Crude oil also soared to its highest price

REVIEW AND PREVIEW

“The economy added a better-than-expected 242,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent. Economists were expecting 190,000 new positions and no change in the jobless figure. Despite the strong headline number, the closely watched average hourly wages actually declined for the month, falling 3 cents and equating to a 2.2 percent annualized jump, down from 2.5 percent in January. Fed policymakers are looking at wages for evidence of inflation.”- Jeff Cox, “Job Creation Jumps in February, Obama Celebrates,” CNBC, March 4, 2016.

The employment situation in the USA continues to be strong, even in the midst of worries that a recession is just around the corner. Still, no evidence of a major slowdown in spite of those Saturn/Neptune worries. It might be enough to enable the Fed to stay on track with their second modest rate increase later this month, when only a few days ago, most economists believed the Fed would not raise rates as planned, since the stock market was falling so hard January 1-February 12. Things change fast when a mutable T-square starts unfolding, which has been the case since August 2015.

After plunging to new yearly lows on January 20 or February 11, most world equity markets have now appreciated over 10% in the last three weeks. The most astounding of these recent rallies has occurred in Russia, where the MICEX has exploded to its highest level since June 20008, and Brazil, where the Bovespa has surged from a low of 37,112 on January 26, to 50,023 on Friday, March 4, a gain of nearly 35% in just five weeks.

Crude oil also soared to its highest price since January 6, which is a major reason why Russia’s equity markets performed so well. Gold rallied to 1280.70 on Friday, its highest mark since February 3, 2015, and up over 22% since its 5-year low around 1045 occurred twice in December. Silver also shot up smartly to 1584 on Friday, March 4, But that was not a new monthly high, setting the stage for a case of intermarket bearish divergence to Gold in a geocosmic critical reversal zone.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS

All this madness and excitement as both financial markets and political debates just explode, surpassing any kind of behavior that anyone expected at the beginning of the year. Yet, this is totally within the realm of cosmic dynamics. We are in the madness of a mutable T-square involving the exaggeration qualities of Jupiter, the fantasy nature of Neptune, and the worrisome character of Saturn.On top of that, the Sun now, Mercury next, and Venus after that, all come to conjoin Neptune in Pisces this month, adding gas to irrational exuberance that can quickly turn back to panic and hysteria. We will likely go back and forth between exuberance and hysteria/panic as this major aspect configuration peaks March-June 2016. With the ever-changing quality of mutable signs, it is highly unlikely that this path will remain in a straight up or down line for long.Think of it more like a see saw, or a rubber band, trying to decide what it wants to do. Or, think of it like a Libra, someone who is constantly trying to determine whether or not he/she is really indecisive.

As stated in last week’s column, “March begins with a bang, as the fiery Sunmakes its translation to the approaching Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune mutable T-square. That wild combination...  could also see world leaders and presidential candidates getting themselves into some very hot water. This powerful solar translation set up takes place February28-March 8, and the idea is that world stock markets and many commodity markets will undergo a very sharp reversal… The Sun/Jupiter opposition (March 8) is one of those special reversal signatures all on its own, much like Venus retrograde and direct. It falls in the top five of the most reliable and powerful geocosmicreversal signatures, with a correlation of 75% to primary cycles within 10trading days.”   So here we are, as both metals and equities are rising sharply into this geocosmic reversal zone.Will these and other markets reverse? Well, that is the beauty (and uniquevalue) of financial astrology as a market timing tool. Markets do reverse about82% of the time when these geocosmic critical reversal zones are entered.

Last week’s column also pointed out “…March 4-7 is important because Mars willleave Scorpio on March 5 through May 27, when it will retrograde back into Scorpio. Not only do the early degrees of Sagittarius correspond to challenges in gold prices, but also the entire period of Mars in Sagittarius and Capricorn represent a period when there is unusually increased danger, military confrontations and political crisis in the Middle East, especially surrounding Israel.” I do not think any trader using these geocosmic timing methods can be disappointed with the Mars-in-Scorpio correlation to rising gold prices this time around. It worked uncannily well, rising from a low that was due within the 10 degrees before Mars entered Scorpio (the low of December 17), and topping out (so far) on the very last trading day of Mars in Scorpio. If you missed this trade, you missed the greatest rally in gold since 2013. MMA subscribers did not miss it.

Yet, as the saying goes, you are only as good as yourlast call. And we have major challenges ahead in all financial markets, March23-June 27. Once again, we have scheduled an interview with German Journalist and Astrologer Antonia Langsdorf to take place this week, March 8 to discuss the incredible geocosmic lineup in force March 23-June 29, and their association with financial markets and world affairs. If there are no technical difficulties this time, we anticipate uploading this interview onto our YouTubestation (Raymond Merriman) by next Friday, March 11. We will announce on ourwebsite when it is uploaded and ready for viewing.

LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS AND MUNDANE ASTROLOGY….

“In an extraordinary display of Republican chaos, the party’s most recent presidential nominees, Mitt Romney and John McCain, lambasted current front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday, calling him unfit for office and a danger for the nation and the GOP.” – Steve Peoples and Brady Mccombs, “Romney, McCain: Trump a Danger for Future of U.S., Associated Press, March 4, 2016.

Trump then noted that Rubio had mocked his hands as small, widely viewed as an insult about Trump’s sexual prowess. Holding his hands up to the audience, Trump declared, “I guarantee you, there is no problem in that area.” – Nancy Benac and David Eggert, “Debate Night: Insults Flying Once More Despite Pledges,” Associated Press, March 4, 2016.

You may not like the tone of the 2016 USA Presidential Election, but in typical Saturn/Neptune fashion, it has indeed reached the level of … absurdity. On the positive side, everyone can probably sit back until November now and watch the most entertaining presidential election ever to unfold in the history of the United States. You have to hand it to the Gemini-born-under-a-lunar eclipse, Donald Trump: he has upended the political establishment of the USA in a way that no one has been able to do in a century. No one seems able to stop him.

How is this phenomenon seen within the context of geocosmic studies? What will be the result?

Let us start with the idea that we have an unfolding mutable T-square between Jupiter (in Virgo), Saturn (in Sagittarius), and Neptune (in Pisces). The only mutable sign missing is Gemini, which just happens to be the sun sign of Mr. Trump and Marco Rubio (“Little Marco,” as Trump refers to him in the debates now).

The nature of mutable signs is to be adaptable, flexible, and changeable. Any position taken under a mutable influence is subject to change, no matter how forceful one speaks to honoring that position. Thus, it is not surprising that the most common insult candidates of both parties hurl towards each is that the other candidate is a liar. Hillary Clinton is a liar regarding the use of her email server, and her handling of Benghazi. Ted Cruz is a liar, who is ethically challenged due to his underhanded tactics to win the nomination. Marco Rubio misses more votes than any other senator. Bernie Sanders could never deliver on the promises he makes to young people for their votes, so he is a liar too. And of course, Donald Trump is constantly being criticized for taking a position one day, and then the next day or later on, all the time denying he changed at all. He was misunderstood. But to a majority of people, he is liar and untrusted too. Saturn square Neptune is a time for liars to be heard, revealed, exposed - and then persecuted and shamed, unless there is a sense of humor in it, which allows us to just let it all go until November.

As stated repeatedly in this column and in the Forecast 2016 Book: under Saturn square Neptune in mutable signs, you cannot believe anything you hear or read. No one honors the truth or the facts. No one is responsible, and someone else is to blame for … everything that ails us. It is a spectacle, something to be witnessed because this is unlikely to ever happen again in American politics. The next election in 2020 will find Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto in Capricorn, a much more serious combination than Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune in mutable signs.

As stated repeatedly in this column and in the Forecast 2016 Book: under Saturn square Neptune in mutable signs, you cannot believe anything you hear or read. No one honors the truth or the facts. No one is responsible, and someone else is to blame for … everything that ails us. It is a spectacle, something to be witnessed because this is unlikely to ever happen again in American politics. The next election in 2020 will find Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto in Capricorn, a much more serious combination than Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune in mutable signs.

The political world has been upended. Just sit back and enjoy it until the November elections. Worry then. After all, Geminis can be the funniest and most entertaining sign of the zodiac. They can also be rude and crude. But can they really lead? Can they really deliver on their promises? We have until November to decide. By then, the mutable T-square will be lifted, and in its place, Jupiter will move into the peace-loving and agreeable sign of Libra, sextile to Saturn. Sanity is apt to return. In the meantime, let us enjoy this unique political entertainment while it lasts. And do not worry about size of your hands. Focus on the size of your heart and the largeness of your vision for a better world to come. It is Neptune in Pisces for another 10 years. Be inspired, or feel betrayed and victimized. Every decision you make is a choice between these two themes while Neptune is in Pisces.