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.

Note : Financial markets will be closed in the USA on Monday, February 15, in observance of President’s Day.

Review and Preview :

"The bear is alive and out of hibernation now. However, this is an election year in the USA, so equity traders must continue to expect sharp rallies followed by worrisome downturns".

Last week was more of a worrisome downturn. World stock markets continued to be extremely volatile, with several indices falling to new yearly lows before Friday’s nice recovery in the USA. Yet, that was not enough to alleviate the worries - not with the geocosmic environment that is ahead.

Many equity markets have fallen over 10% in just the first 9-10 trading days of this month. For example, the Japanese Nikkei traded as high as 17,905 on February 1. One week later, on February 12, it fell to 14,865, its lowest level since October 2014. That was a loss 17%. If you go back to the double top highs of last year under the Jupiter/Uranus trines of March and June, the decline in the Nikkei has now snowballed to a whopping 29%.

In Europe, many indices we track fell double digits from their highs of February 1. The German DAX fell below 9000, to 8899 on February 11, its lowest level since October 2014 and a decline of 28% since its all-time high of April 2015. The London FTSE fell over 10% in a little over a week, to a low of 5499 last Thursday. The last time it traded below 5500 was in July 2012.

The decline was not so hard in the USA, where equity markets exhibited a case of intermarket bullish divergence. The nearby S&P futures fell to 1802 on February 11, it’s lowest mark in two years. The NASDAQ Composite plunged to 4209 the same day, a level not seen since October 2014. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, found support just above 15,500 on February 11, which was above the 15,450 low of January 20 and above the 15,370 low that may have marked its 4-year cycle trough on August 24, 2015. Closing up over 300 points on Friday conforms this as a bullish intermarket divergence signature. Will this bullish signature last or be negated ? The geocosmic landscape isn’t too promising, but a bullish chart pattern like this, within three trading days of our February 8 critical reversal date, should not be ignored.

The bigger story than stocks, however, continues to be the bullish rampage of gold under the Mars-in-Scorpio signal that was discussed at length in this year’s Forecast 2016 Book, the Forecast 2016 webinar of January 10, and the recent issues of the MMA Cycles Report. That signal is working beautifully. Starting from the December 17 double bottom around 1046 – exactly in the time band outlined for a low - gold has now soared to a high of 1263.90 late last week, a gain of over 20%. It has now exceeded the previous primary cycle crest of 1191.70 on October 15, which means the long-term cycle has changed from a bearish cycle’s pattern to a bullish formation according to one of the major trend indicator signals we use. What does this mean for the future of gold ? We will cover that matter in a Special Report on Gold that will be released in this month’s MMA Cycles Report, due out to subscribers of this report on Monday evening, February 15. We will outline the status of the Mars-in-Scorpio signature then, too.

Also noteworthy last week was the new contract high in the March T-notes, and the multi-month highs in the Euro currency, Japanese Yen, and silver.

Short-Term Geocosmics :

The most important geocosmic factor (to us) coming up this week is heliocentric Mercury moving into Sagittarius (February 15-26). This is one of those combinations that often coincides with very large price movements, especially in precious metals and currencies. If last week’s critical reversal date did not correspond with a reversal in stocks, treasuries, and metals on Thursday, February 11, then we may see these explosive moves ramped up even more. Sagittarius is the sign representing exaggeration. It knows no boundaries, or at least it respects no boundaries. It is driven to exceed any boundaries, which in financial markets are defined as support and resistance. If last week’s lows are taken out in markets that have fallen (i.e. stocks, crude oil, which fell to another 12-year low), watch out below for a free fall, often referred to as a waterfall. If last week’s highs are exceeded in any markets that have rallied strongly (i.e. treasuries, currencies, metals), watch for a continuation of the parabolic pattern, often known as a "bubble" (not to be confused with a nickname ascribed to one of the candidates running in the U.S. Presidential election). The best analogy I can give is to imagine a truck going down a steep hill and its brakes going out.

This time band overlaps with the transit of Mars over 23-27 degrees of Scorpio, which forms a powerful T-square to the Mercury/Pluto square in the chart of the New York Stock Exchange (May 17, 1792, known as the "Buttonwood Agreement"). My observation of such a transit over the past 30 years is that stock prices collapse into this time band (Feb 16-29) approximately 90% of the time. Yet, this is in conflict with last week’s intermarket bullish divergence chart pattern that occurred within a geocosmic critical reversal date (CRD) time band. Which will win out ? I do not like betting against either, but only one will survive.

Longer-Term Thoughts and mundane astrology :

The deficit is rising again largely because spending is climbing rapidly again, an estimated 6% this year, or triple the rate of inflation. Even an estimated federal revenue increase of 4% for the year can’t keep pace with this kind of spending blowout.... Now for the bad news. CBO estimates that deficits will continue to rise each year after Mr. Obama leaves office. This is a fiscal time bomb that Mr. Obama will leave his successor, thank you very much. – "The Deficit Rises Again", Wall Street Journal, editorial page, January 26, 2016.

Obama’s budget reinforces that fixing the finances of the federal government is the country’s most important domestic issue… In short, Obama proposes that taxes and outlays increase faster than economic output. That’s not sustainable. The most telling indicators of unsustainability relate to the national debt. Under Obama’s budget, it would remain disturbingly high, nearly 100% of GDP… Fixing the finances of the federal government is the most important domestic issue of our time. But, at present, it is a political orphan. – "Ignoring the Top Priority of Our Time", Robert Robb, The Arizona Republic, February 12, 2016.

As important as the short-term planetary combinations are next week, they are not as major as the incredible cosmic patterns that will unfold this spring (March 23-June 17). As significant as the changes witnessed in financial markets have been the past few weeks (really, since the start of this year), the potential for long-term cycle reversals are even greater with the long-term planetary cycles that will occur March-June. These signatures not only signify important movements in financial markets, but also in world politics and possibly events of nature. I will only briefly cover them here, but you may want to visit our YouTube channel early next week where we will post an interview conducted with one of my favorite interviewers, German journalist and astrologer Antonia Langsdorf. The interview on Saturday, February 14 (Happy Valentine’s Day) will be uploaded at www.youtube.com/user/raymondmerriman on Monday. This interview will also be available at www.youtube.com/user/starantonialangsdorf with German subtitles. The subject will be on the amazing mutable T-square taking place between Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune this spring.

For those who study Financial Astrology, consider the following : Jupiter will undergo its second of three passages in a square aspect to Saturn on March 23, a 20-year cycle. Two days later, Saturn will turn retrograde, and Venus will make a T-square to Jupiter and Saturn. Agreements between world leaders, with one another as well as with their own legislatures or courts, may be severely tested.

On April 17-18, Mars turns retrograde in Sagittarius (near Saturn), and Pluto turns retrograde in Capricorn. Over the following three days, Venus will square Pluto and conjunct Uranus in Aries, the sign ruled by Mars. Mars and Saturn together in a fire sign (Sagittarius) is a classic signature of war threats. Mars and Pluto highlighted together can symbolize a time when cruelty and threats to human lives are greater than usual. It may even represent a threatening development with weather or natural phenomenon (volcanos, heat spells, etc).

On May 26, the third and final passage of Jupiter square Saturn occurs. In addition to the correspondences listed above for this aspect, it also coincides with fears of a recession, an economic slowdown, and obstacles with trade agreements. Given that Saturn is in Sagittarius, this may represent the first real test of the USA/Iran nuclear agreement, for Saturn in Sagittarius also represents struggles and frustrations with religious matters, ideologies, and leaders. This may not bode well for the stock markets of the world.

Finally, on June 17, Saturn will make its second passage of the square to Neptune (the first passage was on November 26, 2015, and the last will be September 10). Four days earlier, Neptune turns retrograde. This 36-year cycle of the waning square between Saturn and Neptune is very important in financial markets (especially interest-rate related markets), as discussed in several columns and the recent Forecast 2016 Book and webinar. Remember, the last waning square between Saturn and Neptune took place September 1979-June 1980. Remember what happened to interest rates, inflation and precious metal prices then. You may be seeing a similar replay, especially if inclement weather harms the 2016 growing season for grains and other foods.

In terms of national politics, this is the season when the 2016 USA presidential election will get very intense as candidates hammer one another with negative ads. One of the areas that will likely get more attention than it has so far is the economy. Each candidate may have to outline specifically how he/she will deal with a national debt that will approach $20 trillion by the time Obama leaves office. How will Bernie afford to pay for all of his promises that Hillary is steadily forced to move further and further left to claim for her campaign as well ? How will Trump afford to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, and build the huge wall to keep new ones out, as he promises ? Who is going to have any money left to subscribe to my reports when the banks are brought down as part of the new attack on them as the evil empire ?.

Who is going to pay this out-of-control debt that the out-of-control government leaders of the world and USA are racking up for the younger generation by their out-of-control spending spree ? Who cares ? Apparently, hardly anyone cares today, because the subject does not attract votes. People want to only hear about what they are going to get, not what they are going to have to pay or sacrifice in order to get it. Yet it may become a more pressing topic this spring, according to the study of Financial Astrology. Responsibility matters when Saturn is strong in the heavens. But deniability is also in large measure when Neptune is strong too.

Saturn and Neptune. What an odd couple. What an odd election cycle.

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).

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 HAS SOLD OUT! There will not be a second printing. However, eBook copies may still be purchased. That is the beauty of this new electronic age and books. You never sell out of eBooks.

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 lately, catching the lows in metals, stocks, crude oil, soybeans, and currencies. 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 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.
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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