The Dow Jones Industrial Average made a new high for 2019

REVIEW AND PREVIEW:

Mr. Trump continues to believe that the Fed is the cause of slow growth, but he ignores the uncertainty created by his tariff policy. Will he cut a deal with China or impose 25% tariffs? The best economic policy occurs when each important actor does well with the levers it controls. That means the Fed should focus on stable prices while Congress and the executive keep taxes low and regulation limited. Mr. Trump can best help his own economic cause by ending the tariff uncertainty. – Wall Street Journal Editors, “A Split Fed Decision,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2019.

Here comes another opportunity for the President to close a deal. The cosmos are presenting another excellent time band, an opportunity for an agreement, between now and Labor Day. This is something he has come close to before, only to fail due to a pattern of trying to coerce the other side into caving in, rather than finalizing the negotiations with diplomacy and respect. This style has not worked, and it appears that Mr. Trump is realizing that as he has called off a speech by Vice-President Pence that was due to be given just before the G-20 meeting next week, just before President Xi Jinping and Trump were to meet. The speech was to predictably be critical of China once again. This tendency to publicly criticize the other side just before an important meeting has proven to be a non-starter, and surely would be again. The fact that Mr. Trump realizes this may be an encouraging sign for a long-awaited agreement. Let’s see if he can carry this through – close a deal - with a successful agreement this time, and not repeat this other disappointing pattern of “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.” If he can do it this time, it will be a boom that should lift stock prices even higher. It would also be consistent with the history of Jupiter in Sagittarius (November 8, 2018- December 2, 2019), which is to witness a long-term cycle crest (or secondary high) in world stock indices. For several months, and in our Forecast 2019 book and webinars, we have pointed out that such a long-term cycle crest was ideally due within two months of August 2019, and here we are.

Last week the S&P made a new all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average made a new high for 2019. The NASDAQ fell a little short, thus creating a potential case of intermarket bearish divergence, where one index makes a new high, but not all major indices in the same region follow. This becomes noteworthy when it happens in a heavily populated time band of geocosmic signatures, which is currently the case June 9-24. It is especially noteworthy now because this time band highlights the Jupiter/Neptune waning square (June 16, 2019), an aspect that has symbolized “irrational exuberance.” It is a case where the collective is counting on hopes and wishes, and it is not the real thing. The market is counting on President Xi and Trump to make a deal, but as of yet, there is no deal. We have been here before, and after September-October, the cosmic clock of “hopes and wishes” strikes midnight. Time runs out as the Capricorn Stellium follows, and that will not be an easier time to make a deal (December 2019 and onwards). Thus, there are some cosmic concerns as these markets are making or testing their highs currently, and the important meeting between these two leaders takes place next week.

The case for hopes and wishes and “irrational exuberance” also manifested in other markets when the Federal Reserve Board announced last week that it has no plans to raise rates. Furthermore, they left the door open for rate cuts. This drove interest rates lower, along with the U.S. Dollar, which in turn propelled Gold to trade above $1400 for the first time in six years. T-Notes rose to their highest mark since 2016. Bitcoin also soared to a new yearly high and is now testing $10,000. It’s all related to Jupiter square Neptune, a fine aspect for a bubble that is vulnerable to being pricked once these planets start to separate.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS

The Jupiter/Neptune influences continue to be heavily in force this week. Neptune just turned retrograde on Friday, June 21, and Venus will make its T-square with both Jupiter and Neptune on June 23-24. This assures that fantasy, hopes and wishes, and romantic or spiritual thoughts are still in vogue.

The next cosmic shift will then start the first week of July, when the solar eclipse takes place on July 2, followed by Mercury turning retrograde (July 7-August 1). Mixed messages may be the order of the day for most of July, as contradictory reports of progress and impasse are likely to be announced. Heliocentric Mercury will enter Sagittarius July 1-12, a time that highlights more market volatility, especially in precious metals and currencies.

LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS

Mr. Biden may be doing so well in the head-to-heads against Mr. Trump because many voters simply want respite from the nonstop Trumpian atmosphere of disruption and volatility. For them “Sleepy Joe” may not be an insult. Political belief still matters, but maybe not as much as neurological relief from political and personality overload. – Daniel Henninger, “Trump’s ‘Sleepy Joe’ Problem,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2019.

A supporter once approached him (Adlai Stevenson) at a campaign rally and gushed, “Governor, every thinking person would be voting for you.” Stevenson replied, “Madam, that is not enough. I need a majority.” – Jason L. Riley, “Elizabeth Warren May Be the New Adlai Stevenson,” Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2019.

I am back from my first visit to China now, and it was enlightening. It reaffirms my belief in the universal connection and love we share with one another, the needs we have in common, with hopes and aspirations for a meaningful life, and the desire to live in a world of peace. We have more in common with one another than the differences that are magnified by the ideologies imposed upon us by our governments and the political ambitions of our leaders and their party loyalists. Sadly, their quest to lead seems to be maintained only by the success of their efforts to create conflict and division, always disguised in the false campaign promise to unify. This represents the two sides of the Jupiter/Neptune waning square time that we are living in, as we also approach the powerful symbolism of Saturn conjunct Pluto in January 2020, in the authoritative sign of Capricorn, no less. Jupiter/Neptune pertains to the realization of what connects us in terms of our collective spirit and unity, versus the Saturn/Pluto in Capricorn that can symbolize the attempts to divide us on the illusion of our differences.

Nevertheless, those of us living in the USA are now entering the election campaign season. As I look at the charts of Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, I am reminded of a statement I made during the 2016 presidential campaign. That is, if she decided to run in 2020, and was given a chance by her party, Ms. Warren could be a force to be reckoned with. She has excellent aspects to the USA chart. Her Sun conjuncts the USA Venus and Jupiter, located in early Cancer, and her natal Venus conjuncts the USA Sun. This, by the way, is not an endorsement of her, just a purely astrological read. She will likely resonate with a large section of the USA population. To me, her chart looks more promising that any of the other candidates I have looked at so far, including Mr. Biden, who is currently the front runner. Maybe they make a good team for the Democratic Party in 2020. Mr. Trump is still strong too in 2020. But between Warren and Trump, it is the difference of Venus (Warren) and Mars (Trump). The president’s Sun is conjunct the USA’s Mars. Even though we are not at war, it seems like we are, on some level. Maybe with each other.

Which brings me back to my experience in China the past three weeks. It was a wonderful experience. The people there were intelligent, beautiful, and kind. They love Americans. They don’t want to fight, yet many are resigned to the fact that they really don’t have much control over that, but they adjust the best they can, given their circumstances. And the ones I met are doing quite well in this effort.

As I left China on Tuesday and boarded the plane back to America, I turned on a movie called “Amazing Grace,” with Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. I was reminded of my roots, growing up in Detroit in the 1960’s, as Motown stormed the world of music. And as I watched the movie, I realize the challenge it is to be a writer and somehow be able to use words to take the reader past the words into a deeper, primal, spiritual space, the source of a universal, collective mind and experience that we all have access to, somewhere deep down within ourselves, no matter where we are from or what political ideology we are subject to. We have more in common than we are made to believe. As Aretha Franklin sang “Amazing Grace” and “We Will Never Grow Old” in her incredible voice, with Mick Jagger dancing in the audience, I realize how transcendental this all is. It’s all real and yet it’s all drama. It’s all so special, if we can just realize the difference and the sameness, if we can just be conscious that in this diversity, there is a unity that we all desire. It’s there. It has always been there and it always will be. I think that’s one of the gifts the Pluto in Leo generation passes on to humankind. We will never grow old. And with this same generation sharing Neptune in Libra, they will also pass on to other generations the quest for inner peace and a connection to the universal, collective mind, or as some would call it, spirit. We may belong to different tribes, but even in those differences, we share a common longing for union. And that longing never grows old, either. In fact, it is the foundation for experiencing amazing grace, an outpouring of compassion for one another that can unite us, if we could only allow ourselves that experience.