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

This year's printed version of Forecast 2016 will also available in five other languages, as follows :

Each of these will also offer the English version of Forecast 2016, 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.

THE HARD COPY, ENGLISH EDITION OF FORECAST 2016, HAS SOLD OUT! There will not be a second printing. However, eBook copies may still be purchased. That's the beauty of this new electronic age and books. You never sell out of eBooks.

Go to the sheet for Downloading the video for the preview of what to expect in this exciting and informative webminar (10-01-2016). For the German version, go to "antonias sterne" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V2z5l-UOwk

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

Review and Preview :

Last week was one of the most intriguing weeks in world equity markets ever. As the week got underway, there was a powerful sense of foreboding that stock markets around the world were going to crash. In fact, they did. By Wednesday, January 20, many world indices were making new yearly lows, some of which had fallen below the 20% mark used to identify a bear market (a really useless measurement indicator). It was so consistent with the combination of geocosmic signatures that had been in effect January 3-18, and all under Mercury retrograde (January 5-25) when technical indicators and economic reports are less reliable than usual. Which is to say, there was nothing consistent with stock markets last week. Instead, it was tsunami of intermarket divergences across the globe.

In the Far East and Pacific Rim, ever market we follow except the Chinese Shanghai Index broke below its low of August 26 last week. Every market except the Chinese Shanghai Index bounced back smartly by the end of the week. In Australia, the All Ords fell to 4857 last Monday, January 18, its lowest mark since July 2013. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong fell to 18,534, its lowest level since June 8, 2012. The Japanese Nikkei plummeted to 16,017 on January 21, its lowest point since October 2014, while the Nifty index of India fell to 7241 on January 20, a level not seen since January 16, 2015.

In Europe, new yearly lows occurred in the AEX of Netherlands, and the FTSE of England (which fell to it a new 3-year low). The SMI tested its low of last January when the Swiss national Bank de-pegged the Swiss Franc from the euro currency. But surprisingly, the German DAX barely took out its 9325 low of September 29, as it fell to 9314 on January 20, the lowest mark since December 2014. Yet, they all closed sharply up by Friday.

In the Americas, The S&P cash and futures broke well below their lows of August 24. The NASDAQ futures did too. But the Dow Jones industrial Average and the cash NASDAQ Composite held above their lows of August 24, for a clear case of Intermarket bullish divergence. This was validated on Friday when each of these indices closed above daily resistance, with the DJIA up over 200 points. In fact from the intraday low of 15,450 on January 20, the DJIA closed at 16,093. That is not a bad recovery in just two days. However, maybe it was not so great when you consider that it had fallen 2300 points from the 17,750 high of December 29, just three weeks earlier, for the worst start of a New Year in the history of the US stock market.

Now everyone is wondering : was that the end to the stock market decline ? Will stocks resume their bull market ? I wouldn't count on it under Saturn square Neptune into September, and Jupiter square Saturn into May. However, I would not be surprised to see a healthy bounce up first from the crushing losses into the middle of last week. I don't think a rally here will be just "a dead cat bounce". We are moving into Aquarius, a new sign and an air sign. There could be some life to this bounce. If not, the valley below is still pretty far down this mountain.

Best Trades of the Past Week :

Unavailable this week.

For more information on the daily or weekly market reports, please follow this link, or call our offices at 1-248-626-3034.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

The stock market low (and Treasury market high) of last Wednesday, January 20, occurred at a very interesting intersection of geocosmic time bands. It was two trading days past the middle of Mercury retrograde, and three trading days before Mercury turns direct (Monday, January 25). It was also right on the date that the Sun entered Aquarius. As stated in last week's column for the forthcoming week, "If the stock market is going to stage a rally, this is a good time to start - right when everyone is jumping off the ship. It will be interesting to see which dominates : the reversal of mid-Mercury retrograde or the fear of Saturn square Neptune, which means that people believe the ship is headed straight for the iceberg and this Titanic cannot be turned around in time to avert a disaster. We do note, however, that the S&P cash index took our the low of August 24 and the DJIA is still 600 points higher. The middle of Mercury retrograde as a turning point is not to be ignored just yet".

From a Financial Astrology point of view, it is most encouraging that stocks bottomed with the Moon in Gemini, and then rallied when the Moon moved into Cancer on Thursday and Friday. The Moon Cancer is usually bearish for stocks, However, when a new primary cycle starts, that is bullish and much more powerful than any lunar sign correlation. Thus, this is a bullish development for stocks according to this study.

The geocosmic activity ahead may be free from interruption due to geocosmic activities until the February 5-6, when Venus will start is next translation over the Uranus/Pluto separating square. February 5 is also when the next nonfarm payroll report comes out.

In the meantime, we have a full moon on Saturday, January 23, the same day that Venus changes signs (known as an ingress). This full Moon has a correlation with severe weather conditions, such as the blizzard currently rampaging through the northeast of the USA. The amplitude (volatility) of price moves in financial markets is apt to recede as the planet of money and love (Venus) moves from the exaggeration principle of Sagittarius to the contraction theme of Capricorn. On Monday, January 25, Mercury ends another noteworthy retrograde period. It may take a few days for the market's attention to refocus on to the next big event, which in the USA will be the February 5 employment reports, and the Iowa and New Hampshire presidential primary elections on February 1 and 9.

Longer-Term Thoughts and mundane astrology :

"What about oil prices ? Ask yourself : When the price of something goes down, does it make you better off or worse off ? No, it isn't a trick question. The obvious answer is the correct one. Other things being equal, each of us is better off when the price of things we buy, including oil, go down... People fret that less drilling means lost jobs in the oil patch. True. But the employment in oil and gas extraction is about 1/8 of 1% of total nonfarm payroll... falling oil prices should help, not hurt, U.S. growth. (However), markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent". Alan S. Binder, former vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve, "Markets Are Scaring Themselves", Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2016.

This was an excellent article by the former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. It was written right in the middle of the big stock market and crude oil sell off last week. Although I am certain it was not Mr. Binder's intent, the timing of his article demonstrates the value of Financial Astrology. You read about it right here before it happened. We repeat our comments from the prior two weeks' columns, related to the ongoing waning square of Saturn and Neptune :
" However, for analysts to claim that lower energy prices are a drag on the economy is like saying higher taxes are a positive for the economy. Lower gasoline and energy prices put more money into the hands of the consumer ...´ MMA's Weekly Column, January 11.

"The bankers tell us that the stock market is falling because energy prices are falling. We need higher energy (gasoline) prices. Really ? They claim that energy companies are going out of business and that tens of thousands of people will lose jobs and unemployment will rise. Really ? Didn't the jobs numbers show hundreds of thousands of people getting new jobs - in fields outside of energy ? Who are you going to believe under Saturn square Neptune ? What you see on TV, read online, or in the papers from people who have a stake in what they peddle ? Or your own common sense ?" MMA's Weekly Column, January 18.

In our January 10 webinar, as crude oil ended the week at new multi-year lows of 33.16, the question was asked : "Would you buy crude oil here ?" My answer was that I would wait for crude to hit 30 or below, ideally around 27.50, in the next two weeks. Last week on January 20, it dropped to 27.56 in the nearby contract. It closed the week at 32.19. Not bad, but as my friend and colleague Duke O'Neil would say, "Ray, you are slipping. You were off six cents".

I tell you, as a double Capricorn, it is hard to get respect in this line of work. But, seriously, the forfeiture of respect is part of the deal when you choose any profession that uses astrology as one of its analytical tools. You have a choice : truth (knowledge) or respect from society. Long ago, I made the choice that truth and knowledge was more important to me, and social opinion be damned. And you know what ? From that choice, I cannot complain about lack of respect. I have created a niche where I receive more respect than I ever thought possible, from others who place as high a value on truth as I do. It is extremely rewarding and humbling. The lack of respect is only from those who have no experience or understanding of the correlation between cycles in the cosmos and cycles in human activity. In other words, from those who believe in their opinions as if they are facts. To which I reply, in the words of Sir Isaac Newton, famous for his Law of Gravitation, when criticized about his work with astrology : "Sir. I have studied the subject. You have not".

The one thing about Saturn in its 36-year cycle of a waning square to Neptune that you can depend upon is this : respect for truth and facts will fall a far distant second to the rush to judge, censor, or harm someone's reputation based upon innuendo, bias, and bigotry. This is the year of witch-hunts, hypocrisy, and collective naiveté. Scapegoats for things gone wrong, rather than personal accountability, will be in vogue. Everyone must strive to get (and deliver) the facts correct and avoid making judgements based on false assumptions and misinformation, or the consequences can be severe. You cannot believe what you see or hear from others. Use your own common sense.This may be hard in this environment of collective vulnerability, and even hysteria, related to Saturn square Neptune, but it is not impossible to attain. With Saturn and Neptune, is all about trust. And trust comes so much more easily when the messenger is guided by the values associated with truth and accuracy, rather than personal recognition hunger.

To be continued (next week).

Announcements :

The recording of Raymond Merriman's "Forecast 2016" speech given last Sunday, January 10, is now available for download via an MP4 recording. It is not difficult to download this event. It is a little over two hours long, and covered the outlook for interest rates, real estate market, grains and foods, gold, silver, the USA stock market, crude oil, and the U.S. Dollar. The cost is $45.00. In typical Mercury retrograde fashion, there was a slight disruption in this webinar, caused by a sudden ice storm that interrupted the internet transmission for slightly less than 5 minutes. A transcript of that section of the speech, along with the power point slides that were used, are included with your order of the MP4. Get ready for 2016! ORDER NOW AND RESERVE YOUR SPOT IN THIS WEBINAR. Call MMA at 1-248-626-3034, or email ordersmma@msn.com. Or, go to the www.mmacycles.com website to make your reservation.

"I have followed your forecasts closely for many years, and always order your Forecast Book. They are always quite brilliant, but each year seems to exceed the previous one. This one is a complete masterpiece. You keep the bar on our subject very, very high, and for that I respect your work enormously and thank you too. The Forecast Books are so detailed it is like publishing an entire book every year, on top of everything else you do. I just had to write and say how delighted I am that I came across your work all those years ago. You can never stop writing these Forecast Books of course; the deal is that you have to go on forever! You give mankind such a service with these. I always follow your wise judgements week by week too. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" P.G. author, UK.

We are pleased to announce the winners of our "Pick the High in the Dow Jones Industrial Average for December" contest. We had 28 contestants, and three were quite close in their forecast. The actual high was 17,901 on December 2. Three contestants were within 100 points of this high. The closest - and first place winner - was Charles Yu of Hong Kong, and a subscriber to all MMA reports, and an attendee at the MMA Investment retreat in Italy last summer. Charles' forecast for the high was 17,827. Our second place winner is someone who wishes to remain anonymous, from Las Vegas, NV, whose forecast for the December high in the DJIA was 17,978. Our third place winner was Dan Treat of Scottsdale, AZ, whose forecast was 17,801. Congratulations to all three! Next week we will post some information on who they are and how they did it (if they agree).

Raymond Merriman was interviewed this past week on Radio Nikkei in Tokyo. The interview, titled "MERRIMAN FORECASTS", will be aired on Dec 23, 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM. The program contains a part of the interview. Its full version one is going to be contained on Compact Disc released on Dec 25th, exactly the same day of "FORECAST 2016" book is released in Japan. RADIO NIKKEI has a special web site for "MERRIMAN FORECASTS" program, at http://market.radionikkei.jp/merriman. People can purchase the Japanese edition of the Forecast 2016 Book and CD on that web site. They can also listen to our 30 min. program via podcast after the on-air interview of December 23. An English translation of this interview will be posted under the NEWS section of MMA's own website at www.mmacycles.com.

Check out The Mountain Astrologer, the Dec/Jan 2016 edition that just came out. It features a two-part interview with Raymond Merriman on Financial and Mundane Astrology, the economy, financial markets, and the state of the world astrology community. For information on subscribing to America's top astrological magazine and getting your copy of this and the next issue's interview with Ray Merriman, conducted by Editor Tem Terriktar, call TMA at 530-477-8839, 800-287-4828, or their website at www.mountainastrologer.com.

MMA's annual Forecast Book, written by Raymond A. Merriman since 1976, is now completed and will be ready for distribution on December 15. This book is one of the most unique, affordable, and accurate glimpses into the coming year. Utilizing the study of cycles and geocosmic factors, this annual Forecast Book outlines forthcoming trends pertaining to political, economic, and financial markets throughout the world. No other book has informed and prepared readers for the Cardinal Climax period of 2008-2015 as precisely as Raymond Merriman's annual Forecast book. No other book has guided readers through this turbulent period since it began in 2008. But now, in 2016, we enter a different kind of period for the next two years that will require new strategies and a different set of skills to navigate these forces of change.This is a book, with an impressive background for insightful accuracy into world economic and financial market conditions that you will not want to miss! The perfect holiday gift for your family, friends, favorite broker, or financial advisor. For further information, go to www.mmacycles.com and click the banner. ORDER NOW AND MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE YOUR COPY BY CHRISTMAS !!! This book makes an excellent gift for the holiday season.

This year's printed version of Forecast 2016 will also available in four other languages, as follows :
Dutch : at www.markettiming.nl
German : at http://www.mma-europe.ch
Japanese : at http://merriman.jp
Russian : at http://www.mmafinance.ru

MMA's weekly and daily reports have been extremely accurate and profitable over the past several weeks, especially in equity indices, crude oil, and precious metals. 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 Daily Market reports. It is the only way I keep in touch with traders on a daily or weekly basis. These weekly reports give in-depth analysis of the DJIA, S&P and NASDAQ futures, Euro currency (cash and futures), Dollar/Yen cash and Yen futures, Euro-Yen cash, T-Notes, Crude Oil, Soybeans, Gold and Silver. The daily reports cover all stock indices listed above, as well as futures in Euro, T-Notes, Gold and Silver, plus GLD and SLV (the Gold and Silver ETF's). 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. For more information, or call our offices at 1-248-626-3034. These reports are extremely valuable to those who trade ETF's (Exchange Traded Funds). And since early December, these reports have been extremely profitable. As subscriber and trader R.B. of Albuquerque, NM writes",You have been on an incredible run for a while ; I have never seen anything like it". Well, when everything lines up just right...

Our monthly MMA Cycles report and its companion MMA Japanese Cycles and MMA European Cycles reports went out last week. If you are subscriber to any these monthly reports and did not receive it, let us know at once via our email.

- 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.
Two-issue trial subscriptions are available for this service for $50.00, which includes the current issue and the next month's as well.
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.

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.

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.

Upcoming Events :

April 14-18, 2016 : Saturn Square Neptune : What It Means for the World and for You Personally ; Great Lakes Astrology Conference, Ann Arbor, MI. For further information, contact 1-734-434-0804, info@greatlakesstrology.com.

October 13-17, 2016 : ISAR 2016 - "The Power of Forecasting Meets the Consequence of Choice". Costa Mesa, California (near LA). The climax will be a panel of expert Mundane Astrologers giving their Forecast of the USA 2016 Presidential Election. An "Application to Speak" process is currently underway. More details at www.isarastrology.com, and via the ISAR ezine that is sent out to all members of the organization. This event will include tracks on Mundane and Financial Astrology as Forecasting Tools, plus others on Psychological Shifts in Life, Timing of Spiritual Transformations, and Timing of Significant Relationships.

March 10-13, 2017 : Second MMA Investment Retreat, tentatively planned for Southern California or Hawaii now (no Sedona). Details soon.

The MMA Catalogue of products and services for 2015 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.

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 theBest 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.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the addition of Egon von Greyerz to MMA Investment Retreat faculty of presenters. I met Egon last week in Girona, Spain, at a special gathering attended by MMTA Graduates Nitin Bhandari (India), Philipp Beyer (Germany), Henry Canciglia (USA) and myself. Egon is an expert on Gold. He owns Matterhorn Asset Management, a Swiss Asset Management company specializing in wealth preservation, located in Zurich ( www.goldswitzerland.com). He was also the person who initiated the "Save Our Swiss Gold" Act in Switzerland late last year, which would have required the Swiss National Bank to back up their assets with 20% Gold holdings. The initiative failed, but his reasons for initiating this effort are still valid. Egon is very interested in MMA cycles' work, and will share his outlook on Gold and the world debt. This is a real treat!

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 identifiesBig 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 thatextra edge. And Silver is a great market to trade now. The cost is $125.00. For ordering on line.

The new book titled Solar-Lunar Keys to Gold Prices : Secrets of a Gold Trader , is now out. The long awaited sequel to the Secrets of a Silver Trader is due out in late October (maybe before)!!!
Now, GOLD as you have never seen it by night or day. The studies for the soon-to-be-released book are now completed and the results are now being used in the weekly and daily MMA subscription reports for short-term trading strategies in Gold. That's right... historically tested Solar-Lunar Correlations to trading reversals in the Gold Market - as only available from Raymond Merriman. The studies cover over 40 years of daily Gold, starting from December 31, 1974 through April 2015. The book will change how you approach trading Gold using these leading solar-lunar indicators, with very clear instructions as to "when" to expect 3%, 4%, or greater reversals in Gold prices and how to trade them. It will be a valuable guide for short-term traders of Gold, GLD, and other ETF's involving Gold prices. You may call 1-248-626-3034 or email ordersmma@gmail.com and place your pre-order now. It is also now available for purchase on the MMA web site at www.mmacycles.com. Order now and get the first printing of this new book on trading Gold!

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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