Stocks moved lower last week on recovery worries and poor US consumer data. Despite Thursday's rally on the upbeat Q3 GDP numbers, the New York market fell 4% as the Dow closed at 9712 and the S&P at 1036. Meanwhile, Mumbai tumbled 6% on disappointing Q2 results as the Nifty closed at 4711 with the Sensex finishing at 15,896. This bearish result was in keeping with last week's forecast as the double dose of malefic debilitation from the Sun-Mars square contributed to the anxious mood. The tension inherent in the Sun-Mars tandem was powerful enough to counter much of the optimism of the passing Venus-Jupiter aspect. Monday started higher in New York on the Moon-Jupiter conjunction but selling soon engulfed the rally faithful. Thursday's 2% bump came on the same day as the exact Venus-Jupiter aspect so that is one possible explanation for it. Not surprisingly, its effects didn't last long as the market sold off sharply on Friday as the Moon set up a nasty t-square pattern with Saturn and Pluto.
This volatility is likely to continue this week as we will see more potential planetary trouble spots. Monday's Full Moon in sidereal Aries occurs at the tail end of a difficult Mercury-Mars aspect, a very dangerous combination that could prove anathema to investor confidence. At the same time, however, Venus will form an aspect with Rahu, Uranus and Neptune which may offer some support. While otherwise positive, its simultaneous occurrence here may not be enough to bring sellers back into the market. As the Moon enters Taurus late Tuesday, the Sun and Mercury will form a conjunction at 18 degrees of sidereal Libra in midweek. This is normally a favourable combination for stocks so some kind of bounce back is to be expected. Of course, the other medium term influences look less positive so it's unclear how much lift this configuration can generate here. Friday looks like more skittishness as Mercury will fall under the minor aspect of Saturn, especially in New York.
The long-awaited correction seems to be fully underway now. The bearish promise of the Saturn-Pluto and Ketu-Uranus aspects would tend to suggest that we're going to see a decline that is larger than a standard-issue 10% dip. Even with some optimism returning for the Jupiter Neptune conjunction in early December, there's good reason to think this 7-month rally is undergoing some fundamental transformation.
