After last week's bull run eviscerated my gloomy forecast, New York starts the week at 12,849/1390. The dominant aspect this week is the Mars-Jupiter opposition which perfects on Thursday. For extra complexity, Venus (28 Pisces) will form a western t-square on that date as it moves through the last degrees of exaltation in Pisces. And given the Uranus placement in the same degree of Aquarius, we have a fairly potent line-up of planets. I think this pattern is largely bearish, although Monday may be an up day as Venus is still within range of the S&P Moon. We may be able to approach the 13,000/1400 in the early going this week but head lower as the week wears on. Besides the troublesome Mars-Jupiter aspect, tr Mars falls under the aspect of the S&P Rahu, while tr Sun sits on the equal 12th house cusp on Thursday. These are really quite negative indications and suggest that down days greater than 1% in midweek are likely. Overall, we should finish lower this week, with a reasonable prospect that we'll end up significantly lower, back to 12,200/1325.
Bombay opens at 16,481 after an unexpected big rise last week. I think the BSE is going to be lower this week, breaking below 16k. Besides the Mars-Venus-Jupiter t-square, tr Mars squares the Sun in the BSE-100 chart. Transiting bhukti lord Mercury is very close to the equal 6th house cusp earlier in the week, so this may be a drag on prices before any substantial declines occur.
After a solid week as per our forecast, Tokyo opens at 13,476. Even with this bearish Mars-Jupiter pattern in the sky, I'm less negative about the TSE. While I think some down days are in store, especially later in the week, this may well turn out to be one of the stronger global equity markets. If we finish down for the week, it won't be by much. Next week, by contrast, looks much worse.
After flirting with $1.60 last week, the Euro opens at $1.58. I think we will see it break through $1.60 this week -- finally. Tr Mars comes under the benefic influence of the natal Jupiter while tr Venus still aspects the Virgo lagna. Wednesday or Thursday look like the best days. Overall, we should finish up significantly for the week.
Oil is really the pivotal economic story these days as it opens at another all-time high of $116. Transiting bhukti lord Venus remains in exaltation in Pisces all week, so it looks generally bullish. However, we will see a chance for a big (>1%) pullback as tr Sun opposes the natal Moon-Saturn conjunction Tuesday and Wednesday. I think this transit will only generate one major down day so we'll probably finish Friday above current levels, but $120 may only be a 50-50 proposition.
At $915, Gold comes off a decent week, even if Friday's sell off was sharp. Monday looks negative as the residual bearish of transiting dasha lord Venus under the influence of natal Saturn. Also, tr Sun opposes the natal Uranus in the futures chart. I think the upward momentum will resume after that, although Friday is a question as the tr Mars opposes the natal Venus. On balance, I think we'll finish higher for the week. However, time is running out for Gold as next week the Jupiter station will really pull the rug out from this market in May and we could see prices break down to $850 or below. While I had previously thought that we had a window of opportunity to hit $1000 briefly before the big sell off, I no longer think this is possible. Especially if Monday is negative, I don't think there will be enough juice in the tank to get us there. We will likely have to wait until autumn for a chance to revisit the all-time highs.
