Equity markets around the world enjoyed a mostly positive week

REVIEW AND PREVIEW

Former White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn lashed out at some of his former colleagues, charging in an interview that the U.S. is losing the trade war as administration officials pursue a strategy that hasn’t worked. Cohn specifically pointed his finger at Peter Navarro, who serves as director of the National Trade Council, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for drawing the country into a misdirected tariff battle. “Tariffs don’t work. If anything, they hurt the economy because if you’re a typical American worker, you have a finite amount of income to spend,” the former Goldman Sachs executive told Freakonomics Radio in an interview broadcast Wednesday. “If you have to spend more on the necessity products that you need to live, you have less to spend on the services that you want to buy.” – Jeff Cox, “Gary Cohn Lashes Out at Former White house Colleagues: Living in Chaos,” https://www.cnbc.com, March 17, 2019.

British lawmakers unexpectedly ruled out a no-deal exit from the European Union, throwing Prime Minister Teresa May’s Brexit strategy into further confusion on Wednesday. – Stephen Fidler and Jason Douglas, “U.K. Lawmakers Say No Deal, No Brexit,” Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2019.

It was another week highlighting the mutable and quickly changing activities of Mercury retrograde, “the Trickster.” It is in Pisces. no less, the sign associated with the dynamics of confusion, rumors, gossip, and the blame-game. This is not a time to believe what you read or hear. It is a time that requires one to trust their own intuition and inner voice, and if unclear, just stand aside and relax. By all means, avoid stressful confrontations. Mercury retrograde in Pisces does not fare well in situations that cause the stress level to escalate.

Equity markets around the world enjoyed a mostly positive week. In European indices, new highs for 2019 were recorded in the German DAX, Zurich SMI, and the Amsterdam AEX. The London FTSE came close, and all ended higher for the week following pullbacks into March 7-11.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, it was a mixed story. The big gainer was India’s Nifty Index, which was up strongly all week. The other indices were all down into March 8-13, but by Friday they were mostly up again, but not above the highs of early March.

In the Americas, all the major indices we track made new highs for the year, except the Argentine Merval Index, which was down hard all week.

In other markets, Crude Oil marched to a new high for 2019 on Friday, March 15. Metals behaved rather peculiarly, but certainly consistent with geocosmic indicators for the week. That is, both Gold and Silver rallied smartly off their lows of March 7, the prior week. But those sharp rallies ended on Wednesday, March 13, when both metals suddenly turned down sharply. This sudden and unexpected turn is typical of Mercury retrograde, and more so when the Moon is in Gemini, Mercury’s ruling sign. That is a very “jittery” combination. Live Cattle, our choice for a “big move up market” with Uranus in Taurus, also had an interesting two weeks. On March 1, it rose to a new multi-month high of 130.45. It then fell back to 126.32 on March 12. But by Friday, March 15, it was back onto another rally. Live Cattle analysis will be featured in this week’s MMA Cycles Report (see below), for those interested.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS

This is another “shift” week from the cosmic perspective. First of all, March 16-17 is the midpoint of Mercury retrograde (March 5-28). Any market that did not complete a cycle high or low nearby to the retrograde date is a candidate to reverse within 2 trading days of the retrograde’s midpoint, which is now.

Second, March 20 is both the Vernal equinox (start of Spring) and a full moon. Changing seasons, and transitioning from the last sign of the zodiac (Pisces) to the first sign (Aries), is always considered a powerful shift in the study of Mundane Astrology. Occurring on a full Moon is even more powerful. Technically, the first Sunday after the full Moon in Aries marks the Easter holiday for Christians. But for some reason, that isn’t happening this year. It’s going to happen on Sunday following the next full Moon on April 21. Someone missed the calendar marker. Nevertheless, the Sun moving from Pisces to Aries is like going from a deep sleep or meditation to being very active, even aggressive and warlike. In Pisces, we want to contemplate how it all “feels.” In Aries, we want to take action. Yet, with Mercury still retrograde in Pisces through March 28, not everyone is ready to take action. There is still a number of leaders who want to “talk it over” more until they “feel” better about what they must do, if they can just figure out what that is. It’s not easy under these conditions.

The urge to initiate action, however, is likely to be powerful this weekend. On March 20, Mars will form a harmonious trine with Pluto, and the next day, March 21, Venus will form a challenging square aspect to Mars. Mars rules Aries. Mars, like Aries, wants action. But in square aspect to Venus (planet of agreements and compromises), and with Mercury still retrograde in Pisces, it is doubtful that any new action will go smoothly. The “blame-game” is apt to be in full bloom this spring season.

In terms of equity markets, we note that transiting Mars will be conjunct to the Sun and Mercury in the NYSE founding chart (May 17, 1792), and square its Pluto in late Taurus. This transit will be operative March 18-27, and often coincides with a sharp decline from a crest that happens just before then. In other words, this continues to be a market best suited for short-term, aggressive traders. Position trading will be highlighted again after next week. Thus, one must remember this week that “patience is a virtue” in communications, but probably a liability in short-term trading.