The Euro soared to 1.2069 on August 29

REVIEW

The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in August. Economists polled by Reuters expected 180,000 jobs to have been added last month. In addition to missing estimates, previous months' job totals also were cut. June was revised down from 231,000 to 210,000 while July fell from the initially reported 209,000 to 189,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. – “Gold Surges After Weak Jobs Report,” Reuters, September 1, 2017.

In the aftermath of the powerful solar eclipse of August 21, and in spite of the less-than-expected new job gains on September 1, and  even with downward revisions in the prior jobs totals, stock markets rallied smartly last week. Following a primary cycle bottom exactly on our August 18-21 three-star geocosmic critical reversal date, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged from a low of 21,600 to a high, so far, of 22,039 on Friday, September 1. The all-time high still remains 22,179 posted on August 8, one day after last month’s lunar eclipse.

Not all global stock indices bottomed on the August 21 solar eclipse. Several continued lower into early last week before embarking on strong rallies into Friday. In fact, there is now so much intermarket divergence between different regions of the world that you would think Mercury was retrograde. This is definitely the signature of the Trickster at his trickiest in financial markets. In Europe, Germany’s DAX index fell to 11,868 on August 29, its lowest mark since March 22. The Netherlands AEX plummeted to 505 on the same day, its lowest mark since March 27. London’s FTSE and Zurich’s SMI indices also fell to multi-month lows last Tuesday, August 29. Then, all rallied nicely into Friday, but still well below their yearly highs.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, it was a much different story in some markets, but the same story in others. For instance, the Japanese Nikkei Index fell to 19,280 on August 29, its lowest level since May 2. It then rallied very nicely into Friday, ending the week on a very bullish tone. The Australian ASX index also put in its lowest level of the month on August 29, but didn’t rally so robustly into Friday. Yet late last week, the Hang Seng of Hong Kong and China’s Shanghai Index soared to their highest levels since May 28, 2015 and January 4, 2016, respectively. India’s Nifty Index did something completely different. Following its all-time high on August 2, and a possible primary cycle trough on August 11, it rallied modestly higher into Friday, September 1 – but not enough for even a new monthly high.

And then we have the Americas where Argentina’s Merval Index soared to a record high on Friday, while Brazil’s Bovespa index rallied to its highest level since November 2010. The NASDAQ Composite almost made a new high, rallying to a high of 6449 on Friday, September 1, just shy of its record of 6460 made on July 27.

Now many may think the declines and rallies, as well as the record-breaking devastation of Hurricane Harvey, were a correlation to the August 21 solar eclipse, and they would be partially correct. The solar eclipse was a low in the USA markets, but the low was August 29 in other world indices. And the hurricane devastation was mostly last week, and not during the eclipse week. So, we attribute three other geocosmic factors which have to do with loss, and then rallies: the midpoint of Mercury retrograde on August 24, Venus square Uranus (hurricanes) on the same day, and Saturn turning stationary direct (loss, from markets start to rally afterwards) on August 25.

Last week was a notable also in the Euro currency and precious metals. The Euro soared to 1.2069 on August 29, its highest mark since January 2, 2015. Gold rallied to 1334.50 on Friday, September 1, its highest level since election night, November 8, while Silver soared to 17.82, its highest price since April 25. Now, as Mercury turns direct this week, we will see if these recent highs are for real, or another mind game of Mercury retrograde, the Trickster. His watch is not over yet, which means our need to be extra watchful is not over either.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS

Jughead, a known mooch, coms to Archie’s house and asks: “Archie, do you believe in free speech?” Archie says sure. Jughead replies, “So you don’t mind if I use your phone to make a long-distance call?” Freedom of speech means that you have the right to use your own resources to advance your own causes. But it doesn’t give you, in the name of free speech, the right to take somebody’s telephone, somebody’s house, or somebody’s anything in order to use it for your own purposes. – Interview with Richard A. Epstein by Tunku Varadarajian, “The First Amendment is for Neo-Nazis, Too,” Wall Street Journal, August 26-27, 2017.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Mark Twain remarked upon this great mystery: how it could be that physical courage should be so common in the world, and yet moral courage so rare. – Robert M. Morganthau, “Monuments and Courage,” Wall Street Journal, August 26-27, 2017.

“…learn to live together as brothers and sisters. Or, we will perish together as fools.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, 1965 commencement address for Oberlin College, as quoted in “Identity Politics are Tearing America Apart,” James A. Baker III and Andrew Young, Wall Street Journal, August 31, 2017.

Mercury ending its retrograde motion on Tuesday, September 5, is not the only important geocosmic signature coming up next week. It is also the day Mars enters Virgo, the Sun enters into opposition with Neptune, and the day before the full moon of September 6. Thus, there is still a lot of Mars (aggressiveness, especially as it falls on the natal Ascendant of President Trump) and Neptune (passivity, uncertainty, misleading news and announcements). It is like really wanting to start something new, but not being able to make it happen. Every time you start to make progress, it just seems to fizzle. It can be very passive-aggressive. It can mean trying to do something simple, but then making it so complicated and attached to (dependent upon) so many other parts that those who would support the simple idea can no longer support all the earmarks. Think of increasing the debt ceiling. Think of trying to pass a budget, or building a wall along the southern border, Think of trying to tie all of these ideas - or a combination of them - into a bigger package, rather than taking one at a time, and you get an idea of why this administration is struggling to get even one legislative idea accomplished. And yet, the stock market keeps going up.

Following the full moon with Neptune this week, we can look forward to Venus making a grand trine to Saturn and Uranus, September 12-17. This may be the last great opportunity of this year for Congress to pass any new legislation, for Venus is the planet of agreements and compromise, and Saturn can be indicate an agreement that has long-term positive consequences. Stock markets could continue to rally into that time frame.

However, after September 17, we head into the third and final passage of the Jupiter/Uranus opposition, September 27. Failure to enact any new laws of note (or a budget, or a debt ceiling increase, or, or….) going into this aspect could correlate with a major reversal in world financial markets. After all, the Jupiter/Uranus opposition is the most consistent geocosmic signature correlating with primary cycles in U.S. stock markets within an orb of 12 trading days. The last passage in this series occurred on March 1, 2017. That was an all-time high in the DJIA, and led to a seven-week decline into April 19 – the longest decline so far in 2017. Jupiter and Uranus are also symbolic of the demand for free speech rights, and the urge to make unreasonable demands of others in this pursuit.