MMA WEEKLY - Financial Astrology commentary, Financial Market Analyst and Market Timer

The printed version of Forecast 2014 will be translated into several different languages again this year as follows :

- Chinese Dutch Deutsch Japanese Russian Spanish Italiano

Each of these will also offer the English version of Forecast 2014, as will our Chinese distributor : "Your work is essential to anyone who is serious in this field. I can't thank you enough for it".

Go to the sheet for Downloading the video for the Ultimate book on stock market timing.

The Market Week in Review :

Mars was conjunct Saturn and Venus was in a T-square to the Uranus-Pluto square on August 15-16. Plus the Mars-Saturn conjunction hit important points in the chart of the New York Stock Exchange. All of these geocosmic signatures - plus overbought technical momentum indicators - indicated a reversal was at hand. But equity markets around the world didn't really reverse as anticipated. They paused for much of the week, but then continued to new cycle highs on Thursday and Friday. This may have been due to the new moon on Friday, headed to the moon's passage into Libra next Monday-Tuesday (August 20-21), or the options expiration on Friday, August 17. We did experience nice reversals upwards in currencies and precious metals from lows which unfolded exactly as expected on August 15-16, so the geocosmic signatures scored a hit once again in terms of a shift in investor psychology even if it didn't reflect specifically in equity values, other than Facebook. By the way, Facebook last week met our original projection of a 50% decline off their opening IPO price of $38.00. Now it begins to look attractive to technical students like myself.

Best Trades of the Past Week :

The best trade of the week was in Gold or T-Notes. The weekly report for August 13 in Dec Gold stated, "Aggressive traders are also long. Let's take profits on 1/3 of longs here too and rebuy on a decline back to or below the 15-day moving average, or 1595. Set the stop-loss on a close below 1575. If we do drop into a low Aug 15-17, we want to buy that if not already long" The low last week occurred on Wednesday, August 15 at 1592 after opening the week at 1620 . For September T-Notes, the report stated, "Position traders are short (from the 135 area a couple of weeks ago).... we still have 2/3 shorts (after covering 1/3 for profits the prior week), so let's set out stop-loss on a close above weekly resistance, but cover another 1/3 now and the final third if and when prices drop back below 133. We will look to go long on a drop to 132/16 or better with a stop-loss on a close below 130/16" The low was 132/10 on Friday, August 17.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

Another geocosmic explanation as to why stock indices continued to rise all last week and not reverse (as of Friday anyway) may be related to the Sun-Neptune opposition coming up on Friday, August 24. This is a powerful Level 1 signature according to the studies reported in "The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3 : Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles". Level 1 signatures are those that have at least a 67% correlation to primary or greater cycles within two weeks. The Sun-Neptune opposition has a historical frequency of 74% to primary or greater cycles within 13 trading days. Of course the majority occur within far less than 13 days. In fact, most occur within only 4 trading days. This is followed by a Mars-Neptune trine on August 26, another Level 1 signature with a 74% correlation to primary or greater cycles within 11 trading days. What also makes this period so important as a potential reversal and shift in trader sentiment is that Mars will enter Scorpio on August 23. Let's dissect these elements.

In the studies conducted in Volume 3, I noticed an interesting pattern that reoccurred several times under transits of strong Neptune aspects. It is what traders and analysts often refer to as a "distribution top". That is, equity markets would rally into these Neptune aspects, but not with a great deal of force or volatility. The rise would be modest, and then prices would plateau out. It was like Neptune had no power or energy behind it. At the same time, the trading community would appear to be very complacent. They wouldn't buy with gusto and they wouldn't immediately sell. So the market just appeared to be floating, like a sailboat in a gentle breeze.

This in contrast to Uranus and Mars aspects, where the winds of change are like storms. Last week witnessed Venus in a hard aspect to Uranus and Pluto, and so the thought was that markets would be volatile and reversals would suddenly erupt, like a storm cloud that appears out of the northeastern sky instead of the west. That didn't happen. The rallies of the past 10 weeks did stall temporarily under those signatures, but then they resumed their graceful upward trajectory, so we have to look elsewhere for explanations for this mild behavior. Perhaps they will decline yet next week, for these signatures are only 2 trading days old. But if they don't, or even if they decline only mildly, it may be due to the two Neptune signatures coming up.

So it may be that we have to wait until next week passes, and Mars gets fully out of Libra, where it is in conflict (Mars is aggressive and war-like, Libra is indecisive and peace-loving). It moves into Scorpio through October 7, its natural home, and where it is much more certain about what it wants to do and nothing will stand in its way as it makes its decision.

Of course in terms of politics, this can be an even nastier signature, which will be something because already the 2012 presidential election is the ugliest and nastiest election ever according to many political observers. And with Uranus in square aspect to Pluto through March 2015, that is no surprise (see Forecast 2012 Book). The campaigns can and probably will get more negative in the next six weeks. The negativity may backfire on candidates, as suggested by some smaller polling agencies which now report that President Obama's like ability numbers have fallen from the high 50's to the mid 30's in the past few weeks.

I don't recall an election where so many supporters of each party feel their candidate is going to lose. My liberal connections complain that Romney is going to win, and my conservative associates feel that Obama is going to win. This is strange. This is Uranus square Pluto. This is the United States headed into a transformative election cycle, with the Uranus-Pluto square headed to form a grand square to the USA Sun-Saturn square in 2014. This is the United States today headed for the dreaded Uranus-Pluto "Fiscal Cliff" on January 1, 2013. Everyone hopes they will solve this approaching storm. But they are losing faith in the political system to do what is necessary and right to protect their citizens instead of their own jobs. As the President's likeability sinks by 20%, the approval rating of Congress sinks to an all-time low of only 10%.

Longer Term Thoughts :

"I think we introduced something new to the campaign - numbers!" - Rick Santelli on CNBC, speaking on the choice of Paul Ryan as the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate. August 14, 2012.

As I completed the studies for the second edition of "The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 2 : Geocosmic Correlations to Investment Cycles", my attention was drawn to the importance of Saturn in a waning trine aspect to Neptune. This is a long-term planetary signature (36-year periodicity), and in every instance (7 times since 1762) it has corresponded to a 4-year or greater cycle in the British or U.S. stock market within 6 months. In six of those seven instances, it has corresponded to a cycle greater than the 4-year type, and in six of those cases it was a trough of the 4-year type or greater. Truly and surprisingly, this Saturn-Neptune trine is one of the most consistent and powerful correlates to long-term stock market cycles. And it is coming up October 10, 2012-July 19, 2013. In fact, the only planetary signatures stronger than this are the conjunction and opposition of Saturn and Uranus, and the opposition of Saturn and Pluto.

Of course, these studies are just numbers. They are numbers that show us a pattern in human activity which, if we chose to pay attention, can tell us something important about our human family. If we chose to ignore them, we may fail to see lessons and insights about our family's history that can provide an enlightening way out of difficult times.

Yes, words matter. They can provide hope and inspire others to greater confidence, or vice-versa. But they don't prove anything unless they are backed up by measurable results. Numbers on the other hand measure results and thus provide insight to solutions. Of course they can be manipulated and oftentimes are for nefarious purposes. But without numbers, there is no verification other than one's own subjective interpretation of experience. Santelli is right : the election has just shifted from words to numbers which can measure results. Now, who can count in Uranus-Pluto quantities ? 15 trillion... 16 trillion... and increasing parabolically as we move closer and closer to that cliff unless... Pluto reverses and repeals. I am not sure Uranus in Aries will let him, for Uranus in Aries tends to like thrills, such as a game of "chicken" and jumping off a cliff into an abyss. I hope there is a safety net in place.

To be continued... (next week)

Announcements :

We are pleased to announce the completion of "The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing, Volume 2 : Geocosmic Correlations to Investment Cycles". We expect this book to be in print sometime in September - hopefully in time for the September 15-16 workshop. This means that the special $75.00 pre-order rate will end August 15. At that point, the normal rate of $125 (plus postage) will go into effect. To take advantage of the special pre-order discount price, please go to.

Recently I announced that I will be starting a new direction in life over the next two years, involving a mentor-apprenticeship program on Financial Market Timing and Analysis, according to the unique methodology I have developed over the past 30+ years. I didn't expect any response yet, as we are still developing the format. But... there has been a huge response! We know we are behind the curve on getting out information on this rapidly developing project, but we are working out the details and more announcements will be made shortly. So far we have determined that the training will take place over eight weekends stretching from 2013-2014. The dates for 2013 have now been selected. They are : April 6-8, June 15-17, Aug 10-12, and Oct 12-14. The 2014 schedule will be determined in 2013 . These 8 sessions will be the only time that Raymond Merriman will give this entire training in person. A pplications for the "On Line Market Timing Academy" (OLMTA) are being accepted now. There will be an introductory training session, September 15-16 in Troy, Michigan (see below). For more information, or an application form, please contact Amber Lundsten, call 1-248-626-3034, or go to or scroll down the opening page (next page) of www.mmacycles.com. Raymond Merriman's "Market Timing Academy" (MMTA) will offer a pre-training course on "Beginning Principles of Financial Astrology for Financial Market Timing", September 15-16, in Troy, Michigan, at the Management Education Center of Michigan State University. This 10-12 hour course may be attended live, in person, or via webcast televised to your computer. An archive of this workshop will be available for 30 days afterwards to those who sign up. This workshop will basically train non-astrologers in the use of reading an ephemeris, the table of planetary positions for any given day. This is essential to anyone who wishes to understand how to find a geocosmic critical reversal date for financial markets. This course (or audit of it) is a pre-requisite for anyone entering the MMTA market training course, as developed and instructed by Raymond Merriman. The MMTA two-year training course will begin in April 2013, and will involve 8 weekends of study - 4 weekends each in 2013 and 2014. For more information and registration, please go to www.mmacycles.com (front page, near bottom). We will make announcements as this training program unfolds. The cost for the September 15-16 pre-training workshop is $395.00 ($300 for MMA subscribers). This cost will be deducted from the fee of the two-year training course to those who apply and are accepted into MMTA by October 15, 2012.

Speaking of our weekly subscription reports, we now offer a new one titled : MMA Weekly Treasuries, Soybeans, and Crude Oil Report. This will be a 3-5 page report offering comments, analysis, forecasts, and trading strategy for next week's market activity in the U.S. 10-Year T-Notes (Treasuries), Soybeans, and Crude Oil futures only. List of support/resistance areas, trend indicator points, geocosmic and lunar reversal points for the week, cycles phasing, and recommended buy and sell strategies. The cost is $750/yr or $250/3 months. We will offer a one-month trial subscription for $50.00, available only until August 15, as part of our introduction to this new service. Subscriptions are delivered by downloadable postings on the MMA Website, which is entered via your personal password. It is also delivered via an email attachment to all subscribers over the weekend before the market opens.

The DVD of the Denver Workshop on Financial Market Timing is still available! This financial markets workshop offers a completely unique and original perspective, integrating :

1) Market Timing studies,

2) Price Objective calculations,

3) Technical Analysis,

4) Pattern Recognition studies, and

5) Trend Analysis.

The primary focus of this workshop is on Market Timing Studies, particularly Cycles Analysis and Geocosmic Studies, as leading indicators that identify when to anticipate a reversal in all financial markets. Gold and the U.S. stock market are studied in great detail, especially regarding their current status. There is a wealth of timely and valuable information in this DVD, especially pertaining to the forthcoming Uranus-Pluto square of June 24, 2012, lasting through March 2015, and the important Jupiter correlation to stock market cycles coming up August-November 2012 and March-May 2013. The cost for this 4-hour DVD is $180.00 plus postage. To order, or call Amber at 1-248-626-3034. If you are a trader or investor who appreciates the value of market timing - especially in the next few months - this is a presentation you will not want to miss.

If you are an active short-term trader, or even if you are an investor who likes to keep up with our current thoughts on financial markets, you may be interested in our Weekly or even Daily Market reports with short-term trading recommendations, (see a sample there, of the weekly). It is the only way I keep in touch with traders on a daily or even weekly basis, as I no longer offer personal consultations. 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, Euro-Yen cash, T-Notes, Soybeans, Crude Oil, Gold and Silver. The daily reports cover all stock indices listed above, as well as futures in Euro, T-Notes, Soybeans, Gold and Silver. Both reports provide trading strategies and recommendations for position traders as well as for shorter-term aggressive traders. Subscription to the daily report also includes the weekly report.
If you want more information call our offices at 1-248-626-3034.
These reports are extremely valuable to those who trade ETF's (Exchange Traded Funds). In the words of one of our subscribers :"I am really pleased with your recommendations through the Daily and Weekly Trade Recommendations. I have used them to trade gold and silver stocks in my IRA. In the last eight years I increased my account from $60,000 to $712,000. Thanks for your excellent publications". - Bryden C., Small Business Owner, Illinois.

The monthly MMA Cycles report and its companion MMA Japanese Cycles and MMA European Cycles reports will come out this week, Monday and Tuesday, via posting on our web site, or attachment via direct emails, for subscribers.
- This report covers our long term analysis of the stock market (DJIA and S&P futures), Gold, Silver, T-Notes, Euro and Swiss Franc currencies, grains and crude oil. It also provides the list of geocosmic and solar-lunar reversal zones for the 1-2 months. This report comes out Monday night to subscribers.
- The MMA Japanese Markets Cycles report covers the Nikkei, JGB Bonds, and the Dollar-Yen.
- The new MMA Europe Cycles report covers the German DAX, Swiss SMI, and Netherlands AEX stock indices, each in english only and will be available on Wednesday.
For subscription information, please go to our web site, or call us at 1-248-626-3034. If you are not a subscriber, you can check this service out on a 2-month trial basis for only $50.00.

Upcoming Events :

September 15-16 : Troy Michigan. OLMTA - the On-Line Market Timing Academy - will conduct it pre-curriculum introductory workshop on "Basic Principles of Geocosmic Studies for Financial Market Timing". This will be an introductory course on how to read an ephemeris and how to calculate a critical reversal date. It is open to anyone, but understanding this material is mandatory for anyone entering the MMA mentor-apprenticeship program that will officially start in March 2013. This introductory workshop will be available as a live webinar too. The cost is $300 to subscribers of any MMA subscription report, or $395 to others. For further information, please contact or ordersmmma@msn.com.

January 11-12, 2012 : Zurich Switzerland. "Forecast 2013 Symposia" sponsored by AstroData.
January 11 lecture on Forecasts 2013. January 12 will be a special 5-hour workshop on "The Gold Market : Forecasting the Future Price of Gold and Silver". 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM. This is a special workshop on precious metals you will not want to miss !!! Cost is €345 ex VAT. Subscribers of any MMA reports (trials excluded) receive a 15% discount. For further information, follow this link or contact ASTRODATA AG, Tel. 41 (0) 43 343 33 66, or email info@mma-europe.ch. This will be special, and a great opportunity to meet some very impressive market timers who will be present. Register now as seating is limited!.

April 6-8, 2013 : MMTA Course 1 : "Cycles and Chart Patterns in Financial Markets" with Raymond Merriman. Location: MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan. This will be the first of eight courses given by The Merriman Market Timing Academy (MMTA). It is available to those who attend onsite, or via a live webcast that will take place from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Saturday and Sunday, as well as Monday from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, followed by a two-hour exam for those wishing to receive a certificate upon the completion of the MMTA entire 8 course program. The raw footage will be available for review for attendees for the 30 days following this course.

June 15-17, 2013 : MMTA Course 2 : "Geocosmic Correlations to Long-Term Cycles in Financial Markets" with Raymond Merriman. Location: MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan.

August 10-12, 2013 : MMTA Course 3 : "Geocosmic Correlations to Primary and Trading Cycles in Financial Markets" with Raymond Merriman. Location : MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan.

October 12-14, 2013 : MMTA Course 4 : "Solar-Lunar Correlations to Short-Term Reversals in Financial Markets" with Raymond Merriman. Location: MEC Technical Center of Michigan State University, Troy, Michigan.

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. For more information and ordering, please contact www.lecochonsideral.info/semana.html.

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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