(13 June 2018)
Now the hard work begins. The much-anticipated summit between North
Korea's Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump has finally taken
place in Singapore. The two leaders met over several hours on Tuesday
and signed a commitment to work towards peace and to denuclearize the
Korean peninsula. The accord is undoubtedly an important first step
towards a lasting peace although questions remain about specifics. Most
analysts were still skeptical of any tangible results in the long
term. Over the past twenty years, North Korea has signed similar
promises to halt its nuclear weapons program at least seven times and
has found ways to renege or violate the agreements each time. It
remains to be seen if this time will be different.As I have previously suggested, I think this air of optimism is likely to fade by August as the principal horoscopes of Trump and the 1953 Korean Armistice show considerable affliction. In addition, we can now add the special relationship (or Davison) chart between Trump and Kim. This chart is derived by combining the birth data of the two men and dividing it in two. This produces a third, unique set of birth data which can be cast as a separate chart. It is then used to see ups and downs of the relationship between the two individuals.
The derived relationship chart for Trump and Kim yields a birth date of 27 March 1965. Very quickly, we can see why their meeting today was so successful. Venus (3 Cancer) was at the top of the chart in the 10th house of status and public profile and thus highlighted notions of conviviality and sociability. It also aligned very closely to the Ascendant. Venus was also aspecting the Moon within three degrees. Moon-Venus transits are classic signatures for pleasant social experiences.
Mercury (4 Gemini), the planet of communication, was also prominent as it was placed in the 9th house of higher principles (peace, diplomacy) and also in close alignment with the Ascendant and the Moon by degreewise reckoning. At the time of the meeting, the Moon was conjunct Jupiter, the planet of "right action", abundance, and optimism. Rule-breaking Uranus is also there sitting on the 7th house and underscored the unprecedented and even surprising nature of the summit. It was definitely an auspicious arrangement of planets for their first meeting.
However, it doesn't look bad enough to be a deal breaker. But all of August and September look increasingly difficult for this relationship since Mars will station direct at 4 Capricorn on Aug 27 while conjunct the Moon and square the Ascendant. Moreover, Saturn will station direct at 8 Sagittarius in a close square alignment with Venus, the planet of amity. This looks like relations may get quite frosty with more than a little hostility mixed in.
The deeper problem with the chart is that Neptune is opposite the Mars-Uranus-Pluto conjunction for the next year. It's very unhelpful for peace since Neptune symbolizes delusion and deception when in hard aspect as it is here. Given North Korea's poor track record on disarmament and Trump's own personal struggles with the truth, the Neptune influence looks like the relationship will have a high level of mistrust.
The spring of 2019 looks like a possible peak of difficulties as Saturn and Ketu will align with natal Mars-Uranus-Pluto. It is difficult to say exactly what may transpire at this time, but some kind of military conflict should not be discounted. It is a very serious affliction to this relationship chart. I hope to revisit these charts as developments unfold.
Weekly Market Forecast
Stocks have generally continued higher over the past week as investors are managing to look past any temporary trade tensions with China and the G7. The Dow lost just one point today closing at 25,320 while India's Sensex pushed higher to 35,692. This mostly bullish outcome over the past week is more or less in keeping with expectations as I thought the Sun-Mercury conjunction and alignment with Jupiter and Neptune would boost sentiment.
The Fed delivers its latest policy statement tomorrow and it is widely expected to raise rates again. But all eyes will be on its forward guidance and the language it uses for possible future hikes. Wednesday is the day of the New Moon so there is at least some possibility of further gains. New Moons tend to be bullish, although this is more of a statistical fact and not a high probability outcome. The larger problem on this occasion is that the New Moon occurs in a difficult alignment with Mars and the Lunar Nodes. For this reason I would think there is some downside risk on Wednesday. Thursday's Moon-Mercury conjunction is in fairly close opposition to Saturn so that is another possible red flag for the market. It seems likely that we will see some downside this week and perhaps into next week also when Venus opposes Mars at midweek.
For more details and analysis on market trends for this week, this month and this year, please check out my weekly MVA Investor Newsletter. The newsletter is published every Saturday and includes extended discussion of US and Indian stock markets, as well as gold, oil and major currencies.
Simplified financial transit outlook for June 13 - 20
Wed 6/13 New Moon 135 Mars-Ketu bearish -2
Thu 6/14 Moon-Mercury-180-Saturn bearish -3
Venus-90-Uranus bullish +1
Fri 6/15 Mercury-180-Saturn bearish -2
Moon-120-Jupiter bullish +1
Mon 6/18 Venus-Rahu bullish +1
Mercury-Jupiter-Neptune bullish +1
Tue 6/19 Venus-Saturn bearish -1
Mercury-Jupiter bullish +1
Wed 6/20 Venus-180-Mars bearish -2
Moon-90-Saturn bearish -1
Mercury-Jupiter-Neptune bullish +2
