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

The Market Week in Review :

Last week was another incredible example of Financial Astrology at work. It didn't behave quite the way I expected, but it was certainly within the realm of astrological themes. Last week was the week that began with the lunar segment of the full moon in conjunction with Uranus. It illustrates the power of Uranus, and its principle of not just "the unexpected", but also its utter disregard for tradition, convention, and boundaries of support and resistance in financial markets. How many 500+ point range days did the Dow Jones Industrial Average have last week? How many times have we ever witnessed Gold moving $137.00 from the low of one day to the high of the next day ? Or Silver prices moving over 20% in less than 2 days ? That is the nature of Uranus, which became even more dramatic when it conjunct the full moon.

Nearly every major stock market index in the world fell hard into Thursday of last week, and then staged a powerful rally into Friday. The low on Thursday was within one week of September 11, our three-star critical reversal date. In many cases, that was a multi-year low. In Europe, both the Netherlands AEX and German DAX indices fell to their lowest levels since May 2005. The London FTSE fell to its lowest level since September 2006. But in Switzerland, the SMI index held above its low of July 16, representing a case on intermarket bullish divergence, as all indices closed near their highs of the week on Friday.

In the Far East and Pacific Rim, the All Ordinaries of Australia, Hang Seng of Hong Kong, and Nikkei Index of Japan all fell to their lowest levels in over two years. But once again, the NIFTY Index of India held above its low of July 16, for yet another case of intermarket bullish divergence in this region.

There was no bullish divergence in the USA however, as all major indices fell to new multi year lows on Thursday. But by Friday's close they had moved up sharply. In the case of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it moved over 1000 points from Thursday's low to Friday's high, an achievement that I believe represents a "first".

Crude Oil and precious metals also exhibited a powerful reversal. From a low of 90.51 on Tuesday, Crude Oil soared to close the week at 104.55. The rallies in Gold and Silver were just as dramatic, and probably represented record (or near-record) gains in 1-2 days.

Uranus is now clearly the astrological key to understanding today's financial markets. The prior week ended with the Sun's translation of the Saturn-Uranus opposition, September 3-12. It began with the Sun translating the forthcoming Uranus-Pluto square, September 12-20. We have been paying close attention to the translation of faster moving planets to the Saturn-Uranus opposition because its starts a 20-month, 5-passage series, on Election Day, November 4. It lasts through July 26, 2010. This 45-year cycle (and its conjunction) has a very impressive historical correlation to long-term cycles culminating in stock indices throughout the world. But we have been overlooking the importance of the 7-passage series of Uranus square Pluto that will take place 2012-2015. Those two planets are close enough in aspect to have an influence now, as testified by last week's market behavior and the nature of world events that took place August 6-17 when Mars made a translation to this same forthcoming square. That was when the Georgia-Russia crisis erupted, putting the USA and Russia right back into the Cold War mentality of post-World War II. That was big. Then last week the Sun made its translation to the Uranus-Pluto square, and in terms of financial markets - especially debt-related markets - that was big too.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

The translation of the Sun to Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto finally ends this week, which may coincide with less volatility. It wouldn't take too much to accomplish that since last week was certainly one of the most volatile market weeks in history. However, one should not be lulled in to the belief that there is more certainty in the market than last week, for this week will see the advent of the Mercury retrograde cycle, starting September 24 and lasting through October 15. Like Uranus signatures, Mercury retrograde is also a time when support-resistance levels are oftentimes violated, or just fail to be achieved altogether. News and economic reports tend to be of a conflicting nature, leading investors to more confusion and frustration. Our motto during this period is to "take profits top soon", which merely means to accept many possible small profits instead of staying with a position in the hopes that it will achieve your price target goal and a bigger profit. It is not a terrible period for very short-term traders, but it can be extremely frustrating for position traders.

There are a couple of planetary ingresses coming up that are important too. For one, Venus will now leave Libra on September 23. Venus in Libra has a high correlation to primary cycle troughs in Silver prices, and indeed, it looks like one formed right on our three-star critical reversal date of September 11 at 1022. By the end of last week, Silver was again testing 1300. I don't think the move up is over by any means, as will be discussed in this week's MMA Cycle Report. Adding to this belief is the fact that Mars will enter Scorpio October 3 and remain there through November 16. In over 90% of cases studied, there is a powerful rally in precious metals during this ingress. In many cases, that rally starts slightly before Mars moves into Scorpio, when it is in Libra, as was the case during the low of September 11.

Long-Term Thoughts :

On my website (www.mmacycles.com) is posted an article on "Pluto in Capricorn: The Good, The Bad, Even Worse, and Redemption". This article was written a year ago, and outlines my views on the transformations to take place in the Federal Reserve Board because of economic crisis coming to the USA, and even the world. My conclusion was that by 2010, it would be an entirely different entity than we knew now (then). In fact, its chairperson could be dismissed, or the entity itself may no longer even exist as an independent body after that. It could conceivably run out of money, which seemed (at the time) laughable. All of this was based on the idea that transiting Pluto would be entering Capricorn, conjunct the Sun-Pluto opposition in the Federal Reserve Board chart (founded December 23, 1913). The conclusion was also based on two other astrological factors. First, Pluto would be transiting in opposition to the USA Venus-Jupiter conjunction, which is a classical bankruptcy-potential aspect for the country's currency. And the forthcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition fell right into the middle of a grand square to Sun-Moon-Jupiter in Chairman Bernanke's natal chart (Dec 13, 1953, Augusta, GA, no time, according to Wikopedia.com). This is a classical signature for changing one's position, and not always the result of choice. With Saturn involved, he may shortly become the scapegoat for all that has gone wrong. Our fire sign heroes are Paulsen the Aries, Bernanke the Sagittarius) are having fits controlling markets now that Jupiter has moved from sign-friendly Sagittarius to the more challenging "prove-it-to-me-sign" of Capricorn at the end of last year.

This week, there were at least two interesting news articles that illustrate these concerns. An Associated Press story by Ellen Simon on Thursday stated, "The Treasury Department, for the first time in its history, said it would begin selling bonds for the Federal Reserve in an effort to help the central bank with its unprecedented borrowing needs". Why do you issue bonds ? You do so because you are running out of cash. But in typical denial fashion, which is common with government leaders of late when economic crisis come knocking at your door, the next paragraph states, "Treasury officials said the action did not mean that the FED was running short of cash, but simply was a way for the government to better manage its financing needs". Sure. You have a bond auction to raise money, but you are not short of cash. Uh huh.

But there is more trouble brewing ahead. In an excellent web article titled: "It's the Derivative Stupid! Why Fannie, Freddie and AIG All Had to be Bailed Out," author Ellen Brown states, "Now the Federal Reserve has announced that it is giving an $85B loan to American International Group (AIG), the world's largest insurance company, in exchange for a nearly 80% stake in the insurer.... The Fed is buying an insurance company ?... The Federal Reserve has the power to print the national money supply, but it is not actually a part of the U.S. Government. It is a private banking corporation owned by a consortium of private banks. The banking industry just bought the world's largest insurance company, and they used Federal Money to do it". For this entire story, go to http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/its_the_derivatives.php.

During the last two weeks we witnes sed a meltdown and case of hysteria and panic in the financial community. During the last two weeks, transiting Sun made a translation to the forthcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition, and Uranus-Pluto square. In theory, these translation periods are a preview of what to expect when the bigger planetary cycles actually unfold. Saturn will be in opposition to Uranus November 4, 2008-July 26, 2010. And Uranus will square Pluto 2012-2015 (I don't have the dates with me at the moment). I already stated that Uranus is an important key, and has no respect for tradition and convention. Anything can happen, and usually things happen much more shockingly than anyone expects. But Pluto is involved too, and Pluto represents either threat of termination, or a complete overhaul and/or healing. Many things have gone wrong, which is the nature of Uranus in terms of realization. Many things need to change before the system spins entirely out of control, which is the message of Pluto. Can we do it? Yes, because the longest aspect of all is the Neptune-Pluto cycle, and it is in favorable sextile 1950-2040. However, as with all Pluto aspects, correcting the problem means getting rid of the cause and those who created the threat. And to unwind the damage that has been done since at least 2001 (when Saturn and Pluto were in opposition) may take another decade (when Saturn and Pluto come back into conjunction, or within two years of 2020). In the meantime, we will all have to go through the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto T-square, the influence of which may be quite severe through 2015. But that also represents the absolute bottom, from which redemption can follow.

Announcements :

The monthly "SOS Global Market Cycles Report" came out last week, September 9, and one day later in German to our German SOS subscribers. If you are a subscriber and did not receive it, let us know at once. This SOS monthly report will address and update the long - and intermediate-term cycles that affect all world markets, but specifically through the history of the U.S. stock market, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is the "big picture" ahead, like where we are now in terms of the 18 - and 4-year cycles. It will then give an overview (and projection) of the shorter cycles (primary and its phases) of the Netherlands AEX, the Australian All Ordinaries, Hang Seng of Hong Kong, the NASDAQ Composite Index, and the XAU Gold and Silver Mining index. The German edition will give analysis also of the Swiss Market Index (SMI). Trial subscriptions are available for as little as $40.00. For ordering information, go to
http://www.mmacycles.com/catalogue/services/the-sos-stock-market-cycles .

It is that time of the year again! You can now pre-order the Forecast for 2014 book at a special pre-publication discount price of $39.95 until October 15 (plus postage). For more information on this book, and other special offers in effect, go to our website at www.mmacycles.com , and click on the opening banner.

Our next Market Timing Workshop, which will take place at "The Blast Astrology Conference" in Sedona, AZ. On Friday, September 19, I will be giving a one-hour presentation on "Me and My Money: Are We Compatible?" This will examine how one approaches money from their natal chart, and whether one may be more successful as a trader, investor, or neither. On Saturday, September 20 th , 2 pm to 6 pm, I will present a workshop on "Introduction to Financial Astrology and Market Timing." The cost is $145.00 if signed up by August 15. For more information. It ought to be a "Blast!" I will also give a special one day intensive for subscribers to any of the MMA reports on Monday, September 22, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Attendees can spend an afternoon and ask all the questions they wish about how I analyze a market, and why I forecast what I do forecast in the various subscription reports. We will go through the market timing routines of the FAR for Galactic Trader software program. The cost for this one-day intensive will be as follows: $295 if a subscriber to MMA Cycles or SOS reports; $195.00 if a subscriber to any of the weekly subscription reports; Free to any of the daily subscribers. All others can attend as observers at a cost of $500.00. Prices will increase 10% after September 10. If you are interested, contact our office at 1-248-626-3034, or by email at ordersmma@msn.com, and we will give you details as to the location. It will be on our web site shortly.

We have added an exciting new feature to our web site. Now, on the very front page, you can get a daily update on the weighted values of the Solar-Lunar cycles for the Dopw Jones Industrial Average and the Silver market, via the studies conducted in "The Ultimate Book on Sock Market Timing Vol 4: Solar-Lunar Correlations to Trading Cycles," and "The Sun, Moon And Silver Market : Secrets of a Silver Trader." These are the studies, I use personally when trading stock index futures, ETFs (like DIA and Silver fund), and Silver futures. Anything over 100 means it has an above average correlation to reversing from an isolated high or low if it forms that day. The higher the value, the more probable the reversal. To see these daily values, please go to www.mmacycles.com , and just check it out.

We are now ready to accept registrations to our next Market Timing Workshop, which will take place at "The Blast Astrology Conference" in Sedona, AZ. On Friday, September 19, I will be giving a one-hour presentation on "Me and My Money : Are We Compatible? " This will examine how one approaches money from their natal chart, and whether one may be more successful as a trader, investor, or nether. On Saturday, September 20th, 2 pm to 6 pm, I will present a workshop on "Introduction to Financial Astrology and Market Timing." Cost is $145.00 if signed up by August 15. For more information on either this workshop or Seminar, go to http://blastastrologyconference.com/schedblast2.html. It ought to be a "Blast!" I will also give a special one day intensive for subscribers to any of the MMA reports on Monday, September 22, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Attendees can spend an afternoon and ask all the questions they wish about how I analyze a market, and why I forecast what I do forecast in the various subscription reports. The cost for this one-day intensive will be as follows : $295 if a subscriber to MMA Cycles or SOS reports; $195.00 if a subscriber to any of the weekly subscription reports ; Free to any of the daily subscribers. All others can attend as observers at a cost of $500.00. Prices will increase 10% after September 10. If you are interested, contact our office at 1-248-626-3034, or by email at ordersmma@msn.com, and we will give you details as to the location. It will be on our web site shortly.

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 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.

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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