Astrology: Ray Merriman - MMA Weekly Stock Report

Please note that until the Forecast for 2009 book is completed, there will be no “Longer-Term Thoughts” section in this column. We expect to resume this feature of the weekly column in the first week of December. Therefore this column will be presented in abbreviated format until then.

This will be a shortened holiday week in the United States, in observance of Thanksgiving. I believe investors will welcome the break after the havoc witnessed in the past three months. The volatility has been stunning, and this continues to be a very short-term traders’ market in stock indices everywhere. It would nice if a calmer, position-trading market would return where all the cyclical, geocosmic, and technical signals were in alignment. But given that we are now in the midst of the very explosive environment of the 45-year Saturn-Uranus opposition, those weeks may be few and far between for awhile. Of course, very short-term traders will thrive in this type of environment, where such large price ranges are experienced nearly every day now.

Last week’s market behavior offered a stark contrast between the depressive mood associated with the current administration and its governance in America, and the desperate hopes of the populace for a new and brighter future. On Thursday, our reliable bearish indicator – Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson – gave yet another boring and impossible to comprehend speech on television, trying once again to explain what he is doing and why he is doing it. Just prior to his explanation of the status of the ever changing economic bailout package, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 200 points. Within 1-2 hours afterwards, it closed down over 400 points. This is not the first time the market has immediately dropped at least 500 points right after he publically speaks. In fact, it is almost like clock-work: Paulson speaks, the market tanks. Unfortunately the same thing happens when George W. Bush speaks. There is no confidence by the investment community in what the current administration represents. The stocks markets of the world continued in decline into Friday until late in the afternoon, when newly elected President-to-be Barack Obama announced his choice for Treasury Secretary. Just the fact that Obama spoke out caused a stir in the market, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average instantly rallied 600 points from the low of the day, which was its lowest level since March 2003. The country and the world are craving for new leadership, and when it steps forward, there is a sense of hope. Everybody in the market desperately wants some hope to cling to, and right now the only thing that offers hope is a change from then old leadership to the new.

There were some encouraging signs late last week, as Jupiter formed the last of its five transiting trine aspects to Saturn on Friday, November 21. Prior to Obama’s announcement, many markets were plunging to their lowest level in 4-5 years. There truly was a sense of panic and hysteria, which last week we associated with the ingress of Mars into Sagittarius. It would be a time of either hope or panic, and we had both – in reverse order. In Europe, the Netherlands AEX and Swiss SMI indices fell to their lowest levels since 2003. However, both the German DAX and London FTSE held above their lows of October 2008, for a clear case of intermarket bullish divergence.

In the Far East and Pacific Rim, we witnessed the same pattern of intermarket bullish divergence as the All Ordinaries of Australia sank to its lowest level since 2003, but neither the Japanese Nikkei, Hang Seng of Hong Kong nor the NIFTY Index of India took out their lows of late October.

In America, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite made new 5-year lows, and so did the Merval Index of Argentina. But the Bovespa of Brazil held above its lows of October, for yet another case of regional intermarket bullish divergence. And it occurred right on the day of a long-term geocosmic aspect – the Jupiter-Saturn trine.

In other markets, Crude Oil fell below $49.00/barrel, its lowest level since May 2005, and now it has fallen nearly $100 off its all-time high of July 11, 2008. This represents a loss of over 67% in less than 5 months, and validates our earlier point that bubbles form – and burst – in sectors ruled by the sign Uranus transits through. Uranus has been in Pisces since 2003 and leaves in 2011. Our earlier reports suggested that a 50-90% loss in Crude Oil prices would occur from high that formed prior to February 2009, and ideally close to May 2008, before Uranus left Pisces. Bingo.

As Crude Oil prices fell, however, God prices rallied strongly, and went back above 800 briefly on Friday for the first time in a few weeks after trading down as low as 680 in October. But other commodities, like Corn and Soybeans continued falling. In fact, all grains are now down more than 50% from their highs of the year. It is hard to believe that just a couple months ago they were each making all-time highs, and users of grains were complaining about their low profit margins due to these record high prices. Conditions change really fast under the 45-year Saturn-Uranus opposition, which is now in effect through July 2010.

Don’t expect the volatility to recede this week, even with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up. Both the fiery planets of Mars and the Sun are in the fire sign of Sagittarius now through at least the first three weeks of December. And both heliocentric and geocentric Mercury join them this week. As if that wasn’t enough, Uranus turns stationary direct on Thursday and the new moon is in Sagittarius (known as the “Sagittarius Factor”) on Thursday and Friday. Each of these geocosmic and lunar signatures can correlate with large price swings and reversals of more than 4% in equity and precious metals markets. Once upon a time, 4% short-term swings were considered quite large. Moves of 10% or more each week are more common since September, so these moves may be much more than 4%.

The thing to watch in the next ten days is whether hope has really returned to the markets under all these Jupiter and Sagittarian influences that are now in force. Or will panic and hysteria come back quickly, especially given that Uranus is going stationary direct on Friday, November 28? It probably depends upon who is speaking to the press in the next two weeks: the reminders of a leadership that has failed to generate any confidence in its economic rescue programs, or the incoming leadership that offers hope to a very frightened world that is on the verge of panic and hysteria to a degree never seen before in our lifetime. If hope is dominant, then the stock markets can soar in spectacular fashion. We could even have a sense of Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” again going into the holiday season. But lacking that visibility, then the market could easily break the 7000-7500 level of support in the DJIA and fall yet another 1000-2000 points quickly. I am ever the optimist.

The next “MMA Cycles Report” and “MMA Japan Markets Cycles Report” will come out this Tuesday and Wednesday (November 25-26) to email subscribers, and one day later to others. These reports come out at the end of every month to subscribers of these 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. This report may be issued Tuesday night to those who receive it via email. The “MMA Japan Cycles Report” covers the Nikkei, Dollar/Yen, and JGB Bonds, and will come out Wednesday night or Thursday. For more information and subscription, please go to http://www.mmacycles.com/services/.

Forecast for 2009 is on schedule to be released December 15. You can pre-order now and thus make sure you don’t miss out on it. Last year, all copies (three printings!) were sold out by the end of January, and there was no additional printing after that. The price remains $45.00, the same as last year. For more information on this book, go to our website at www.mmacycles.com, and click on the opening banner.

For those who wish to be part of a “Live Broadcast” on “Forecast for 2009,” this presentation will take place on Saturday, December 13 in a special webcast we are hosting. You can hear the presentation in the comfort of your own home or office. All you need is computer with speakers and screen. Sign up will be limited to 100 people. Please visit www.mmacycles.com for registration details, or call 1-248-626-3034 to sign up. Log in instructions will be provided after registration. If you can’t make it for the live broadcast, you can see a repeat of it anytime during that week via our special log-in instructions.

On December 20, 2008, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the first public appearance of “Forecast For 2009” will take place. For more information, please contact Irma Schogt at info@marketttiming.nl, or go to their website at www.marketttiming.nl. We will have a special reception afterwards for all MMA subscribers. The second public presentation of Forecast For 2009 will take place in Lansing, Michigan on January 4, 2009. Please see our web site for further information on this event.

Our next Forecast 2009 presentation and Financial Market Timing Workshop will take place January 16 and 17, 2009, in Zurich, Switzerland. There is also a possibility we will have a special Sunday question and answer gathering for all MMA subscribers who are present. We will keep you posted on this development via our websites at www.mmacycles.com and www.mma-europe.ch. On January 22, 2009, Forecast for 2009 will be presented in Belgrade, Serbia. Plans are being made for a Saturday workshop to follow on “Techniques of Financial Market Timing.” For information on the Zurich gathering, please contact AstroData at 044-700-1012. For more information on the Belgrade event, please contact info@kepler.edu.yu or vesna-m@hotmail.com. Plans are also being considered for a Forecast 2009 speech and workshop on Financial Market Timing in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March 2009. We will keep you posted with this via our web site in USA, and also our new website in Spanish at www.mma-spanish.com. That web site may not be functional for another week or two, but it is coming. We are now developing a presence in the second most-spoken language on the planet.

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.”

Disclaimer and statement of purpose:

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.