Merriman's weekend commentary before week of 2/16

MMA Comments for the Week Beginning February 16, 2009
Written by Raymond Merriman

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What a difference a week makes.

At the end of last week, everything looked positive for the stock indices of the world. The Venus translation to the forthcoming “Cardinal Climax” planets of Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto had ended without a major market collapse. The technical picture looked strong, and even the geocosmic picture looked promising as we ended last week. The equity markets of the world started out strong enough last week, as the world awaited newly elected President Obama first major press conference on Monday night. It went well enough, and the excitement built as he prepared everyone for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s detailed description of the next step in the economic rescue plan for Tuesday. Geithner, like Secretary Paulsen before him, spoke – and disappointed everyone. All the gains of the previous week evaporated, and in place of hope and confidence came confusion, uncertainty, and disappointment. By Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was back to its lowest level since the crisis days of last November and doubts were growing by the minute about the Obama economic stimulus plan.

The doubts, however, were not as extreme in other parts of the world. In Europe, all indices we track topped out early last week and pulled back, just like in the USA. But the declines were not nearly as severe. None of these markets made new monthly lows by the end of the week as the DJIA did.

The same was true in Asia and the Pacific Rim. None of these markets made new monthly lows either, although the Japanese Nikkei came close. In Australia and India, the major indices actually rallied to close out the week.

In fact, the greatest carnage in the Americas was only in the DJIA. The NASDAQ Composite was fairly strong last week, and neither the Merval of Argentina nor the Bovespa of Brazil sold off too much after their highs early in the week. Still, very few indices closed the week that strongly, and the DJIA did make a new low for this stage of the cycle, which is a concern as we go forward.

In other markets, Gold and Silver were on fire, both soaring to their highest levels since last summer. But grains and Crude Oil were weak. Crude Oil once again tested the low 30’s at the end of last week, even though it bounced up smartly on Friday. This is an important period for Crude Oil, for as stated last week, “This week (of February 9) will find a full moon in effect on Monday, followed by the Sun-Neptune conjunct on February 12 and a Mars-Jupiter conjunction on February 17. As stated many times in this column before, Jupiter and Neptune co-rule Pisces, the sign that has rulership over crude oil.” It is possible that a low of importance is forming now in Crude Oil, based on these signatures. Our biggest concern, however, is that Jupiter is approaching a conjunction to Neptune May-July 2009. There now appears to be too much oil available, and that supply-side condition may not end until this conjunction is completed.

Short-Term Geocosmics
The Mars-Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius starts off this holiday week. As indicated last week, this aspect can act as a boost for stock prices. By itself, one would think that is a harbinger of some good news, for Mars stimulates, and Jupiter is by nature optimistic. Surely the completion of the “Economic Stimulus” package falls into this category. Or does it? Mars can be combative, and Jupiter can be exaggerative too, and once again, we see the politics of Washington becoming more and more divisive. Instead of working on “good will” and a spirit of cooperation (the positive side of Mars and Jupiter conjunct in Aquarius), we are instead witnessing antagonism and an entrenchment of both sides in their beliefs that they are “right.” This is the downside of Aquarius: an arrogant sense of being right about one’s beliefs, and anyone who disagrees is not only wrong, but “morally wrong.” This is not a good climate for honest debate. Such debates may take on even greater exaggeration and tones of “moral righteousness” as heliocentric Mercury starts its 10-day trek through Sagittarius on Friday, February 20. Not only are one’s opinions expressed with exaggerated urgency, but so too are price swings in many financial markets, especially precious metals, during this period. Yet none of this compares with the strength of the geocosmic signatures coming up March 6-12, when Venus turns retrograde, and the full moon will take on the same degrees of the zodiac as the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Everything is building up into that time frame, like the pressure in a boiling pot of hot water. Everybody’s talking (shouting) but nobody is listening. And that can result in sharply falling stock prices, unless the mood and intention change quickly.

Longer-Term Thoughts
This was an erratic week for the new President. Transiting Pluto is in opposition to his natal Venus, and he must be wondering: “What do I have to do in order to get everyone working with me?” As recent financial and TV news reports stated, “Dude! They are not into you!” Which, of course, means the Republicans. They are not into giving Obama the love he wants, which is one of the messages of Pluto in opposition to one’s Venus. Venus is love, but Pluto is rejection. No matter how much you try to bring peace and harmony, they “aren’t into you, dude.” They are more likely to reject the more you offer.

As if that is not enough, transiting Uranus is opposite Mr. Obama’s Mars too – all year! This is a test of his “Mr. Nice Guy” image. As indicated before, Mars can pertain to one’s aggressive and combative side. When Uranus transits in opposition to one’s natal Mars, one can suddenly let loose with anger built up from the frustration of trying and not being accepted. The problem is that if anyone has “buttons that can be pushed,” this is the time in which they are indeed pushed. Obama’s buttons are sensitive right now. Indeed, this is a time that his patience is being tried, and it will take all his inner strength to remain calm and not give in to the temptation of expressing his anger at …. what? Not being loved? Not getting what he wants the way he wants it? He needs to be especially careful with how he reacts during these next two months.

Not only is Obama’s Mars being hit by Uranus (and Saturn), but so is the USA’s natal Mars at 20 Gemini. It’s bad enough the President is struggling with his own countrymen (i.e. Republicans). But directly ahead may be a confrontation with the country’s enemies. Is the honeymoon already over? No. Jupiter is still coming up to Neptune. The allure of Camelot is still very much alive, even if this rendition is off to a rocky start. He is still the star, still the sheriff, and still holds the hope of being the hero to many. He could use some help, however. He can’t do it alone forever. A good start would be for the Treasury Secretary to start living up to Obama’s hype, instead of his predecessor’s example. The thing is, the next full moon (March 12) will be an astrological repeat of the September 15 full moon, when former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen made his infamous economic and banking reassurance speech. That started the economic collapse and crisis last fall. Geithner and Obama have a chance to correct that and get it right on the next full moon in early March. And if they can do that, the fairy tale doesn’t have to end so quickly.

Announcements
The monthly MMA Cycles and MMA Japanese Cycles Reports will be issued this week, Monday and Tuesday, to subscribers of those reports. The “MMA Cycles Report” is our market advisory report for traders of the U.S. stock indices, T-Notes, Gold, Silver, Euro, Swiss Franc, Grains, and Crude Oil. The “MMA Japan Cycles Report” covers the Nikkei, Dollar/Yen, and JGB Bonds. For more information and subscription, go to http://www.mmacycles.com/services/.

We have been asked if there are any Spanish-speaking “Market Timing” or Financial Astrology” chat rooms on the internet? If anyone knows, would you kindly let us know so that we can inform our clients who seek such a forum? Thank you!

For those interested in learning or improving your understanding of astrology, please note that a fantastic conference in Astrology is going to take place August 19-24, 2009, at the luxurious Oakbrook Hills Marriot Resort, just outside of Chicago (not far from O’Hare Airport). This will be the ISAR (International Society for Astrological Research) 2009 conference, featuring over 80 professional astrologers form all over the world, including Jeff Jawer, Rick Levine, Michael Lutin, Claude Weiss, Nick Campion, Verena Bachmann, and several Financial Astrologers, including myself. There will be a whole track on Financial Astrology, and I will be giving a one-day workshop on Financial Astrology the day after the main conference. For more information, and registration, please go to www.isar2009.com. For those who golf, note that this resort has one of the most impressive golf courses on the PGA tour. Golf where the pros golf, and learn astrology from some of the best astrologers in the world, all at the same time!

If you are an active short-term trader, you may be interested in our Weekly or even Daily Market reports with short-term trading recommendations. It is the only way I keep in touch with traders on a daily or even weekly basis. These reports give in-depth analysis of the DJIA, S&P and NASDAQ futures, Euro currency (cash and futures), Swiss Franc, Dollar/Yen cash and Yen futures, T-Notes, Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Gold and Silver. The daily reports cover all stock indices listed above, as well as futures in Euro, T-Notes, Soybeans, Gold and Silver. Subscription to the daily report also includes the weekly report. For more information, go to http://www.mmacycles.com/services, or call our offices at 1-248-626-3034. In the words of one of our subscribers: “I recently subscribed to your weekly report and am finding it to be excellent and a very useful companion to the MMA Cycles Report. I can't imagine now managing my investments without them.”

You can now order the Forecast 2009 book in four languages! It is available in Japanese at http://www.toushinippou.co.jp/, in German at www.mma-europe.ch and www.mma-europe.de, and in Spanish via www.mmacycles-spanish.com. In Serbian, you can order a PDF file of the book at www.mma-balkan.com. In English, you can order directly from us, via our web site, or you can order from www.markettiming.nl in Netherlands, www.astrodata.com in Zurich, and Earlthorn Ltd in Hong Kong at www.earlthorn.com or by email at earlthorn2000@yahoo.com. In Melbourne, Australia, you may order the Forecast 2009 book at www.educatedinvestor.com.au, or by email at investorbooks@iprimus.com.

Our new 2009 MMA catalogue is now out! If you are interested in receiving this catalogue, you can download it directly from our website at http://www.mmacycles.com/freedownload/. A list of all our products and services and software programs is included therein.

The German version of “Merriman on Market Cycles: The Basics” is now in print. It is also a revision of the earlier work in English. For more information on this book, please go to our German web site at http://www.mma-europe.ch/.

We have added a valuable new feature to our web site. Now, on the very front page, you can get a daily update on the weighted values of the Solar-Lunar cycles for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Silver market, via the studies conducted in “The Ultimate Book on Sock Market Timing Vol 4: Solar-Lunar Correlations to Trading Cycles,” and “The Sun, Moon and Silver Market: Secrets of a Silver Trader.” These are the studies I use personally for short-term trading of stock index futures, ETFs (like DIA and Silver fund), and Silver futures. Anything over 100 means it has an above-average correlation to reversing from an isolated high or low if it forms that day. The higher the value, the more probable the reversal. To see these daily values, please go to http://www.mmacycles.com/, and just check it out on the top of the page.

Disclaimer and statement of purpose:
The purpose of this column is not to predict the future movement of various financial markets. However, that is the purpose of the MMA (Merriman Market Analyst) subscription services. This column is not a subscription service. It is a free service, except in those cases where a fee may be assessed to cover the cost of translating this column from English into a non-English language.
This weekly report is written with the intent to educate the reader on the relationship between astrological factors and collective human activities as they are happening. In this regard, this report will oftentimes report what happened in various stock and financial markets throughout the world in the past week, and discuss that movement in light of the geocosmic signatures that were in effect. It will then identify the geocosmic factors that will be in effect in the next week, or even month, or even years, and the author’s understanding of how these signatures will likely affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from a perspective of a cycle’s analyst looking at the military, political, economic, and even financial markets of the world.
It is possible that some forecasts will be made based on these factors. However, the primary goal is to both educate and alert the reader as to the psychological climate we are in, from an astrological perspective. The hope is that it will help the reader understand these psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and hence financial markets of the day.
No guarantee as to the accuracy of this report is being made here. Any decisions in financial markets are solely the responsibility of the reader, and neither the author nor the publishers assume any responsibility at all for those individual decisions. Reader should understand that futures and options trading are considered high risk.
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