Dow hits 10,000 on Jupiter station

Euphoria is back in fashion as the Dow hit 10,000 last week on a parade of encouraging earnings reports. A double shot of Intel and JP Morgan on Wednesday was the big market mover coming just one day after Jupiter's direct station. Despite the danger implied in the Venus-Saturn-Rahu pattern, Jupiter's extra dose of stationary energy prevailed as the Great Benefic did the heavy lifting this time around. After Friday's retreat, the Dow finished the week at 9995 and the S&P at 1087. In Mumbai, stocks were also buoyant as the Nifty climbed to 5142 and the Sensex hit a 17-month high of 17,322. Heady days indeed for this rally that has bounced back from every correction thus far. I had thought the Saturn-Rahu might have been enough to nullify the Jupiter station but again my best laid bearish plans were thwarted.

What may be occurring here is a kind of planetary inversion where some apparently negative patterns are corresponding with highs rather than lows. One of the most prominent features of the October 2008 crash was an alignment of mostly malefic planets -- Sun, Saturn and Rahu. Negative sentiment and market declines correspond with "bad" planets in close aspect. The lows are typically marked by the exact aspect after which prices rebound and move higher. The March 2009 lows also occurred in a similar way as malefic Saturn was in close aspect with a stationing Venus. The negativity of the aspect manifested at the same time as the market low. But since this is the unknowable world of astrology, there are many exceptions to this pattern. In fact, global stock markets made their highs in October 2007 very close to a rare triple conjunction of Venus, Saturn, and Ketu. While Venus is a benefic planet, Saturn and Ketu are first class malefics and thus render the pattern quite harmful. So in that case, bad planets corresponded not with a low, but with a high. Where did all that negativity go? Perhaps some negative combinations only mark the beginning of a negative trend, like opening up a black door of bearishness. Once the market made its highs in late 2007, it plunged 40% over the next 12 months.

So it may be that some of these difficult patterns we've seen in September and October may actually be marking significant highs for the market. While the market has rallied going into these patterns, the Saturn-Rahu and Saturn-Uranus aspects may well have opened the black door once again and some significant declines are about to unfold.

This week holds some promise for the bulls as Tuesday's Mercury-Jupiter aspect usually brings optimism and good news. And Friday sees Mercury moving into a minor aspects with Uranus and Neptune so that also augurs positively for stocks. But on the other side of the ledger, Mars is in a harmonic aspect with Pluto on Monday and the Sun receives a minor aspect from Saturn on Wednesday and Thursday. We could well see an increase in volatility this here leading into the very difficult Sun-Mars-Mercury square next week.

Planetary trainwreck looms

Last week US markets fell the for second straight week amidst growing fears that the recovery may not be just around the corner. Stocks fell 2% as the Dow closed at 9487 and the S&P finished at 1025. Indian markets bucked the worldwide negative trend in a holiday-shortened week as the stocks moved 2% higher. The Sensex closed Thursday at 17,134 while the Nifty ended the week at 5083. This outcome was mostly in keeping with expectations since I had been bearish on the unusually prolonged minor Mercury-Mars aspect last week. After Monday's gain in New York, stocks fell over the next four days as the retreat from the previous week's highs proceeded apace. So far, the Saturn-Uranus aspect is proving to be a significant signpost for the markets as stocks rose leading up to the exact opposition aspect on September 18, and have fallen as the aspect has separated. This mirrors what happened in the two previous oppositions in November 2008 and February 2009. Mumbai is an important exception to this trend so far, perhaps due to some benefic hits in the relevant natal charts that have offset the transit energy.

The markets now stand on the precipice as we have an impressive array of foreboding planetary aspects this week. Mercury (trading) conjoins Saturn (pessimism) while under the damaging aspect of Rahu (exaggeration). While there is no certain interpretation of this configuration, I believe we are likely going to see increased fears and investor caution which will translate into greater selling and more declines. As an added dimension, I note that we will have no less than four planetary ingresses this week. When planets change signs, there is supposed to be a shift in energy. Usually this is fairly subtle, and often undetectable (read: unfalsifiable) especially on a mundane level. Now once again moving forward, Mercury re-enters Virgo on Sunday while Mars enters Cancer on the same day. Virgo is generally kind to Mercury so that may be construed as a slightly bullish factor. But Mars is debilitated in Cancer and that may increase volatility as aggression and conflict is more likely to come to the surface. Mars is also in a close conjunction with unpredictable Ketu, so that ratchets up the chances for unusual or sudden outbursts of conflict or violent action. (As a side note, the September 11th attacks took place under a Mars-Ketu conjunction). So that's two planets changing energy on the same day and neither in is good planetary company -- Mercury is with grim, old Saturn and Mars is with nutty Ketu. This is quite unusual, and perhaps destabilizing although the ingresses may be less important than the aspects and conjunctions

But we also have two outer planets, Uranus and Neptune, also changing their sidereal signs this week according to Lahiri or Krishnamurti. Unlike inner planets which change signs every month or so, outer planets change signs every few years and hence their ingresses may be more noteworthy. According to the Krishnamurti ayanamsha, Uranus enters Aquarius Monday while Neptune enters Capricorn on Thursday. Since these distant planets move so slowly, their ingresses will vary by a few days depending on which ayanamsha is used. I should also point out that this will not be the initial ingress for either Uranus or Neptune since both are retrograding back to a previous sign, and hence one could argue that the ingress may be less significant. Nonetheless, having four planets changing signs in such quick succession is a very rare occurrence and may serve to amplify any developments we see in the markets or the world over the next week or two. American astrologer Richard Houck noted that outer planet ingresses often coincide with major changes in the status quo. Uranus in particular was associated with major stock market declines. The 1987 US crash occurred the day Uranus entered Sagittarius, and the Dow lost 6% the day Uranus entered Capricorn in 1994. It's by no means a certain correlation or even a probabilistic one since we can point to many Uranus ingresses when the markets were relatively calm. But it should be seen as another potentially negative factor that could weigh heavily on markets, especially combined with the difficult Mercury-Saturn-Rahu and Mars-Ketu patterns.

This week nothing would surprise me. Get ready for anything.

Stocks decline in aftermath of Saturn-Uranus aspect

World markets staged a modest retreat last week as investors grappled with disappointing economic data coming out of the US. After some early week strength that saw indexes climb to new yearly highs, stocks in New York had three straight losing sessions as the Dow finished at 9665 and the S&P at 1044. Indian markets also pulled back fractionally as the Nifty closed below 5000 to 4958 while the Sensex ended the week at 16,693. This decline was in keeping with our expectations for a significant correction in the wake of the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Tuesday's exact Mercury-Saturn conjunction coincided with gains rather than losses so that was an important anomaly that echoed a similar outcome of the Sun from the previous week. The declines later in the week therefore reflected the dissipation of positive energy following the the exact aspect of these various planetary combinations. Just as we saw a rise into the Saturn-Uranus aspect through the first half of September, the backside of this aspect may well see the market sell off. The addition of trigger planets such as Sun or Mercury may also reflect this before/after dynamic.

The planetary picture appears even more entangled this week as Mercury turns direct on Tuesday while in close minor aspect with Mars. Mercury's normally bearish retrograde period has been overshadowed by stronger bullish energies. However, we should recall that its aspects with Mars can be troublesome for the market, such as in late August when Mars formed a square aspect with Mercury and the market experienced a small correction. While this 60 degree aspect is considered less malefic, it's closeness and long duration of influence this week may well produce bearish results. The close proximity of Saturn to stationary Mercury may not be helpful in that regard either and could well make matters worse. And with Saturn and Rahu moving into closer aspect, there is good reason to be very cautious about this market this week and through much of October.

It's a dangerous time.

Stocks advance into Saturn-Uranus aspect

Fueled by a seemingly unending stream of positive economic reports, stocks continued their ascent to new 2009 highs last week. In New York, the Dow rose 2%
to close at 9820 while the S&P finished at 1068. In Mumbai, the Nifty added 3% for the week and flirted with 5000 before ending the week at 4976. The BSE Sensex closed at 16,741. Commodities were mixed as crude oil rose to $72 USD while gold gave up midweek gains and ended mostly unchanged at $1007 USD. While I had anticipated some higher highs here, the absence of any significant late week pullback on the Sun-Moon-Saturn conjunction was disappointing. On the whole, the week was somewhat anti-climatic given the exact culmination of Saturn-Uranus opposition aspect. The Venus influence delivered predicted gains into Wednesday when it formed its closest angle to the Saturn-Uranus-Neptune alignment and indeed we saw the biggest gains of the week at that time. Against expectations, equities mostly held their own into the late week, however, as the Sun-Saturn conjunction only modestly damaged gold's prospects.

With the Saturn-Uranus opposition now behind us, we need to pay extra close attention to any new developing trends this week. Previous oppositions in this series have seen the bulk of the bearishness manifest after the exact opposition, so any downward moves this week would keep this correlation intact. Higher prices this week would provide significant evidence against the bearish view of the aftermath of the Saturn-Uranus aspect. With Mercury retrograding across Saturn, we would seem to be confronted with an even more bearish mixture of planetary energies than in past weeks. The exact conjunction occurs Tuesday so the early week may be more prone to selling. Of course, the Sun occupied a similar position last Thursday and we saw only a fractional decline. Nonetheless, Mercury's condition may be more vulnerable given its retrograde status. Some late week gains are likely as the Sun forms a minor aspect with Jupiter Thursday and into Friday. We should also pay attention to the approaching aspect from Rahu to Saturn. While not yet exact, the negative energy from this contact could begin to manifest fairly soon.

New highs on Venus-Jupiter aspect

Against a backdrop of improving economic data, stocks gamely added to their recent gains and made new highs for the year. In New York, the Dow rose 2% and equaled its highs from late August closing at 9605 while the broader S&P500 finished at 1042. In Mumbai, equities rallied more than 3% as the Sensex ended Friday's session at 16,264 while the Nifty broke above some significant resistance at 4750 closing at 4829. This bullish outcome was more or less in line with our expectations as the Sun-Venus-Jupiter configuration strongly pointed towards some gains. What was somewhat surprising was that the lion's share of the gains occurred early in the week, although solid momentum was maintained in the US for Wednesday and Thursday at the time of the tightest orb. Friday saw a modest negative day in the US, probably due to the separation of the Venus-Jupiter aspect.

In astrological terms, this week promises to be a moment of truth of sorts, as the long-awaited Saturn-Uranus opposition aspect will become exact on Tuesday. There is actually a lot more going on in the sky this week and that will only serve to ramp up the torque and increase the potential size of any moves. As a possible triggering mechanism, the Sun will conjoin Saturn on Thursday while the Moon follows suit on Friday. As an added source of planetary energy, Mercury will square Pluto late in the week and this should be seen as a burden on risk taking and optimism. Notwithstanding the fairly negative outlook here, the earlier part of the week holds the possibility for further gains in both stocks and commodities as benefic Venus will enter into alignments with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

We should also note that this Sun-Moon-Saturn-Uranus-Neptune configuration (all in the first sidereal degree of their respective signs) not only increases the chances for declines, it may also function as a cosmic signal for a trend reversal. Previous Saturn and Uranus oppositions in the current series have also coincided with significant pullbacks, although not during the immediate period around their aspect. On November 4, 2008 Saturn opposed Uranus (along with a helpful square aspect from Venus) and that marked an interim high for the US market. Stocks fell 20% in the subsequent three weeks into the November 21 lows. Similarly, Saturn again opposed Uranus on February 5, 2009 near an interim high and the market fell 25% into the lows of early March. In both instances, it was not the time around the exact aspect which took the market down, but rather the aftermath of the aspect which coincided with the decline. This 'high water' scenario is something to ponder as we confront another Saturn-Uranus opposition this week.

Markets retreat on Mercury-Mars square

Stocks staged a modest retreat last week as more investors entertained second thoughts about the sustainability of the rally. After trading below 1000 earlier in the week, the S&P ended the week at 1016 while the Dow finished at 9441. In Mumbai, caution was also the watchword as stocks fell four sessions out of five with only Friday's gains precluding a rout. The Sensex ended the week at 15,689 and the Nifty backed off last week's highs to close at 4680. While I had been ambivalent about the ultimate outcome last week due to the uncertain impact of Jupiter, the basic contours unfolded as expected with weakness early on followed by gains later. Monday and Tuesday saw the bearish effects of the Mercury-Mars aspect prevail while the approaching positive aspect between Venus and Sun at the end of the week coincided with solid gains. In the end, Jupiter's minor aspect with both Mercury and Mars did not provide enough encouragement for bulls to assume long positions but rather served to magnify the selling pressure, as Tuesday's across the board decline in New York was the sharpest in several weeks. While Jupiter is most often a bullish influence because of its optimistic nature, it is also a planet that can sometimes serve only as an accelerator to prevailing trends regardless of their direction.

With US markets shut for the Labor Day holiday, Monday will feature the beginning of the retrograde Mercury cycle on September 7. Since Mercury is the planet associated with trade and commerce, its reverse motion is often indicative of negative or sideways markets as investors take a 'time out' to review their positions and re-assess their portfolios. The Mercury retrograde cycle will last until Sept 29 and should be seen as an additional bearish factor that will tend to work against the markets extending its rally. With Saturn entering sidereal Virgo on Wednesday, we may see traces of its energy manifest in the world as it changes sign. Saturn represents structure, authority, loss and tradition so some of these themes may be more in evidence in the coming days. This needn't have an immediate effect on the market although the early week period may be more prone to selling. We may see stocks rebound strongly Wednesday and Thursday (and possibly into Friday, esp. in Asia) on the opposition aspect between Venus (24 Cancer) and Jupiter (24 Capricorn). This combination of benefics may promote spending and investing and encourage greater risk taking in the marketplace so we could well see stocks approach their previous week's highs. The fact that the Sun (24 Leo) will be in minor aspect to this opposition may increase its bullish potential. Since Sun symbolizes gold, we can expect gold to continue it recent rally, probably above $1000. Given the preponderance of difficult aspects next week, however, this rally seems very short-lived indeed.

US stocks stay strong; Mumbai rises to new high

World markets continued to defy gravity last week new yearly highs were established on many bourses, including US and India. After trading around 9600 in the week, stocks in New York closed mostly unchanged as the Dow ended at 9544 and the S&P at 1028. Mumbai was even more bullish as markets rose in all five sessions, as the Nifty closed Friday at a 2009 high of 4732 while the Sensex finished at 15,922. I had expected more downside on the Mercury-Mars-Rahu-Pluto pattern but it seems the offsetting Venus-Ketu conjunction on Wednesday may have been stronger than anticipated. As expected, we did see some more gains later in the week, especially in India, as transiting Venus improved the overall energy in the Mercury-Mars aspect. And while gold was weaker early on in the week as I had suspected it might be, it also staged a strong recovery by Friday.

This week offers another opportunity for the bearishness of the Mercury-Mars square to manifest, possibly early on when the Moon joins Rahu in Capricorn. By midweek, however, this energy may be redirected by Jupiter's minor aspect to this square. Jupiter is essentially an expansive influence so it has the capacity to enhance whatever trends are already underway. This could conceivably amplify any down move, although given Jupiter's benefic default setting towards gains, one might think it could take stocks higher also. By the end of the week, Venus will be moving into a minor aspect with the Sun, so that is another potential bullish energy source in the face of the negativity of the Mercury-Mars square and Mercury's imminent retrograde station on September 7. As the planet of trading and commerce, Mercury's condition is of critical importance in understanding the market, at least on a short-term basis. When it is strong, markets rise and when it is weak or afflicted, markets tend to fall. Its current placement in sidereal Virgo (which Mercury is said to rule according to astrological tradition) is an indicator of strength and no doubt that is one reason the market has so far been able to continue to rise despite the problematic input from the Mars aspect. But Mercury will likely come under further stress as we move into its retrograde cycle from Sept 7th to 29th.

While the overall planetary picture looks increasingly tense here, I would not be too surprised to see higher highs this week. Much will depend on what role Jupiter is playing midweek through its contact with Mercury and Mars. If Tuesday sees gains, then that will likely tip the scales in favour of more gains overall for the week and a possible new high.