughts :

Fellow market timer and colleague Garrett Jones ( garrett111@comcast.net) asked me the following question for a CD he is producing: "If someone gave you $5 million to invest over the next couple of years and you had to break it down and then not touch it over that time, how would you do it? " I asked his permission to share my answer on this column, because I thought it might be of interest to readers.

"Where would I put 5 million? If a Republican wins the Presidential election, I would put this money into Gold and foreign currency backed income funds, diversified across the globe in both "neutral" countries and commodity producing counties, like New Zeeland, Singapore, Canada, even Switzerland, as you and I discussed 4-5 years ago. That was the best time to do it. But if a Republican wins, that time is not over, for I believe the Dollar could continue to crash as the U.S. escalates war involvements and hence heads toward national bankruptcy threat and collapse of U.S. Dollar." Of course, this outlook may be altered depending upon which Republican wins. But if it is war-hawk in the tradition of the current administration, then I hold to this outlook.

"If a Democrat wins, I would simply place most of it in money markets funds (US $ based), for I think it means higher taxes, higher interest rates, but also a more stable dollar - unless it is too late. I would also continue investing in Corn through 2010, and farm equipment (2008 only). And probably something that benefits from oil prices going down (short an Oil-related ETF?). If I was not worried about the effects upon the earth and its people, I would also invest in weapons development of companies in foreign countries, because I believe strong armies will begin to build everywhere but in the USA. But my conscience will not permit me to make this type of investment this personally."

These views, by the way, are based upon the cyclical pattern of the U.S. Dollar related to recent presidencies, the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto T-square coming up in 2009-2010, plus Uranus moving from Pisces (Crude Oil) into the war-like sign of Aries (2011-2019), and squaring Pluto seven times along the way (2012-2015). And for the record, I don't know the fundamental reasons why Crude Oil would come down in price while weapons development in foreign countries increases. It seems to me to be a contradiction. But this is what my understanding of cycles and astrological signatures suggest, and I find they tend to happen accordingly regardless of my sense of logic beforehand.

Announcements :

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” will come out this Tuesday-Wednesday (January 22-23). 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 upload of the special webcast of the Forecast 2008 presentation that took place Saturday, January 5, 2008 will only be available until January 30. In this format, you can view the slide show with graphs and charts, along with the 2+-hour discussion. For those who have asked "How did it go?" I can only say it went great! There would not be enough room to share all the wonderful feedback form those who were in attendance, or from those who have uploaded the presentation since then. It really was a sharp presentation (even it was me who put it on). But even after January 31, it will still 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 : book is now sold in the English and German versions. The Japanese translated version is still available through Toshi Nippou at tn@tkc.att.ne.jp . Against my better wishes, we may have no choice but to reprint some copies because the U.S. Post Office damaged at least 150 of these books, and we have to replace them. Thus there my be additional copies available in about a week, depending on how many more notices we get of books not received due to this damage. We will make the announcement late this week. For a description of this book, please go to http://www.mmacycles.com and scroll down to news items. In the meantime, 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 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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