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

This year's printed version of Forecast 2018 will also be available in these other languages, as follows :

Please note : THERE WILL BE NOT BE A WEEKLY COLUMN NEXT WEEK AS WE WILL BE PREPARING FOR THE APRIL 28 MMA WEBINAR ON FINANCIAL MARKETS. SEE ANNOUNCEMENTS BELOW FOR SIGN UP.

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

Note : The purpose of this column is to provide educational insights into the tenets of geocosmic studies as they correspond to economic, political, and socio-psychological matters, as one of several tools that in turn may assist in the practice of financial market timing. This column is not intended, nor should it be used, as an advisory service for trading financial markets, without use of other financial market analysis tools. MMA subscription reports provide that type of advisory service, with specific recommendations for trading.

Review and Preview :

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit 2.96 percent Friday, hitting its highest level since Jan. 10, 2014. The two-year yield hit 2.461 percent, its highest level since Sept. 8, 2008 when the two-year yielded as high as 2.542 percent. Rising rates can also be bad for stocks because at some point higher yielding investments can be more compelling investments. - Thomas Frank and Alexandra Gibbs, "10-Year Treasury Yield Hits Its Highest Level Since 2014", www.cnbc.com, April 20, 2018.

Saturn retrograde and the Sun/Uranus conjunction on April 17-18, coinciding with MMA's two-star geocosmic critical reversal date (CRD), struck several stock and commodity markets late last week. In equities, most of the world's stock indices were in the midst of strong rallies off their lows of March 26-April 2. Those rallies ended April 18-19, right into the MMA CRD zone. This may have surprised many investors, but not readers of this column, for as stated last week, "If anyone other than Superman can stop a speeding freight train dead in its tracks, it is Saturn retrograde in Capricorn. But wait! The next day, April 18, the Sun will make its last conjunction to Uranus in Aries. If anyone can move Saturn in Capricorn off its rigid, cement-like foundation, it is the fiery Sun and Uranus "planets" in the fire sign of Aries". And so, together, Saturn retrograde stopped the advance in its tracks, April 17-18, and then the Sun/Uranus conjunction coincided with the reversal down on Thursday and Friday, April 18-20.

The same plot played out in commodities too. Crude oil soared to 69.55 on Thursday, April 19, its highest level since November 2014, and then stopped. Silver exploded to a high of 17.36 on Thursday, its highest price since February 1, and up from a low of 16.15 just two weeks ago, and then it stopped. Gold was not quite as strong, only rallying to 1359 on April 18, well below its 1369.40 high of April 11 (one day after our prior three-star CRD of April 10). The rally in both metals last week (especially Silver) fits the historical pattern of heliocentric Mercury in Sagittarius, discussed in our last column. However, it now creates a case of intermarket bearish divergence between the metals as we head into next week and the latter half of the helio Mercury in Sagittarius transit, which is often bearish.

Bitcoin was strong last week, rising to 8565 on Friday, April 20, a new 3-week high and up 33% from its low of 6427 on March 30. The big loser last week was treasuries, as the nearby T-Notes contract fell to 119/15, its lowest mark since April 2011. As the value of T-Notes goes down, the interest yield goes up.

Short-Term Geocosmics and longer-term thoughts :

"The Federal Reserve Board has raised interest rates by 150 basis points (1.5%) since the current rate hike started in late 2015, so you may have expected that the interest rates banks offered on savings accounts and CDs would rise in a similar fashion. However, you'd be wrong. According to the FDIC, the national average savings account interest rate has (only) risen from 0.06% to 0.07% (since September 2015. Matthew Frankel, "Banks Don't Always Follow Fed Rate Hikes", The Motley Fool, USA Today, April 18, 2018.

Herein lies the fundamental reason why I think Uranus in Taurus will be a "boom" period for banks at first, and then turn into a "bust". It is also why I have dubbed the 2018-2025 transit of Uranus in Taurus as the period of "Bankers Go Bonkers". It goes like this : As the Fed has now raised Fed Funds rates six-fold in the last 18 months (from .25% to 1.50%, with more increases to come), its member banks are also raising the rates by which they loan money accordingly. That is, if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, home equity loan, or line of credit, your rates have gone up sharply as the Fed Funds rates have gone up. However, if you have savings account or a CD with a bank, the amount of interest the banks are paying you is hardly going up at all. The banks are making a killing and will continue to profit wildly in the rising interest-rate environment because of this widening discrepancy between what they charge you to borrow, versus what they pay you for depositing your finds into savings accounts at their bank. This will be reflected in sharply increased valuations for their stocks. It will also correlate with sharply disturbing protests from savers (and borrowers) against banks, which will then lead to new banking regulations, followed by sharply declining stock prices, before the transit ends. Typically, the sector ruled by the sign Uranus enters, will gain value for the first 2-5 years of that transit, and then fall from that peak into the end of the transit, and even beyond.

Based on geocosmic factors, I can make a case for bank stocks to rise into a top around 2020. Then the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn strikes. The populace could very well turn against banks and bankers, demanding changes in how they treat their clients, especially those who have savings accounts with banks. By the time Jupiter and Saturn enter Aquarius (December 17-19, 2020), and both form a square to Uranus in Taurus in 2021, the run on banks will be on. Bankers will go Bonkers - unless they decide before then to treat their depositors more fairly and exhibit more concern for customer satisfaction than their corporate greed for wildly distorted profits at the expense of their depositors and borrowers. Because Jupiter and Saturn are involved, this frustration may expand beyond just banking and business concerns. It has the potential to become a serious social and political issue. This becomes more exaggerated if there is a national or global financial crisis, something that may be "in the stars" anyway, given that such crises tend to occur when there are hard Saturn/Pluto aspects within a year of hard Saturn/Uranus aspects, as will be the case in 2020-2021.

Shorter-term, this week finds the cosmic focus on Pluto in Capricorn. Pluto turns retrograde on April 22, and Mars conjoins Pluto on April 26. That is a lot of Pluto energy. Pluto rules threats - threats to crops, and threats to life, via natural calamities, terrorism, or war activities. Pluto also rules debt, and so the subject of government debt returns to the forefront and could affect equity, currency, and treasury prices. Typically, this would suppress prices of each (currencies against the US dollar).

However, as we will discuss in our "MMA Webinar on Financial Markets" next weekend, this suppression of prices may only be temporary, for many financial and commodity markets are still in the early stages of their longer-term cycles, and early stages are bullish.

Have a good week, and we hope to connect with many of you in next week's webinar. The MMA Free Weekly Column will return for the week beginning May 7.

~~Longer-term thoughts~~ :

To be continued (next week).

Announcements :

Note 1 : Only one more week to register for the April 28 MMA Webinar on Financial Markets. Will you be ready for the 15.5-month cycle in stocks, and 17-month cycle in currencies and other-related markets like precious metals that are due to unfold this summer ? .

This MMA Webinar will focus on these and other financial markets, related to the final passages of the Saturn/Uranus and Jupiter/Neptune waning trines that have led to all-time highs in many world equity markets over the past several months. This timely webinar will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2018, at noon, PDT (3 PM EDT). Markets to be covered will include the U.S. stock market, Gold, Silver, Bitcoin, the Euro, Treasuries, Crude Oil, and Soybeans. If time allows, there will be a Q&A at the end. Attendees who have questions are encouraged to send them in at least three days prior to the Webinar. The Webinar will last two hours. Cost is $45 and includes a copy of the slides that are used as well as a recording of the Webinar that will be available two days following the live event. To register, please visit www.mmacycles.com Products => Events => Webinar - 2018 Second Quarter Forecast Update Webinar. Or, call 1-800-MMA-3349, or email customerservice@mmacycles.com. This may be our last webinar of the year. There will not be a summer webinar this year.

Note 2 : We are pleased to announce that the recordings of Course 1 on MMA's Market Timing Methodology, taught to students in Beijing, China, will now be available as of this Monday, April 9! These classes provide the basic principles for understanding the terminology and use of cycle studies, for the purpose of timing major reversals in financial markets. They also explain how trend analysis and chart patterns are used in the context of cycle studies and introduce the student to geocosmic correlations to long-term cycles in the stock market. Course 1 is taught entirely by Raymond Merriman, the creator and developer of the MMA Market Timing Methodology. The classes are given in English with Chinese translation. The cost for the entire 8 classes is $995 (this is a savings of over $1000 from the cost of Course 1 in MMTA). The cost includes the text of each class (in English), the webinar recordings (in English and Chinese), as well as the power point slides (in English). Classes may also be purchased individually at $145/each. For more information and a complete description of each class, please visit www.mmacycles.com > Education. Or, wait for the banner with Chinese characters to come up on the opening screen of the MMA web site, and click it. This is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive, effective, and valuable way to learn the art and science of Market Timing (the MMA way, the leader in market timing products and services, and now, education as well). Call 248-626-3034, or email MMA at customerservice@mmacycles.com for further information.

Note 3 : The new MMA Bitcoin Daily Report has started !. And it made its first official trade on Thursday, March 15, as Bitcoin made a new multi-week low. The cost for this new report is $1500/year or $150/mo, but it is included in the MMA Daily subscription report too, along with 10 other markets (stock indices, Gold, Silver, Euro, Yen, and T-Notes). The reason we like Bitcoin for traders is because 50+% moves seem to happen every couple of weeks. Also, we like it because it seems to have its favorite solar/lunar combinations for reversals. It is a great market for speculators and aggressive traders, who understand how to manage the risk (don't trade more than your life style can afford to lose). We use the current nearby futures contract as the basis for our analysis, which can easily be used by those who want to actually own bitcoins (or its relatives, like Ethereum and Lite Coin). For those who sign up this week, we will also provide a FREE COPY of our recent March 8 webinar for subscribers ("Q&A with Ray"), which includes the tables on our initial research results of daily bitcoin reversals of 10% or more related to lunar movements since July 2014. The initial results are impressive! To sign up, please go to the front-page banner at www.mmacycles.com and click the Bitcoin image. Or, call us at 1-800-662-3349 or 1-248-626-3034. Or email us at cusatomeservice@mmacycles.com.

The EBook of Forecast 2018 and the print editions of Forecast 2018 are now completed and sent out to all who have pre-ordered! EBooks have been received, and print editions should be received in the next week - before Christmas. If not, call us. We have also received the printed copies on Friday, so we can now fill new orders with remaining copies. Order now and get your copy. It is relevant right now !.

The third edition of The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing, Volume 1 : Cycles and Patterns in the Indexes is now out as of Friday, September 8! This is the most comprehensive book ever published on the cycles of the stock market (DJIA and Nikkei), with analysis going back to the British stock markets of the 17 th century. This is a must-have book if you are a serious investor, trader, or student of cycles. There is nothing else like this book available today. The cost of this book is $125. There is also a special $25 discount for those who also pre-order the Forecast 2018 Book . Call us to get this rate. The new material and tables on long-and intermediate-term cycles in the U.S. and Japanese stock markets are worth the cost of the book alone. For more information, go to visit the MMA website at www.mmacycles.com, or here and check it out. You can also order now by e-mail to ordersmma@msn.com or calling 1-800-662-3349, or 248-626-3034". The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing : Cycles and Patterns in the Index" is literally the ultimate book on the analysis of the stock market. We are especially impressed with various waves of long-term cycles for more than 200 years, which we have never seen : T. Kaburagi, Toshi Nippou Ltd (Japan's major commodity newspaper).

Our monthly MMA Cycles : The monthly edition of the MMA International Cycles Report (ICR) 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 $55.00, 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 $55.00.

MMA's annual Forecast Book : MMA's annual Forecasts Book, written by Raymond A. Merriman since 1976, 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. Specific markets analyzed for the next year(s) include: T-Notes and interest rates, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Gold, Silver, Currencies (U.S. Dollar, Euro, Yen, Swiss Franc, and British Pound), Crude Oil, Grains and Weather. Each market contains the important geocosmic three-star critical reversal dates for 2018. Special sections also include the USA and world economy, the USA and world politics, the USA and its President. A 2018 ephemeris and calendar (one month per page) with geocosmic signatures is included, as well as descriptions of the Mercury, Venus, and Mars retrograde periods for 2018. 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! For further information, go to www.mmacycles.com and click the banner.

For more information, visit www.mmacycles.com or call 1-800-662-3349 or 1-248-626-3034.

This year's printed version of Forecast 2018 will also available in these languages:
Dutch : at www.markettiming.nl
German : at http://www.mma-europe.ch
Japanese : at http://merriman.jp

MMA's weekly and daily subscription 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...

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 :

May 23-29, 2,018 : The UAC (United Astrology Congress), Chicago, IL. The largest and most exciting conference for astrologers in the world takes place then. 15 tracks, over 200 of the world's top astrologers making presentations. At this huge cosmic event, I will be giving two classes. The first is on "Introduction to Financial Astrology and Market Timing", 9:00 AM, Friday, May 25, and "Precious Metals: Illustrating and Forecasting via the Art of Market Timing Tools", at 11:00 AM, Sunday, May 27. For more information, visit www.uacastrology.com for more information.

June 21-24, 2018 : AAGB (Astrological Association of Great Britain's) 50 th anniversary conference. Ray Merriman will be presenting a morning and afternoon workshop on "Cosmic Cycles are Forever" - valuable tools for timing trends and changes of trends in financial markets. In this masterclass, the historical correlation of currency and gold prices to certain planetary cycles are present in today's cosmos will be examined, with an eye on what to anticipate between 2018 and 2020. For more information, or email office@astrologicalassociation.com or, visit and register before February 28 for only £199 and save big bucks !.

July 12-15, 2018 : GLAC (Great Lakes Astrology Conference), Ann Arbor, MI. I will be there, conducting a special pre-conference workshop on "Mundane Astrology and The Great Reset" on July 12, 10:30 AM - 1 PM. Plus, "Basic Principles of Financial Astrology", on Saturday, 11:15 AM. I will present the Keynote speech on "The Current State of Astrology - and Why the USA is Falling Behind" on Friday evening. For more info, contact glac@greatlakesastrology.com, or call 734-434-0804.

September 15-18, 2018 : 3 RD MMA INVESTMENT RETREAT, Majorca, Spain. Tentatively being planned. Details to be announced soon.

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.

Valeur des terres Robert Loquet - Conseiller général

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