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

Raymond Merriman's video Forecasts for financial markets for 2010.

We are going to start taking orders for the Forecast 2011 book now via phone (1-248-626-3034), fax (1-248-538-5296), or email (ordersmma@msn.com). In a couple of weeks, you will be able to order directly from our website too. We are pleased to announce the price will remain the same as last year. That is :
- $55.00 if ordered after October 31,
- $45.00 if ordered before (plus postage).

We will also be offering special 10% discount rate for our subscription services to those who also pre-order Forecast 2011.
— This is a great deal, for in the words of one of our daily subscribers recently, " I don't know whether you want to hear/take any comments at all but I wanted to say that, so far, I am a very happy camper and the only thing which I think that I did wrong with subscribing to your service that I did it TOO LATE ! What was I thinking...? :-)" - R. Rood, Lugano, Switzerland, futures trader and technical analyst, former cash grain trader. For a review of the forecasts from the Forecast 2010 book, please follow that link.

The Forecast 2011 Book can be pre-ordered in several languages, at attractive pre-publication rates, through the following MMA publishers, which also publish our free weekly columns in their respective languages :

- Chinese Dutch Deutsch Japanese Russian Spanish

Please note that I am lecturing in Buenos Aries and Rio de Janeiro through next week. Thus there will be no report due next week (for the week of October 4). Our offices will be open during usual times while I am away.

The Market Week in Review :

As expected, the Federal Reserve Board maintained its position that it will execute further "quantitative easing" measures to support the USA economy if it considers it necessary. That means the Fed will continue keeping Fed funds rates down to 0-.25%, AND they will purchase long-term Treasury Bonds and Notes, if they deem it necessary to support the economy in the event that it starts to fall again. In other words, they will continue with their stimulative monetary policy because they do not yet consider the economy's growth to be on a secure and sustainable foundation. This is no surprise because Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has stated on several occasions that the USA government must address its ballooning deficit before the economy will be on the proper path. There has been no sign yet that Congress or the White House are willing to do that, so there is no reason for the Fed to change its position either.

This announcement came right on September 21, within hours of the full moon on the Vernal and Spring equinox, in conjunction with Jupiter and Uranus. In fact, Jupiter and Uranus reached their closest distance to the earth in decades around that time. It was a critical reversal date, and immediately after the announcement, equity markets in the USA soared to new multi-month highs. It lasted only a few moments, and then the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 100 points towards the close of that day. Equity prices continued falling over the next two days. But on Friday, they began to recover again.

Gold soared to another new all-time high last week, and Silver soared to its highest level since the 1980's. And why not ? After all, the exploding deficits and continuous spending policies of the USA government, and the zero-interest rate and quantitative easing monetary policies of the Federal Reserve Board, are extremely inflationary for most assets. They are not supportive for a strong U.S. dollar. Somewhere down the road the piper will have to be paid, and he won't want payment in the form of paper fiat currency. Accordingly, foreign currencies also rallied strongly against the U.S. Dollar last week. This was especially true with the Swiss Franc, which is rapidly resuming its historical role as the currency of "safe haven", replacing that status previously held by the U.S. Dollar.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

Although last week's September 21 critical reversal date produced the expected reversal in several markets, it cannot yet be said that it created much of a shift in equity markets around the world. The orb of influence is still in force, however. But now our attention will begin to focus on Venus retrograde, taking place on October 8. This signature has a 78% historical correlation to primary or greater cycles within an orb of 12 trading days. It has an 83% correlation to a 4% or greater reversal in stock indices within 4 trading days. Since the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction of September 18 and Sun-Jupiter opposition of September 21 also have a 75+% correlation to primary or greater cycles within 12 trading days, it is possible that all signatures could be fulfilled with a cycle crest during the period in which these time bands all overlap.

This week is important also because the Sun will square Pluto on September 25 and then conjunct Saturn on September 30. This means it "translates" the Saturn-Pluto square, which was exact August 21. You may remember that just a couple of days later (August 25 and 27), many stock markets of the world bottomed. Shortly after, this big 10 +% rally began. That was also during the time that the Russians loaded the Iranian nuclear reactor rods. Hence we may see more news regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions announced shortly.

The Sun-Saturn takes place in Libra, which is the sign of justice and fairness. Saturn with the Sun may pertain to new laws. Thus there may be a new initiative in some lands to enact laws that provide greater justice to its citizens. At its worst, it could instead indicate an effort to take greater control of the government and disguise the maneuver as an act of providing greater safety and security for its citizens, but in reality, it provides greater control only for the government itself. In terms of markets, Sun-Saturn conjunctions have been observed to coincide with trend changes in some markets. It does not have a high correlation by itself to trend changes in equity markets, but more often with some commodities, especially those that are affected by weather. There could be crop damage, or the end of a threat of crop damage. Economically, the Sun transiting the Saturn-Pluto square will keep the attention on deficits and debt.

Long-Term Thoughts :

It is not only the Sun translating the Saturn-Pluto square that will rivet attention on the debt and deficits. It is also the combination of both Venus and Mars transiting through Scorpio that does the same. Scorpio is associated with Pluto, the principle in Financial Astrology related to debt. Venus, which rules money, is in Scorpio an unusually long time (September 8-November 7, and then again November 29-January 8) because it turns retrograde there on October 8. Mars will be in Scorpio September 14 through October 28. Even after that, the Moon's North Node will be in conjunction to Pluto through much of November. With Pluto and Scorpio in such prominence, the three D's (debt, deficit, and default) will be the major topics of discussion by world leaders and angry populations over their government's fiscal mismanagement over the prior decade.

But Pluto also rules taxes, and governments everywhere are in conflict as to the role taxes should play in reducing their national deficits. Which brings up the question : Why is it that every new president or Congress of the United States (and probably every other country) feels compelled to change the tax laws once they come into power ?.

What is it about politicians - government leaders - that refuse to let businesses and individuals have the certainty of knowing what their taxes are - or will be - so that they can make plans for the future of their business or families ?. When the tax laws change, every business and many individuals have to make changes in their financial planning. It causes an interruption in their journey through life, a confusion that delays progress until one can figure out a new map to achieve their goals, especially when the changes being contemplated are for more taxes. Businesses stop hiring and individuals stop spending until the picture clears and they can once again enact the ability to make plans, assuming they can afford the goals they have with less money than they had before.

Who really benefits from the tax tinkering that takes place every time a new party comes into power ?. Certainly not businesses, which are the driving force behind a growing economy. The only people who benefit - in almost all cases - are the politicians themselves and the government bureaucracy that they grow. Constantly changing the tax law is one of the greatest detriments to a sustainable growing economy because it constantly interrupts the ability to plan one's financial future. It creates a behavior that is stop-go-stop-go, and hinders the ability to create a successful business plan.

The problem is not that the tax laws need to be changed every 4 years in order to help the economy. This argument is bogus and disingenuous. The problem is that most governments do not intelligently manage the receipts it gets from taxes to run the country, state, or city. That is all it is. And this is the argument that will be debated over and over again into the mid-term election and even beyond, as Scorpio the sign and Pluto the planet will be highlighted.

With Venus soon to turn retrograde in Scorpio, it is likely that we will hear of bizarre proposals being offered about taxes. This may result in the change of a tax policy. Right now in the USA the discussion is about letting the "Bush tax cuts" expire on time, starting January 1, 2011. But the White House has promised not to let them expire for 95-97% of the population (i.e. those whose households do not exceed $250,000 if married, or $200,000 if single), while some Democrats and all Republicans want to maintain the current tax code for everyone until the economy is on sound footing. According the Federal Reserve Board's monetary policies, the economy is not on sound footing yet or else it wouldn't continue its quantitative easing option.

With Venus retrograde during the election, it would not be a surprise if the expiring "Bush tax cuts" alone became the dominant election theme. With Venus retrograde, it is not likely that a decision will be made, or if it is, it may not be very popular and will require another modification after Venus turns direct. With Venus retrograde in Scorpio, it may yet be another opportunity for politicians to exhibit their capacity for short-sighted fiscal mismanagement, versus longer-term effective fiscal management policies that the populace wishes from their elected representatives.

In the meantime, it is beginning to look like the massive rally in stocks and other assets (i.e. asset inflation) discussed in the Forecast 2010 Book is starting to manifest. The "pedal to the metal" behavior of the Federal Reserve Board is starting to its anticipated effect just as described.

To be continued... (next week)

Announcements :

The monthly MMA Cycles Report and its companions - the MMA Japan Cycles Report and MMA European Cycles Report - went out last week, Monday and Tuesday, via posting on our web site, or attachment via direct emails, for subscribers. If you are a subscriber and did not receive it, contact us at once. We also sent an update to subscribers on Wednesday. This report covers our longer-term analysis of the U.S. stock market, precious metals, crude oil, currencies, Treasury Notes, and grain markets. The MMA Japan Cycles report covers the Nikkei, JGB Bonds, and the Dollar-Yen. The new MMA European Cycles Report covers the German DAX, Swiss SMI, and Netherlands AEX, each in English only. These reports are included in the Japanese, German, and Dutch translated MMA Cycles Report respectively. New yearly (or renewing) subscribers to these reports will receive a free copy of the Forecast 2010 book while supplies last (see below). You also qualify for a special discount on a yearly subscription if at the same time you pre-order Forecast 2011. For subscription information, please go to the front page of our web site at www.mmacycles.com, or call us at 1-248-626-3034.

If you are an active short-term trader, you may be interested in 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-Notes, Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Gold and Silver. The daily reports cover all stock indices listed above, as well as futures in Euro, T-Notes, 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".

CD's DVD's, MP3's, and "On-Line Streaming Video" of the July 11 webcast are now available !!! Each of these various ways to see the event can now be ordered via our website at www.mmacycles.com (just click the opening banner), or by calling 1-248-3034 or email operations at ordersmma@msn.com. The cost of each is $45.00, plus postage if necessary. This webcast covered our outlook for stocks, precious metals, interest rates and Treasuries, foreign currencies vis-à-vis the U.S. Dollar, and Grains. We pick this time because it is right before the astrological midpoint of the Cardinal Climax, which takes place late July through early August. It may be the peak of the huge trend reversals expected in many of these markets, aided and abetted by major changes of trend in geopolitical matters. You won't want to miss this presentation. Order now, because most of the trading opportunities presented are in effect from July 21 through October 8, 2010 !!!.

OK. You've asked about classes in Financial Astrology, and I am giving two of them in great South American cities in late September and early October. Since these constitute "investment education", many of you will be able to write the expenses of this trip off (travel, some meals, and cost of conferences). Here are some more details of each - and I hope to see many subscribers at each.

October 1-2, 2010 : Rio de Janeiro ! Workshop on Financial Astrology with Raymond Merriman, plus a Mundane Astrology panel with Merriman and others. The workshop will have with special emphasis on Brazil's Bovespa Index and precious metals, and whatever else is of interest to participants. For more information, contact Renato Chebar at renato65@gamil.com. We will host a special gathering for MMA Subscribers on Sunday, October 3, the day of Brazil's elections !!!.

January 14-16, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland. "Forecasts 2011" symposia featuring top mundane and financial astrologers, plus one day workshop on Financial Market Timing. For more details, go to www.astrodata.ch.

March 10-12, 2011 : Mexico City, Mexico. Speech on Forecasts 2011, and workshop on "Evolutionary Astrology : The Journey of the Soul Through States of Consciousness". For information, please contact acuario888@gmail.com.

April 28 and 30, 2011 : Kansas City, Mo. "Forecasts for 2011" and "Financial Astrology Workshop" with Raymond Merriman. Sponsored by AOA. Details soon.

The MMA Catalogue of products and services for 2013 is now out!!! You can download it in PDF. The ordering page is the last page of the catalogue. This is especially useful for those outside of the USA, since we do not mail these out by mail unless requested.

We are pleased to announce that the Spanish publication of "Basic Principles of Geocosmic Studies for Financial Market Timing" has just been completed. This first edition in Spanish will be in print in 10 days. For more information and ordering, please contact www.lecochonsideral.info/PubliMERRI/Espagnol/Annee2012/semana.html.

We also have our new CD available : "The Cardinal Climax 2008-2015 : Investment Opportunities and Dangers". This 75-minute CD outlines the most powerful geocosmic configuration of our lifetime : The Cardinal Climax of 2008-2015. This presentation examines the historical, long-term geocosmic signatures that are present 2008-2015, how they correlated to economic crises in the past, and how they will likely impact various financial markets and investment opportunities this time. In fact, many of the themes are already underway. Approximately 75 minutes, with PDF file of charts used: $25.00 plus postage.

I am oftentimes asked for recommendations of a money manager who uses my methods, since I won't manage other people's money. The thing is, almost all money managers I know use their own systems. But many subscribe to my services and share my thoughts about the future of the economy, various financial markets, and how to position one's portfolio along these lines. One money manager who subscribes to our services that I would suggest for those looking to structure a longer-term portfolio, such as a retirement account, is Duke O'Neill of Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at dukeoneil1@gmail.com, or 1-(303) 545-5837. For those looking for a professional trader of commodity and futures contract might consider Ted Lee Fisher at ted.fisher@comcast.net. Ted is a legend in financial futures and has a seat on the CME. Both are very knowledgeable of the tools I use, of the way I am looking at markets, and yet each makes their own decisions as to exactly when to enter and exit any market. They will be more than happy to assist you.

To the above list, I would also like to recommend long-term MMA subscriber Erwin Brunner of Zurich, Switzerland. Mr. Brunner is the founder of BrunnerInvest AG. One of his five funds was awarded the "Best in-house fund of funds" in the world recently. Mr. Brunner is a former director of the Swiss Banking Corporation (today it is known as UBS), and a general director of Rothschild Bank in Zurich. As an independent wealth manager for high net worth individuals and institutional clients only, he places his clients into the funds of the best performing fund managers in the world, via his own research and experience. For high net worth readers interested in Mr. Brunner's funds, please contact him through www.brunnerinvest.ch.

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.

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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September 1-8, 2011: Bali! "Financial Astrology" Intensive workshop with Raymond Merriman, and "Mundane Astrology" with Claude Weiss. For more information on this unique week-long intensive and incredible South Pacific paradise adventure.