'2016 looks much better than 2015 for equities, also positive for USD' - Mahendra Sharma

MAHENDRA SHARMA
PROFILE
• Current Job: CEO at Mahendra Prophecy
• Career: Financial forecaster. His predictions have been published in numerous newspapers and magazines. Author of ten books.

View profile at FXStreet

Mahendra Sharma has over 28 years of experience in financial predictions, with an exceptional track record, based on planet movement calculations. Our ancestors, with a great degree of optimal accuracy, seeded and harvested crops primarily based on those movements. Today, informed traders and investors similarly follow the movements of planets ands stars looking for patterns in human life and society in order to harvest their points in the market. 

This interview shows a glimpse of what has been unveiled in Mahendra's recent 2016 Financial Predictions Book, a guide for the monthly up and down cycles in all asset clases.

Looking back at financial markets in 2015, what impressions do you have?

2015 remained a very mixed year for investors. The stock market moved in both directions aggressively. Only traders who were aware that the commodities were in an overall negative trend, or who remained with the strong dollar were able to profit. Most of the global currencies lost significant value against the USD, and many exporting nations found solace in the devaluation of their currencies.

You follow astro cycles and their effects on the human behavior pattern. What do you look at exactly?

I follow the hidden paths of nature and their effects on human life. For example, I keep a close eye on the North Node as it represents things like gambling, speculation, extreme greed and fear and anything that can be considered incorrect in the eyes of nature. The North and South Nodes are not physical planets but rather gravity points of the Earth. It's the North Node nature to take those who succumb to things like greed and speculation towards the edge of the cliff and then ruthlessly push them off.

For example?

An extremely relevant example, about 17 months ago no one was talking about oil falling when it was trading around $98.00. Flash forward 16 months and oil was trading below $30.00 and no one was ready to buy it. There are times when investors get so involved in their trades that they will ignore the possible consequences of their actions.

Sounds to me like the description of a bubble or a crash.

History has shown that each and every extreme event in the market ended badly for those who did not exercise caution and allowed themselves to get carried away. When the North Node pushes someone of the cliff it is very difficult to survive that experience.

And will the North Node continue to affect markets in 2016?

From the 30th January it will either bring an extremely cloudy period for the market, or it will bring a period darkened by greed. People will forget the markets core fundamentals and even seasoned investors will get involved in speculation.

Which asset class are you referring to?

Any asset class which enters a very strong bullish momentum from the 30th January to the 26 of February. We may see aggression or aggressive trades in the market rather than reasonable or fundamentally and technically correct trading.

What other times of the year should be decisive for the markets in 2016?

Once Jupiter changes its house from Leo and goes into the house of Virgo in the second week of August, we will see some drastic changes in the market's trend. In 2016, the North Node and Jupiter's combination and Jupiter leaving the North Node will create some historical movements in the markets.

Sounds like a scary year is ahead of us.

2016 looks far better as compared to 2015 because 2015 remained a very mixed year for the equity market. In 2015 the rewards were far better if you picked the right stocks and the same kind of movement will continue in 2016 where certain names will perform exceedingly well. However, in 2016 indexes will also perform very well so those who missed the opportunity of making money in 2015 will be handsomely rewarded if what I see comes true. Nevertheless,...

Not many analysts are that positive right now.

Nevertheless, there will be certain times during the next two years when sharp corrections will occur, but they shoud not last long. I would like to remind the reader that we are entering the most amazing time cycle of our life times where the bull will roar and the bear will be crushed. The price movements in certain financial instruments will be so significant in the years 2016 and 2017 that it will remind us of the era of the Tech Bubble.

Is the US Dollar a candidate?

2016 looks like a very positive year for the US Dollar. This means that a significant amount of money will continue to remain in the USD and investors will be reluctant to withdraw their money from USD. Also in 2016 Indian Rupee will perform very well. We see really exciting years ahead for India and 2017 will be one of the most memorable years in the history of its equity market.

Indian investors are surely asking what do you see for the gold market as well.

We do not see a great future for gold and the businesses related to gold. Those who have been in the jewelry business for decades should start developing a new side business. The demand for gold will not only keep slowing down in India, but also internationally, and slowly many central banks will start reducing their holdings in gold. I am not trying to scare anyone and neither do I hate gold, I think that the bullish predictions that I made for gold in 2001 are what gave me the popularity that I have today.

At that time you predicted gold would reach $1.800 and silver $50.

Yes, but since 2011 we have been recommending staying away from gold and silver. We are a bit concerned for all these middle class individuals who have been putting their life's savings in gold. The second half of 2016 looks terrible for gold and we have already informed our subscribers about the target price for gold.

Changing geography but not too far: how do see Japanese markets in the near future?

For the overall trend in the Nikkei we recommend following the US equity market because it is and will always remain a path guider. The Japanese Yen, in turn, will keep trading in a mixed range without any major move in 2016. The Pound will also trade in a very narrow range and we strongly recommend traders to trade in and out on a short term basis rather than buying or selling for the longer term.

A good playground for swing traders indeed. For traders looking for strong trending currencies, what should they look at? 

According to the astro cycles we strongly recommend to start investing money in most of the South American Markets, and among these markets the Brazilian and Mexican markets are our favorite. Not only their equity market, but also the value of their currencies will also improve even though the US is hiking rates. Do not get afraid to put money in the South American markets, and specially Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Many people will miss one of the greatest buying opportunities in these markets at the current exchange rates.

You belong to the few forecasters who predicted that the currency pact between the USD and a few key oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE currencies would break.

And we still see rising tensions for USD currency pegs. Soon, many of these currencies will become free floating currencies which could bring uncertainty in the economies dynamic. As all our readers are aware, we do not write any prediction with hate or love, we just predict what we see happening according to the astro combinations.

If a war breaks out in the Middle-East, do you expect a big impact on oil prices?

We do not see a huge impact. Oil prices will remain lower or trade in a 20% range.

No one wants to refer to oil as the Black Gold anymore...

At this stage 2016 doesn't look promising, which scares me, as many companies will go under if they have high production costs.

Ten years ago we thought that there would be a deficit of oil...

We always condemned those views. Where are these doomsday preachers now? Cycles start and end. In this world, the bull and the bear markets will always exist and we will always witness rising and falling prices.

Also in interest rates, right?

Globally Developed Countries (Europe, Japan, USA) central banks will start removing the Zero rate policy from their books. There is no doubt that a great amount of money could be made if you remain focused on Thirty Year Bond for the longer term, especially the years 2016/17/18. Predicting the 30-Year Bond move and recommending the short trade is similar to when we recommended selling gold around $1800. It will require a lot a patience as well as longer term planning.

Back to the Forex world, will the dollar be the king then?

The Dollar Index will keep moving higher against Euro and Swiss Franc but the higher side against most of the emerging market currencies will be very limited. This shows that it will be an interesting era for emerging market currencies, during which these currencies will act far more positively as compared to front-line currencies.

What is the most extreme scenario for the Euro against the USD?

The Euro has a very limited higher side and according to our theory, we see the Euro will not be able to break 1.1815 in the next 5-7 years, or even ever. Many times in the past I have stated that creating the Eurozone was the worst thing that European leaders did and it would end in a mess.