Obamacare under threat as government shutdown looms

(29 September 2013)  It was another bad week for President Obama as House Republicans voted for a one-year delay of Obamacare as part of its spending bill.  The delay of the unpopular health care plan has put the GOP on a collision course with the White House.  Obama will veto the bill to delay its launch and this will then result in a government shutdown as funds will not be available to provide basic government services. US government shutdowns are not that uncommon, however, and usually last only a few days.  Financial markets are actually more concerned with the threat posed by the debt ceiling debate as money is due to run out by October 17th.  If the debt ceiling cannot be raised, then the US government would default on its debt.  This is far more disruptive to financial markets than a shutdown.

To some extent, the current bad mood in Washington is the result of the ongoing Saturn-Rahu conjunction.  This has been in effect for much of September and is carrying over into October as it is activated by the transits of faster moving planets such as Mercury and the Sun.   As I have discussed in previous posts, this conjunction is afflicting Obama's natal Mars (frustration, confrontation) and is likely undermining his Sun (confidence, leadership) since the Saturn-Rahu conjunction sits atop his Neptune.  Neptune is in a close square aspect with his Sun (Sun-Neptune=weakness, indecision) and so this malefic activity on his Neptune has a clear channel of energy from which to flow to his Sun.  While Saturn is slowly moving away from Obama's Neptune, it will also tighten its square aspect to his Sun in October.  This aspect makes any quick or clear victory more unlikely as his leadership and popularity will continue to suffer.   As transiting Mars conjoins his Rahu and then squares his Moon (with the help of transiting Neptune (8 Aquarius), Obama will likely see more headaches and setbacks in October.

The ACA health care bill has its own chart and shows the current stresses fairly well.  Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010 at 11.56 a.m. in Washington.  The resulting natal chart is really quite afflicted although it is powerful also.  The Moon rises in Gemini but is involved in a very tense Grand Cross alignment as it is opposite Pluto, squared by Saturn and also in a 90 degree alignment with the Sun.  That Moon on the Ascendant is therefore quite afflicted and speaks directly to the unpopularity of Obamacare.  Even if it is eventually implemented, it seems likely to increase health premiums for many people even if coverage is more inclusive. Note that a debilitated Mars in Cancer sits in the 2nd house of wealth and assets and it is disposited by that very afflicted Moon. 

Its prominence in American public life is reflected by the fact that the Sun sits high in the chart in the 10th house conjunct Uranus (innovation, fame) and its Ascendant ruler Mercury is also in the 10th house (albeit fallen in Pisces) with Venus, which is exalted.  All four planets are opposed by Saturn, however, so that may be a key factor why most of the news and high public profile of Obamacare is critical and negative.   Saturn's pivotal aspects on both the Sun and Moon means that Obamacare is perhaps better described as infamous rather than famous.  Its difficult natal chart also suggests it may not be a positive legacy for the Obama presidency. 

As we would expect, the current transits to this chart are not good.  The Ascendant ruler Mercury is under pressure from the ongoing square aspect of Uranus and Pluto.  This is one reason why Obamacare is such a focus of attention and lightning rode of opposition.  The combined influence of Uranus and Pluto means that the roll-out will not be smooth sailing and that it will be basically unstable and tentative for the next year or so while these slow moving transits are still in proximity of that Mercury.  Even more problematic is the transit of Rahu to the Moon-Ascendant in the Obamacare chart.  This is still approaching its exact trine aspect so that is one reason to think that there will be still more birthing pains in the coming weeks.

 

But is this enough to translate into a one year delay?  The planets look equivocal on this question.  While the Rahu aspect to the Moon/Ascendant is likely quite difficult, one would have expected more affliction to the chart if there was going to be a formal delay.  Such a delay would be quite embarrassing to Obama and the Democrats and would keep hope alive for the GOP that repeal was still possible down the road.  The current dasha period in this chart is Rahu-Mercury.  Yes, Mercury isn't in the best shape, but it is also not strongly afflicted by transit at the moment.  So I am agnostic on the prospects for a delay.  The chart is under pressure at the moment, but it may only be the latest bump in a very bumpy road for Obamacare.  

I do think that Obamacare's future is uncertain, however.  The Rahu-Ketu dasha period begins in January 2014 so that should see more opposition and problems emerge with the program.   The transits also offer support to the notion that there will be more opposition to the program during this time.  The Saturn station at 10 Scorpio in March 2015 will line up on the equal 6th house of the natal chart and suggests a time of extreme stress.  Given that this will shortly follow the 2014 mid-term elections in November, it suggests that there may be a renewed movement to oppose and repeal Obamacare at that time. 

All this uncertainty was bad news for stocks as financial markets anticipated some short term turbulence from the possibility of a government shutdown and a disruptive debt ceiling debate.  US stocks lost 1% while Indian stocks slumped 3%.  The  negative outcome was not surprising given the ongoing Mars-Venus aspect through much of the week.  Thursday's more bullish Venus-Jupiter aspect did generate some optimism but it was fairly muted. 

There are two key patterns to watch this week.  On Wednesday and Thursday, the Sun will form a close alignment with Saturn, Uranus and Pluto.  This looks quite potent and could move markets significantly in either direction.  Saturn's presence here means that there is perhaps more downside risk.  In light of the shutdown showdown in DC, this pattern would seem to suggest more difficulties for government as Sun (government) is in alignment with Saturn (blockage), Uranus (sudden developments) and Pluto (power, coercion).   The other thing to watch is the entry of Venus into sidereal Scorpio on Wednesday.  Stocks have generally done well during the transit of Venus through favourable  Libra which began on September 6th.  But Scorpio is more hostile territory for Venus, so this could amount to a weakening of the planet of money.   Venus transits Scorpio from October 2 until October 30.  While probably not especially positive, this transit is not necessarily negative in itself.  The larger point here is that once it leaves Libra, it may expose the greater negative potential of the Saturn-Rahu conjunction.

Bernanke (and Rahu) surprise markets: Is the QE party over?

(22 September 2013)  Ben Bernanke surprised markets last week as the Fed postponed its plans to taper QE bond purchases until economic conditions improved.   While US stocks moved to new all-time highs on Wednesday's announcement, many investors and analysts voiced their irritation and disapproval at this sudden about-face after the Fed had been hinting at tapering since May.  The Fed's credibility took a beating with this move as more market players spoke out against its actions and its communications.  The fact that most of the gains were lost by Friday is further evidence that the market may be growing wearing of all this Fed money printing as it does not appear to have much effect in the real economy.

We can see the potential damage of Wednesday's non-taper by referring to Bernanke's swearing-in chart when he first took over the reins of Fed Chair on February 1 2006 at 9 a.m.   I interpret this chart as representing conditions and events of Bernanke's tenure at the Fed.  Close aspects involving malefic planets like Saturn will likely coincide with times of economic stress when the Fed is forced to react to worsening conditions, both in the economy and in the financial markets.  Favorable aspects with planets like Jupiter and Venus may be seen as coinciding with desirable conditions and events such as improving economic data and rising stock markets.  The stated aim of quantitative easing is to lower interest rates in order to spur economic activity and to push the stock market higher to enhance "the wealth effect".  Lately, it's only effect may be that it is enriching the top layer of society.

There were two key patterns in play last week.  First, transiting Mars (19 Cancer) was exactly opposite the natal Sun (18 Capricorn), Mercury (22 Capricorn) and Neptune (23 Capricorn).   Mars is a planet associated with sudden events marked by frustration and annoyance especially when in hard aspect (90, 180) as is the case here.  This Mars influence therefore accounts for both the surprising nature of the Fed move as well as the mostly negative to it.

The other pattern to take note of is the triple conjunction I have been mentioning between Venus, Saturn and Rahu (NN) at 14 Libra.   This was exact on the day that Bernanke threw his curve ball into the markets.  While there are no full strength Vedic aspects here, there is a very close 135 degree aspect between Venus-Saturn-Rahu and the Moon (0 Pisces).  This is just one degree from exact and therefore may confer some strength.  Any affliction to the Moon is going to be noteworthy, and since there are three planets involved here it may be quite consequential down the road.  At the same time, it is important to note that the 135 aspect is a minor aspect and therefore packs less of a punch that other aspects. 

So how important is this Moon affliction?  Could it mean that the markets are finally fed up with the Fed and its endless loose money policy?  Certainly, there are more voices that are openly questioning the wisdom of QE now.  Some commentators talk about how the Fed may be trapped now by the market's reliance on money printing.  When the Fed indicated it was going to taper bond purchases in May, interest rates started to rise as the market anticipated the loss of an important buyer.  But the Fed doesn't want rates to rise as they will choke off the housing recovery and push the economy back into recession.  Rates can only stay relatively low if the Fed continually pumps money into the system and increases its own debt.  As many investors know, this is a recipe for inflation down the road.  What's worse is that yields on Treasury bonds are still higher than they were a year ago thus indicating that the Fed may no longer be able to dictate interest rates.  Bernanke is on the verge of losing control of the bond market.  This is a more perilous situation because it means that rates will rise no matter how many bonds the Fed buys. That means that the US debt will suddenly become more expensive to service and will force more government cuts and higher taxes.  Higher inflation is the other probable consequence in this scenario. 

While I thought that the triple conjunction could be bearish for stocks, I was ultimately uncertain of the outcome with this pattern given the strength of Venus in Libra.  As it turned out, stocks rose across the board.  As expected, Rahu made its presence felt as developments were quite surprising and even disruptive as Bernanke postponed the taper.  His Indian counterpart, RBI chief Raghuram Rajan also surprised markets albeit by tightening as he raised the repo rate on Friday.  The negative reaction was not enough to offset the post-Fed rally however.   Gold also rallied strongly after the Fed on renewed inflation fears.

This week will be interesting as we can monitor the effects of the separation of Venus from its conjunction.  Markets have generally risen as Venus approached its conjunction with Saturn and Rahu.  It may be another story once Venus separates.  To be sure, Venus will still be quite strong while it remains in Libra until 2 October so this could keep sentiment mostly positive.  But it is worth noting that market reversals do sometimes happen around tight clusters of planets as we had last week. 

Venus is subject to two aspect influences this week, one negative and one positive.  Mars aspects Venus for much of the week and thus we should expect some negativity to manifest at various points in the week.  The aspect is exact on Sunday the 29th.  However, Jupiter forms an exact aspect with Venus on Thursday so that is likely to translate into some favorable outcomes as well.   The bottom line here is that the planets do not provide any clear hints for direction this week.  But the gradual weakening of Venus is something that should be watched very carefully here, especially as we move into October.  With the prospect of a US government shutdown looming, stocks may face a tougher road.

Putin emerges the winner in face-off with Obama and US

(15 September 2013)  Russia's President Vladimir Putin seems to be the big winner in the recent war of words over Syria's chemical weapons.  The agreement between the US and Russia to remove all of Syria's chemical weapons by next year emerged after a series of missteps by the US administration.  President Obama's lack of political support for a military strike ultimately paved the way for the agreement which allowed the beleaguered Obama to save face.  Seeing the unworkable position Obama was in, Putin seized the moment by brokering the deal with Syria's strongman Bashar al-Assad.

The disarmament deal came as a surprise as I thought the odds were quite high for a military strike.  Obama's horoscope looked heavily afflicted for September.  Saturn in Libra is undermining his Cancer Sun (leadership, confidence) and thus he was more likely to fare poorly in this affair. I had thought the current transits to Obama's 8th house Mars in the last degree of Leo would be more likely to bring about military action.  However, it turned out that Obama's Mars was not very inclined to violence.  All those minor aspects to his Mars may have simply have reflected the awkwardness of his situation and the humiliation he has suffered.  The 8th house is symbolically associated with setbacks and embarrassments.

By contrast, Putin's horoscope appears to be more much sounder footing.  Putin's time of birth is uncertain but I have used the popular 9.30 a.m. time here.  The chart derives a lot of its strength through the planet Venus.  Venus is in its own sign of Libra and is conjunct benefic Mercury which is situated in the first degree of Libra and very auspiciously conjunct the star Spica (Chitra).  Both Venus and Mercury are also aspected by Jupiter in Aries thus providing them with more strength.   But all roads lead back to Venus.  Putin's Moon is exalted in Taurus which is ruled by Venus.  Putin's Sun is conjunct Saturn in Virgo.  This may give him that need for control but since Sun-Saturn is closely aspected by Rahu the need to control may be somewhat excessive.   This is pretty much what one would expect from a former head of the KGB.  But the other thing to note is that the Sun-Saturn is in Virgo which is ruled by Mercury.  That again takes us back to Mercury's sign of Libra (and Spica!) and its powerful ruler, Venus.  We may not know Putin's ascendant or house placements for sure, but even the Chandra Lagna chart looks quite good.

 

At this time, transiting Jupiter (22 Gemini) is aspecting Venus quite closely.  Saturn and Rahu are in proximity to Venus now.  I think it is likely a positive thing that they did not conjoin exactly on his Venus thus providing some breathing room.  Venus receives the square aspect from Mars this week, perhaps foreshadowing some anger or disputes from an adversary such as Obama.  The other question is what happens when Saturn exactly conjoins Venus in October.  I think it is likely that Putin will come under increased scrutiny at that time.  At the moment, Putin's natal Venus is being partially supported by the fact that transiting Venus is also in Libra.  Once transiting Venus enters Scorpio on 2 October, his natal Venus may become more vulnerable. It will be less likely to withstand the impact of the conjunction with Saturn without harm.  It remains to be seen if this Saturn-Venus conjunction will impact the Syria situation, however. 

Markets generally applauded the negotiated settlement as US and Indian stocks added to their recent gains.  Gold and oil suffered significant declines, however, as the risk premiums came off as the military threat subsided.  I thought we might have seen more damage to stocks in the early week on the Mars-Saturn aspect but the underlying strength of Venus in Libra may have been sufficient to reverse the polarity of those malefic planetary influences.

All eyes are on the Fed this week as it appears as if Ben Bernanke will announce the beginning of the QE taper.  The Fed is expected to reduce the amount of bonds it is buying on Wednesday.  This could mark the beginning of the end of the controversial quantitative easing program which was aimed at stimulating the economy.  Given the modest growth rates in the US these days and raging inflation across most of the developing world, it is unclear how effective it has been.  Interestingly, the Fed decision this week occurs just as Venus (money) is conjunct Saturn (restraint) and Rahu (breaking boundaries).  The prominence of Saturn here suggests that tapering is more likely. 

But Rahu's presence here is a bit of wild card and opens the door to a possible surprise by Bernanke.  When Rahu (North Lunar Node) is involved, we are often faced with situations of change and disruption.  At very least, it would seem an appropriate pattern for the Fed to reverse its loose money policy.  But it is also possible that Bernanke could surprise the markets in some way.  And as noted last week, the Venus-Saturn-Rahu conjunction this week occurs in a significant spot in the NYSE horoscope so that could translate into a significant market reaction to his announcement. 

India's new RBI governor Raghuram Rajan is due to make his first policy announcement on Friday.  The tight conjunction of Saturn and Rahu would similarly appear to favour an anti-inflation bias which aims to protect the Rupee.  Depending on the exact nature of what is announced, this seems like it could create problems for stock market investors.

The Hindenburg Omen: Is the stock market going to crash?

(8 September 2013)  Recently there has been a lot of talk by technical analysts about the Hindenburg Omen. Named after the doomed airship that crashed in 1937in New Jersey, the Hindenburg Omen is a series of criteria of stock market measurements that predicts market crashes. The premise of the criteria is that stocks tend to display greater extremes in behavior before a large decline.  This is reflected, for example, in a higher number of stocks hitting their 52-week highs and 52-week lows simultaneously.   The track record of the omen is impressive as it has correctly predicted every major crash or decline over the past 25 years.  However, it has also misfired a number of times by issuing many false positives -- occasions when the technical criteria was fulfilled but the market did not crash.  

The US stock market recently satisfied the criteria of the omen in mid-August when several signals formed in quick succession.  It is believed that the signal is valid for 30 trading days.  Assuming that no new omens are triggered, this signal will be valid until mid- to late-September.  While the market is showing signs of weakness recently, one wonders if this will turn out to be just another false positive for the Hindenburg Omen.  So we can ask the question: just how close are we to a stock market crash?

At the risk of sounding vague, the short answer is: closer than we usually are.  I have been fairly pessimistic about the market in September due to some unusual alignments involving the traditionally malefic planets of Mars, Saturn and Rahu (i.e. North Lunar Node).  Saturn and Rahu are conjunct for most of September and this is one of the main reasons for my less than sanguine view of market sentiment in the coming weeks.  As an added burden, Mars forms a close square aspect to Saturn-Rahu this week and therefore it could act as a planetary trigger for all that supposedly bearish energy.

In fact, it is possible to construct an astrological equivalent to the Hindenburg Omen.  That is to say that there are several astrological criteria that should be present before a crash can occur.  Broadly speaking, these are:

1.  A tense transit alignment of planets involving one or more malefic planets (e.g. Mars, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu).  The 1987 crash occurred when Mars was conjunct Ketu and square Neptune. 

2.  A close transit alignment between two or more slow moving planets (Jupiter, Saturn and on out to Pluto).  The 2008 crash featured a very unusual and close alignment of Saturn, Rahu and Neptune. 

3.  An obvious pattern of transit affliction to three or more planets or points in the horoscope of the New York Stock Exchange or its proxies. This should include at least one transiting slow moving malefic planet (e.g. Saturn, Rahu).  Pluto was in a close square with the NYSE Moon at the time of the 1929 crashwhile Saturn was in tense aspect with Mercury and the Sun.

4.  An obvious pattern of affliction in the progressed chart of the NYSE involving hard aspects with malefics Mars, Saturn and Rahu/Ketu.  The more planets/points this progressed malefic contacts, the greater the probability of a decline and the greater the size of the decline.

To be sure, all of these criteria are subject to some degree of interpretation. It is possible for a chart to feature some of these difficult patterns but they could be offset by some positive patterns which could nullify the crash signal.  To see how it might operate, let's look at what was happening in the sky at the time of the 1987 crash when stocks declined over 20% in a single day on October 19, 1987.

In terms of transits (outer ring), the pattern did not seem especially negative.  As note above, Mars was conjunct Ketu and both were square to Neptune.  This is definitely a difficult pattern but the aspects were not that close.   This satisfies criteria 1 and 2 although perhaps only marginally.  Pluto was conjunct Venus and retrograde Mercury. Although this may not be seen as necessarily negative, it was quite noteworthy to have a rare triple conjunction at the time.  Interestingly, Jupiter formed a close trine aspect with Uranus -- normally a bullish pairing.  The wild card here is that Uranus had changed signs and entered sidereal Sagittarius on the day of the crash.  Uranus (sudden and unexpected events),  is a very slow moving planet and only changes signs about once every seven years.  Typically, the Uranus sign change is bearish and generates some kind of decline.  

The NYSE chart was also very afflicted by transits thus fulfilling condition #3.   Transiting Saturn (23 Scorpio) was square to the natal Mars (27 Leo).  The Ketu-Mars conjunction was itself conjunct natal Rahu (11 Virgo).  Such nodal transits are often bearish in their influence and this was likely intensified by the presence of transiting Mars.  Perhaps most importantly, the Pluto-Venus-Mercury conjunction was very close to an exact opposition to natal Venus (14 Aries).  Venus is the planet of money and the opposition by Pluto is very malefic.  The faster moving Venus and Mercury likely acted as triggers.   

The progressions were also very malefic at the time of the crash (not shown).  Tertiary progressed Mercury was conjunct TP Saturn.  Worse still, TP Mars was square both Neptune and Ketu.   This pattern of affliction clearly fulfilled criteria #4. 

The current situation of the NYSE horoscope shows some similarities to the 1987 crash.  As noted above, the transit picture is quite stressful here as Mars squares both Saturn and Rahu.  This is exact in the early part of this week.  Next week, Venus will conjoin the Saturn-Rahu conjunction and thus offer another plausible trigger for the malefic Saturn-Rahu energy.  Pluto remains in its protracted square aspect with Uranus although without a trigger it is unclear just how influential this three-year long tense aspect really is.  Nonetheless, I would say that the current situation satisfies conditions 1 and 2.

The current transits to the NYSE are actually quite reminiscent of 1987.  Just as the 1987 featured a multi-planet alignment with natal Venus, so too does the current transit have Venus in its sights.  The Saturn-Rahu conjunction at 14 Libra occurs exactly opposite Venus (14 Aries).  This may be activated by perhaps several faster moving trigger planets such as Mars (Sept 10), Venus (Sept 18) Mercury (Oct 6) and even the Sun (Oct 31).   While these are significant alignments, there is a relative absence other patterns in this chart. For example, the ongoing Uranus-Pluto square is not forming any major aspects in the chart.  Neptune (9 Aquarius) is still squaring the Sun (6 Taurus) so that could also be seen as a background burden. Transiting Mars comes to the Ascendant in the 10.10 NYSE chart on September 18th so that is interesting as Bernanke is due to address the possibility of QE tapering on that day.  It is worth noting that the Flash Crash of May 6, 2010 occurred when Mars was also conjunct this Ascendant at 20 Cancer.  However, the correctness of the 10.10 chart is heavily contested, so we might not want to put too much weight on that Mars transit to the Ascendant.   Overall, I think these pattern satisfy criteria #3 although perhaps somewhat minimally.

The current progressed chart of the NYSE is also afflicted.  Tertiary Progressed Mars squares TP Mercury and TP Jupiter (which are conjunct).  While this fulfills the 4th condition, it is definitely not as negative as the progressed chart for the 1987 crash.  Both Mercury and Jupiter are benefics and while the Mars influence is largely negative, the overall pattern looks much less negative and less severe.  By contrast, the 1987 progressed pattern featured three first-class malefics:  Mars, Saturn and Ketu with Neptune thrown in for good measure.

And perhaps the biggest difference of all is the absence of any major planetary ingress in 2013. I think the size and intensity of the 1987 crash was likely greatly magnified by the entry of Uranus into Sagittarius.  There is no such ingress this time around. 

The bottom line here is that there is a viable argument to be made for some kind of crash.  All of the four criteria I have suggested are fulfilled and thereby constitute an astrological equivalent to the Hindenburg Omen.  That said, I think the current set up may be more of a Hindenburg Lite as the nature of some of the patterns seem less dangerous than in 1987 and in 2008.  So while a one-day 10% crash may not quite be considered probable, the US market still seems much more likely to move lower in the weeks ahead.

The planets this week look quite potent.  That Mars-Saturn-Rahu alignment in the first half of the week looks quite ugly indeed and may correlate with rising anxiety, probably involving the Syria question.  It is hard to see how the market could rise on such a nasty-looking alignment.  Gains are perhaps somewhat more likely in the second half of the week.  And all of this is leading up to the rare triple conjunction of Venus-Saturn-Rahu in Libra on September 18th next week.  We live in interesting times.

Idealism under duress: Obama delays Syria strike

(1 September 2013)  President Obama pulled back from the brink yesterday as he decided to delay a possible missile strike on Syria in order to seek approval from the US Congress.  The surprise about-face ended a week of increasing war rhetoric as the White House sought to make its case for hitting the Assad regime after its recent use of chemical weapons during the two-year old civil war with insurgents.  Obama had been boxed in by his own "red line" ultimatum against the use of poison gas and was feeling isolated after UK support for a missile strike was defeated in the British Parliament.

Obama's horoscope is under considerable pressure at this time.  Transiting Saturn and Rahu (i.e. North Lunar Node)  are both conjunct his 10th house Neptune indicating possible obstacles to his role as leader.  Any planet in the 10th house is associated with status and reputation and we should not be surprised that the double whammy of these two malefic planets Saturn and Rahu should correspond with situations where his leadership is called into question or where events do not play out smoothly. 

 

The added dimension here is that Neptune is a planet that symbolizes idealism so the encroaching influence of Saturn (limit, loss) and Rahu (distortion, disruption) reflects the difficulty Obama has had in reconciling his preference for negotiation and peace with a need to be firm in the face of a violation of the international norms of warfare.   With Neptune placed in his 10th house, Obama 's leadership style is one based on moral values  -- he did win the Nobel Peace Prize after all -- rather than confrontation and military intervention.  The problem is that Obama is in uncharted territory now that he has been forced into a situation where his Neptunian idealism has been called into question by awkward circumstances as represented by Saturn and Rahu.  The Commander-in-Chief may have to act according to the wishes of Mars in order to defend the Neptune's moral high ground. 

While Saturday's change of heart has been criticized by some who see it as weak or indecisive, many are also praising it for its political and even military advantages.  Several normally hostile voices in the GOP have welcomed the move.  Congressional approval solves his legitimacy problem on the strike and also provides him with a political cover should they reject his request.  Obama's transits for this decision indicate it was a victory of sorts at least on a subjective level.  Mars (action, energy) was conjunct his Mercury (rationality, communication) reflecting the intensity of the decision.  Also key was the exactly trine aspect of Venus (happiness, popularity) to his Ascendant (self).    Venus is therefore also conjunct his equal 9th house cusp (authority, philosophy) reflecting how the decision to go to Congress upheld Obama's adherence to democratic principles and thereby provides a better justification for military action.  Given the idealism contained in Obama's 10th house Neptune, it is all the more important for him to seek popular authority before engaging in a "just war".

 

But where does this all lead?  Obama wants only a quick and punishing attack on the Assad regime that makes it think twice before deploying chemical weapons in the future.  Obama has been clear that he does not want any boots on the ground or a regime change.   We can see that some kind of military action is very likely in the coming days since the Saturn-Rahu conjunction will indirectly activate Mars both in his chart and in the chart of the USA.  In Obama's chart Mars is situated at 29 Leo.  The Saturn-Rahu conjunction occurs at 14 Libra -- exactly 45 degrees away.  This is not a full strength Vedic aspect but it is a geometric fact nonetheless since 45 degree aspects are significant through their mathematical relationship with the 360 degree circle.  The strike may be launched when Mars approaches its conjunction to his Sun and the Sun conjoins his Mars on the 15th to 17th. 

In the USA chart, we can see that Saturn is currently exactly aspecting the natal Rahu in the 8th house.  This is usually a difficult transit that reflects unexpected obstacles or setbacks that force us to change our plans.  But Mars (0 Gemini) is also prominent here through indirect aspect, this time the 135 degree aspect with Saturn and Rahu.  In a national horoscope, Mars symbolizes violence and military action so it is entirely appropriate that it should be activated at a time when the US is set to attack another country.  Transiting Mars will conjoin the natal Rahu on September 9th or 10th and will complete the ongoing Mars-Saturn square aspect.   This is another likely time when an attack is likely.  It is a few days before the key transits in the Obama chart so that is a bit of a puzzle.  It suggests that the situation will likely not unfold in a smooth or predictable manner.  It may mean that the US attacks on the 9th but that there are complications (collateral damage, anyone?) or even Syrian reprisals for the attacks against US targets several days later.  These transits suggest that this will not be a simple matter without consequences for the US and Obama. 

Interestingly, this military strike may occur right around the time of the next Fed meeting (September 18th) in which Ben Bernanke is due to announce a possible tapering of the controversial QE program of buying bonds.  This clouds the picture somewhat since financial markets have been put on edge by this geopolitical uncertainty.   It is possible that some of the tension and stress in the USA and Obama horoscopes may also be due to financial circumstances, perhaps as a result of the Fed meeting on the 18th.   Also, markets would likely decline is there was a Syrian counter-attack on the US.  Obama and the USA therefore may have to contend with the negative fallout of both the Syrian attack and the next Fed meeting. 

As anxieties over Syria mounted, US markets declined last week, although Indian stocks staged a rebound after more volatility. As expected, we did some early week gains on the Venus-Jupiter aspect and then sentiment worsened after that.

It is hard to get too optimistic given the approaching Mars-Saturn aspect (exact on September 9th) so some more negativity looks likely this week. However, Mercury is in alignment with Venus so that could provide enough of a boost to produce some brief gains.  Perhaps the late week is better in this respect given that Venus leaves Virgo and enters the more commodious confines of sidereal Libra on Friday.