The American markets decline over 1% today on weak manufacturing news. It seems the eclipse had more of a negative impact that I had forecast. The proximity of Saturn obviously did nothing to boost investor confidence, and I am thinking that we will start to see some serious intraday testing of the 12,000 support on the Dow and 1320 on the S&P. The other part of the story Thursday was the perfection of the Venus to natal Rahu aspect which I had hoped would propel us higher, although I was not at all confident of this outcome. It turned out that Venus in debilitation in Virgo falling under the aspect of Rahu was simply too much to bear, especially with the Moon-Saturn conjunction thrown in for good measure. I am not optimistic for Friday, nor Monday for that matter. I think we will likely break down through the key support now, even if there will be a recovery by March 3. I will reassess the next week's prospects after reviewing Friday's trading. I was a bit squeamish about my overall up prediction this week and now I know why.
The BSE limped through Thursday as the early rally went nowhere and the SENSEX finally at 17, 734. It will be a brutal opening in Bombay Friday but the market may climb back part way near the close as the Moon enters Virgo but it will still finish deep in the red.
While oil pulled back under $99 the new April contract, gold continued its move upwards, as it briefly touched $955 before settling back to $945. Profit taking in gold is likely tomorrow as we have predicted. Oil still looks poised to go higher, although the bigger moves will probably occur Monday and Tuesday.
The Euro finally took that bold rise we had forecast as it broke through 1.48 as high as 1.483. The US dollar slumped to 0.6755. The Euro is down in after hours trading and this down trend will continue through tomorrow at least until noon CET. Look for a small Euro rally after American markets open which may push it back up towards 1.48.
Today's drop is a good reminder that this market isn't a safe place for medium or long term investors. Whatever rallies we may get in the next few weeks, there isn't enough upside potential to risk getting sideswiped by sudden plunges when the full extent of the fallout of the credit crunch becomes known. I would be very cautious about taking any significant long positions in stocks right now.
