MMA COMMENTS FOR WEEK BEGINNING JULY 13, 2009

Raymond A. Merriman ©

Review and Preview

They don’t want to go up. But at the same time, equity markets don’t crash either. Yet how good of a sign can it be if stock markets around the world drift downwards – instead upwards – as we complete the second of three passages of the 13-year Jupiter-Neptune conjunction? Jupiter and Neptune are supposed to be euphoric and optimistic at best, but the investment community is anything but euphoric and optimistic. Instead, it continues to act like it is lost, confused, and uncertain, which are the lower states of mind associated with Neptune. Volume is anemic, and the daily trading ranges are small. Let’s see if things change now that this second passage is completed.

Last week saw a slow evaporation of optimism in most stock indices. In fact, since Uranus turned retrograde on July 1, the value of nearly all stock indices have continued to shrink. Not severely, mind you, but enough to frustrate most traders. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to find support just above 8000, which is important because that is where the 25-week moving average comes in. As we look at the char as of most indices, we note that the high of the season occurred June 11-12, which is close to the midway point of the first two passes of Jupiter and Neptune (May 27 and July 10. We anticipated that most stock indices, as well as crude oil, could make significant highs in between these two passes in the special webcast we presented on May 2. Since those highs, equity indices have declined almost 10%, in spite of the secondary top that formed on July 1.

As disappointing as stock indices have been, the commodities markets have been even more disappointing for the bulls. Crude oil declined below $60.00/barrel this week On June 30, less than 2 weeks ago, they were trading as high as 73.38. That’s decline of nearly 20%. Silver prices have fallen from 1626 on June 3 to a low of 1251 on Friday July 10, a loss of 23%. Soybeans, Corn, and Wheat have also declined substantially, while Treasuries have soared to new cycle highs. It is what investors call “a flight to quality.” But under Jupiter and Neptune, you have to wonder about the wisdom of these pundits. I am not so sure I would consider U.S. Treasuries such a “flight to quality” when the entire central banking system of the USA is under questioning, and when that very central bank is probably one of the largest buyers of those Treasuries. It seems that by buying up the U.S. treasuries, the FED may be leveraging its future in the political games that might start unfolding this autumn when Saturn and Pluto come into their square aspect, creating a powerful configuration known as a T-square with the Sun-Pluto opposition in the chart of the Federal Reserve Board (created December 23, 1913).

Short-Term Geocosmics

The second of three Jupiter-Neptune conjunctions will take place this Friday, July 10. The first passage was May 27. The third and final one will occur December 21. The first two are the most powerful because they take place so close to one another. That is because both Jupiter and Neptune turned stationary retrograde shortly after that first conjunction. As suggested in this column previously, optimism and hope would probably peak between these first two passes. That is why we are concerned that the highest price of this recent bull market run took place on June 11-12, right in the middle of these first two Jupiter-Neptune passes.

This week is void of any major geocosmic signatures. It seems it may be a cosmic break following all the intense planetary activity of the past few weeks leading into the second Jupiter-Neptune passage of Friday, July 10. On Saturday, Mars will enter Gemini for the next six weeks, which may provide some stimulating discussions, but also may pose a risk of turning into confrontational and heated exchanges. Mars in Gemini is a quest for facts and knowledge, but it can also be argumentative. It the following week when geocosmic activity returns that correlates to change sin stock indices. From July 18 through August 1 there are six important geocosmic signatures taking place. Many involve Venus, which will make a translation to both the Saturn-Uranus opposition (July 21-28) and the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (July 26-28). Since Venus rules assets, it would appear to be an important time for both equity and currency markets.

Longer-Term Thoughts

I ask questions, and I get answers. Thanks to several subscribers, especially R. Burris of Albuquerque, NM and M. Furbush of Holderness, NH.

In prior reports I asked who could possibly audit the Federal Reserve Board. Who would Congress accept? I received a report that the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland had already initiated a proposal to do exactly that. However, I don’t think the U.S. Congress would accept BIS - another rather secretive banking enterprise – as the auditor of U.S. bank transactions. In an article published by Reuters on July 9, referring to the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, sponsored by Republican Ron Paul of Texas, there is movement to give this task to GAO, the Government Accountability Office. But there is a problem. According to the article, “… (the) bill would explicitly repeal a provision of law that prohibits the Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog agency, from auditing monetary policy decisions.” In other words, GAO currently is prohibited from auditing the FRB because the FED makes monetary policy decisions.

The FED doesn’t want GAO to have the ability to audit it, for as FED Chair Ben Bernanke explained in Congressional testimony given June 25 “"My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of our programs and the details of the programs, but is making judgments about our policy decisions, that would effectively be a takeover of monetary policy by the Congress.” That’s the point. And it is a good one.

So there you have it. The battle lines are being drawn between the independence of the Federal Reserve Board and the groundswell in Congress, who wants to take away that power and independence of the FED. And it is unfolding as Pluto crosses the FRB natal Sun, in opposition to its natal Pluto. At the same time the chart of the Federal Reserve Board is besieged by Pluto, so too are the charts of the United States and its President, Barack Obama. Both find their natal Venus posited in early Cancer, right on the FRB Pluto, and in opposition to the transit of Pluto today in early Capricorn. Pluto represents power struggles, and the threat of termination, especially when forming a hard aspect to one’s natal Sun. In a corporation, the Sun represents its leader (i.e. Ben Bernanke). Venus (as in Obama and the USA chart) represents money and assets. So you see, from the viewpoint of Financial Astrology, the USA - as represented by both the White House and Congress - are on a collision course over “who controls the money.” And in January 2010, Bernanke’s position is up for re-appointment by Barack Obama, who so far suggests that he supports Bernanke. But does he and will he? After all, he is the King (Leo), and in some circles, the man with the most power is the one who controls the most money.

Obama may have the power over the Federal Reserve Board’s future. He has the ultimate power over the people’s’ money through his choice this January. The question he has to determine is: Who will best handle that money? The Federal Reserve? Congress? Or himself, i.e the White House or his cabinet, which includes Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner?

Announcements

The SOS Global Stock Markets Report came out to subscribers of this report last week. If you didn’t get it, please contact our offices at once. This report highlights the long-term cycles labeling for the DJIA, NASDAQ Composite, XAU Gold and Silver mining indices, German DAX, Netherlands AEX, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Australia’s All Ordinaries indices. It also covers the short-term outlook for these same indices, plus special coverage of geocosmic signatures in effect

This is a good time to sign up for the ISAR 2009 conference, as a window for a wonderful discount closes July 25. For those interested in learning or improving your understanding of astrology, this 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 from all over the world, including Jeff Jawer, Rick Levine, Michael Lutin, Claude Weiss, Nick Campion, Verena Bachmann, and several Financial Astrologers like Christeen Skinner, Robert Hitt, Grace Morris, Roy Gillett, and myself. There will be a whole track on Financial Astrology, and I will be giving a one-day workshop on Financial Astrology, specializing in the Stock and Gold markets, on Monday, August 24. For more information, and registration, please go to www.isar2009.com.

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.”

Stay tuned to these pages for an announcement on the annual pre-publication special offer for the Forecast 2010 book, coming in the next few weeks. Once the announcement is made, we will begin to take orders for this book that has sold out the past three years. Order early and make sure you get next year’s Forecasts!

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.

MMA COMMENTS FOR WEEK BEGINNING JULY 13, 2009

Raymond A. Merriman ©

Review and Preview

They don’t want to go up. But at the same time, equity markets don’t crash either. Yet how good of a sign can it be if stock markets around the world drift downwards – instead upwards – as we complete the second of three passages of the 13-year Jupiter-Neptune conjunction? Jupiter and Neptune are supposed to be euphoric and optimistic at best, but the investment community is anything but euphoric and optimistic. Instead, it continues to act like it is lost, confused, and uncertain, which are the lower states of mind associated with Neptune. Volume is anemic, and the daily trading ranges are small. Let’s see if things change now that this second passage is completed.

Last week saw a slow evaporation of optimism in most stock indices. In fact, since Uranus turned retrograde on July 1, the value of nearly all stock indices have continued to shrink. Not severely, mind you, but enough to frustrate most traders. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to find support just above 8000, which is important because that is where the 25-week moving average comes in. As we look at the char as of most indices, we note that the high of the season occurred June 11-12, which is close to the midway point of the first two passes of Jupiter and Neptune (May 27 and July 10. We anticipated that most stock indices, as well as crude oil, could make significant highs in between these two passes in the special webcast we presented on May 2. Since those highs, equity indices have declined almost 10%, in spite of the secondary top that formed on July 1.

As disappointing as stock indices have been, the commodities markets have been even more disappointing for the bulls. Crude oil declined below $60.00/barrel this week On June 30, less than 2 weeks ago, they were trading as high as 73.38. That’s decline of nearly 20%. Silver prices have fallen from 1626 on June 3 to a low of 1251 on Friday July 10, a loss of 23%. Soybeans, Corn, and Wheat have also declined substantially, while Treasuries have soared to new cycle highs. It is what investors call “a flight to quality.” But under Jupiter and Neptune, you have to wonder about the wisdom of these pundits. I am not so sure I would consider U.S. Treasuries such a “flight to quality” when the entire central banking system of the USA is under questioning, and when that very central bank is probably one of the largest buyers of those Treasuries. It seems that by buying up the U.S. treasuries, the FED may be leveraging its future in the political games that might start unfolding this autumn when Saturn and Pluto come into their square aspect, creating a powerful configuration known as a T-square with the Sun-Pluto opposition in the chart of the Federal Reserve Board (created December 23, 1913).

Short-Term Geocosmics

The second of three Jupiter-Neptune conjunctions will take place this Friday, July 10. The first passage was May 27. The third and final one will occur December 21. The first two are the most powerful because they take place so close to one another. That is because both Jupiter and Neptune turned stationary retrograde shortly after that first conjunction. As suggested in this column previously, optimism and hope would probably peak between these first two passes. That is why we are concerned that the highest price of this recent bull market run took place on June 11-12, right in the middle of these first two Jupiter-Neptune passes.

This week is void of any major geocosmic signatures. It seems it may be a cosmic break following all the intense planetary activity of the past few weeks leading into the second Jupiter-Neptune passage of Friday, July 10. On Saturday, Mars will enter Gemini for the next six weeks, which may provide some stimulating discussions, but also may pose a risk of turning into confrontational and heated exchanges. Mars in Gemini is a quest for facts and knowledge, but it can also be argumentative. It the following week when geocosmic activity returns that correlates to change sin stock indices. From July 18 through August 1 there are six important geocosmic signatures taking place. Many involve Venus, which will make a translation to both the Saturn-Uranus opposition (July 21-28) and the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (July 26-28). Since Venus rules assets, it would appear to be an important time for both equity and currency markets.

Longer-Term Thoughts

I ask questions, and I get answers. Thanks to several subscribers, especially R. Burris of Albuquerque, NM and M. Furbush of Holderness, NH.

In prior reports I asked who could possibly audit the Federal Reserve Board. Who would Congress accept? I received a report that the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland had already initiated a proposal to do exactly that. However, I don’t think the U.S. Congress would accept BIS - another rather secretive banking enterprise – as the auditor of U.S. bank transactions. In an article published by Reuters on July 9, referring to the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, sponsored by Republican Ron Paul of Texas, there is movement to give this task to GAO, the Government Accountability Office. But there is a problem. According to the article, “… (the) bill would explicitly repeal a provision of law that prohibits the Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog agency, from auditing monetary policy decisions.” In other words, GAO currently is prohibited from auditing the FRB because the FED makes monetary policy decisions.

The FED doesn’t want GAO to have the ability to audit it, for as FED Chair Ben Bernanke explained in Congressional testimony given June 25 “"My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of our programs and the details of the programs, but is making judgments about our policy decisions, that would effectively be a takeover of monetary policy by the Congress.” That’s the point. And it is a good one.

So there you have it. The battle lines are being drawn between the independence of the Federal Reserve Board and the groundswell in Congress, who wants to take away that power and independence of the FED. And it is unfolding as Pluto crosses the FRB natal Sun, in opposition to its natal Pluto. At the same time the chart of the Federal Reserve Board is besieged by Pluto, so too are the charts of the United States and its President, Barack Obama. Both find their natal Venus posited in early Cancer, right on the FRB Pluto, and in opposition to the transit of Pluto today in early Capricorn. Pluto represents power struggles, and the threat of termination, especially when forming a hard aspect to one’s natal Sun. In a corporation, the Sun represents its leader (i.e. Ben Bernanke). Venus (as in Obama and the USA chart) represents money and assets. So you see, from the viewpoint of Financial Astrology, the USA - as represented by both the White House and Congress - are on a collision course over “who controls the money.” And in January 2010, Bernanke’s position is up for re-appointment by Barack Obama, who so far suggests that he supports Bernanke. But does he and will he? After all, he is the King (Leo), and in some circles, the man with the most power is the one who controls the most money.

Obama may have the power over the Federal Reserve Board’s future. He has the ultimate power over the people’s’ money through his choice this January. The question he has to determine is: Who will best handle that money? The Federal Reserve? Congress? Or himself, i.e the White House or his cabinet, which includes Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner?

Announcements

The SOS Global Stock Markets Report came out to subscribers of this report last week. If you didn’t get it, please contact our offices at once. This report highlights the long-term cycles labeling for the DJIA, NASDAQ Composite, XAU Gold and Silver mining indices, German DAX, Netherlands AEX, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Australia’s All Ordinaries indices. It also covers the short-term outlook for these same indices, plus special coverage of geocosmic signatures in effect

This is a good time to sign up for the ISAR 2009 conference, as a window for a wonderful discount closes July 25. For those interested in learning or improving your understanding of astrology, this 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 from all over the world, including Jeff Jawer, Rick Levine, Michael Lutin, Claude Weiss, Nick Campion, Verena Bachmann, and several Financial Astrologers like Christeen Skinner, Robert Hitt, Grace Morris, Roy Gillett, and myself. There will be a whole track on Financial Astrology, and I will be giving a one-day workshop on Financial Astrology, specializing in the Stock and Gold markets, on Monday, August 24. For more information, and registration, please go to www.isar2009.com.

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.”

Stay tuned to these pages for an announcement on the annual pre-publication special offer for the Forecast 2010 book, coming in the next few weeks. Once the announcement is made, we will begin to take orders for this book that has sold out the past three years. Order early and make sure you get next year’s Forecasts!

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.