(14 December 2021)
The markets are looking jittery ahead of Wednesday's much-anticipated
FOMC meeting where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is widely expected to
announce an accelerated tapering of QE asset purchases. Stocks fell
for the second straight day on Tuesday after the wholesale PPI
inflation number came in higher than expected at 9.6%. The inflation
problem comes at a particularly bad time for the Fed in the wake of
fresh Covid restrictions in Europe following the rapid spread of the
Omicron variant.
This early week sell-off was in line with our expectations given the
nasty Mercury-Mars-Ketu alignment. Mars and Ketu (South Lunar Node) are
both malefic planets and their conjunction increased the odds of a
decline on Monday and Tuesday. The involvement of Mercury in this
configuration further added to the tension. In my weekly market forecast from November 3,
I had suggested that this Mars-Ketu conjunction could signal major
problems for the Fed given its affliction to the natal horoscope of the
Federal Reserve (Dec 23, 1913). Powell appears to be caught between a
rock and a hard place here as inflation is much higher than expected
while slowing seems inevitable given the new Covid restrictions. The
last thing the Fed wants to do is to tighten in a slowing environment
and yet that is the difficult reality of the current situation.
Large cap tech stocks in the Nasdaq suffered more than other indices as
perennial market leaders were dumped ahead of the likely Fed
tightening tomorrow. Large cap, growth-oriented stocks (Apple, Tesla,
Microsoft, etc.) are more dependent on low interest rates and thus
become more vulnerable if the Fed tightens monetary policy by reducing
QE stimulus and hiking rates.
One reason why tech stocks suffered more in the sell-off can be seen in the Nasdaq horoscope (February 8, 1971). This week's Mercury-Mars-Ketu alignment closely activates the Ascendant at 8 Aries (all positions sidereal zodiac, Krishnamurti ayanamsha). Mercury (7 Sagittarius) was exactly aligned with Mars (6 Scorpio) and Ketu (7 Scorpio). As an added affliction, both Mars and Ketu were conjunct the 8th house cusp which is considered a malefic dussthana house by traditional Vedic reckoning. While Mercury was not in a full-strength aspect under standard rules (Mars square/opposition or Ketu trine), the exact 30-degree angular separation nonetheless created a negative resonance with both Mars and Ketu.
Looking ahead, markets could remain volatile after Wednesday's FOMC meeting. While some relief is possible as Mercury moves away from its alignment, Mars and Ketu will inch closer to an exact conjunction with the 8th house cusp and will form an opposition aspect with the Moon on Thursday.
As noted in previous posts, the overall risk level is also elevated due to the approach of the Venus retrograde station on Sunday, Dec 19 and the Saturn-Uranus square on Dec 23. Both are potentially negative influences on sentiment in the coming days.
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