Stocks choppy ahead of Friday's US jobs report

(3 August 2022) Stocks have been choppy to start the month of August as strong corporate earnings have mostly offset recession fears amid weakening macro data.   As expected, stocks fell in the early week as Mars conjoined Uranus and Rahu (North Lunar Node) -- and thereby activated the underlying Saturn-Neptune-Uranus-Chiron alignment -- although the decline was fairly modest despite geopolitical jitters from Speaker Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.  Wednesday's rebound was also not too surprising as the Moon aligned with Venus and Mars.  While US stocks are still very much in rebound mode following the June low, it remains to be seen if this year's down trend is truly over. 

One explanation for the relative strength in the market in recent weeks can be understood in terms of the navamsa, or 9th harmonic chart.  This chart is commonly used in Vedic astrology to provide an additional perspective on the relative planetary strengths above and beyond what a normal transit analysis would provide. 

It should be noted that Western astrology also uses the 9th harmonic, although it does not grant it the analytical primacy that Vedic astrology does.  The basic premise of the navamsa chart is that planets have a special resonance when their natal rasi positions are multiplied by 9.  In this way, the navamsa chart highlights the importance of the 40-degree novile aspect which is a key divisor of the 360 degree circle. 

The recent Jupiter retrograde station on July 28 is a good example of the mechanism behind the 9th harmonic navamsa chart.  Jupiter retrograde stations tend to be bullish in any event since the velocity of Jupiter is slowing both before and after the station.  One of the fundamental axioms of financial astrology is that slow moving planets have a greater capacity for good or ill depending on their nature.  As Jupiter slows around its stations, markets are more likely to rise. 

But with this particular station, we can see that Jupiter (14 Pisces) formed a near-exact 40-degree novile aspect with Uranus (24 Aries).  Since Jupiter-Uranus aspects are invariably bullish, this influence increased both the probability and the strength of the positive market outcomes towards the end of July.  Expressed in terms of the navamsa/9th harmonic chart, however, Jupiter and Uranus were conjunct. 

As we can see in today's navamsa chart, this 9th harmonic Jupiter-Uranus conjunction is still within just one degree at 11-12 Scorpio.  Today's bullish outcome was made more likely because this Jupiter-Uranus alignment was opposite Mercury, another bullish influence.  And with Venus in a favourable 120-degree alignment with Pluto and moving past the potentially bearish influence of the Mars aspect, there were a clear majority of bullish influences in this chart.

Looking ahead to Friday's US jobs report, we can see the 9th harmonic/navamsa chart looks more afflicted.  The Jupiter-Uranus conjunction will still be close at hand although now two degrees away, but the real problem is that Saturn will square both Mercury and Venus within a few degrees each.  This increases the downside risk for the end of the week and suggests a negative reaction to the jobs report. 

In this way, the navamsa/9th harmonic can provide useful additional information to the main rasi transit chart which can help tip the interpretive balance one way or the other. 

For more details, check out my weekly subscriber newsletter which is published every Saturday afternoon (EST).   In addition to reviewing the key planetary and technical influences on US and Indian stocks for the short and medium term, I also provide an astrological analysis of potential upcoming moves in currencies, gold and oil.