The Japanese Nikkei soared to a new cycle high on Friday May 18

REVIEW AND PREVIEW

Markets already know the Federal Reserve will deliver more rate hikes this year. They're just not prepared for how much it will hurt, according to Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of Bleakley Advisory Group. Of the last 13 rate hike cycles, 10 have resulted in a recession, says Boockvar. Markets are taking another 25 basis-point hike from the Fed at its June meeting as a near certainty, based on CME Group fed funds futures. The Fed last tweaked rates at its March meeting. The rest of the year is less clear. A third rate hike for 2018 could come in September, but the chances of a fourth in December are at less than 41 percent. Karis Lahiff, “The Fed is About to Deliver a ‘Punch in the Face,’ that Markets are not Prepared For,” www.cnbc.com, May 12, 2018.

The cross currents between the cosmically favorable Jupiter/Neptune and Saturn/Uranus waning trine aspects, and the hard, disruptive Mars/Uranus square aspect, were on full display last week. All three of these geocosmic signatures are important, but contradictory, geocosmic signatures, and all three will remain in effect over the next 3-4 months.

Last week was especially important from the cosmic perspective because Mars and Uranus both changed signs. Uranus made its first entry into Taurus on May 15, where it will spend most of the next seven years, while Mars ingressed into Aquarius on the same day. The next day, May 16, Mars and Uranus formed a fixed 90-degree square to one another, which symbolizes disruptions and sudden events that can be very disturbing, like the volcano eruption in Hawaii, and another deadly high school shooting took that place in Texas on Friday, May 18, killing ten students. This is symbolic of Mars square Uranus, described last week as follows: “Mars square Uranus is a reminder that the world is still far from safe, and not all people will be expressing grandiose ideals, but instead acting very irrational and erratic, oftentimes contradicting their words via their behaviors. Psychopathic rage leading to violence is one possibility of expression during the Mars/Uranus aspect, so it would be wise to avoid dangerous situations and people if you are able to sense them before they erupt.” That warning remains in force through September 18 and is the polar opposite dynamic of Jupiter trine Neptune, which continues to strive for world peace. But even that effort took a turn backwards last week when North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un abruptly threatened to pull out of summit talks scheduled next month with President Donald Trump if it is to be one-sided affair where North Korea has to give up its nuclear weapons arsenal, but U.S., gives up…. what?

In spite of these geopolitical cross currents, which reflect the contradictory nature of the geocosmic alignments, most world stock indices continued their impressive rallies following their distorted primary cycle lows of March 26-April 3. This was especially notable in three of the four European indices we track. The London FTSE index matched its all-time high of 7791 on Friday, May 18, while the AEX and DAX neared their all-time highs on the same day. However, the Zurich SMI index topped out on Monday, May 14, just before the Mars/Uranus ingresses and square took place, well below their highs of January. The SMI then departed from the other indices, declining through the remainder of the week.

In Asia and Pacific Rim, it was also quite a contradictory week. The Japanese Nikkei soared to a new cycle high on Friday May 18. It has now rallied nearly 13% since its primary low of March 26, eight weeks ago. China’s Shanghai Index also rallied to its highest level in five weeks on the same day. But the Indian Nifty, Australian ASX, and Hang Seng index of Hong Kong all topped out on May 15 and declined the rest of the week. The decline was most severe in India, where an important election is taking place, In Australia, May 15 is in the vicinity of a double top formation to its 10-year high of January 10.

The America’s also exhibited contradictory patterns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ both made new cycle highs on Monday, May 15, and then Uranus struck on Tuesday as prices pulled back. In Argentina, the Merval Index was up all week. In Brazil, it was down all week.

As we head towards the second passage of the Jupiter/Neptune trine this week, May 25, it is not surprising the crude oil continues soaring to new 3-year highs. Both planets are the co-rulers of crude oil, and the 120° trine is considered the most favorable of all geocosmic aspects. It is possible this market will remain high until the Venus grand trine to Jupiter and Neptune on June 1-2. These days would be an excellent time for a marriage or partnership, or, at least, a special love experience in one’s life – with someone other than the crude oil or stock market. It is certainly a good time to buy Gold or Silver, as the price of both is low now, and would make an excellent gift of jewelry for someone loved. Interestingly enough, Gold made a new cycle low last week, falling to 1285 on May 17, and Silver did not make a new cycle low, so a case of intermarket bullish divergence may be developing in this important geocosmic reversal zone, May 14-June 2.

In other markets, T-Notes broke to a new 6-year cycle low, the Euro to a new cycle low, and Bitcoin fell below $8000 on Friday, for the first time in 4 weeks. The Bitcoin decline fits with our forecast made in our new Bitcoin Report, based on our solar/lunar sign studies that were revealed in our recent webinar three weeks ago. Our forecasting model is working very well.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS

“For decades, central banks have held the bulk of their foreign exchange reserves in the dollar… central banks held about 63% of their reserves in dollars at the end of last year, the lowest level in four years. Meanwhile, allocations to the Euro rose 20% and reserves in the Japanese Yen rose to 4.9%.” Chelsea Dulaney and Joshua Zumbrun, “Dollar Reign Faces Threat,” Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2018.

American women are having children at the lowest rate on record, with the number of babies born in the U.S. last year dropping to a 30-year low. -Janet Adamy, “Births Hit Lowest Number Since 1987,” Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2018.

And you know what happened to stock prices in 1987. The DJIA made an all-time high in August of that year, then fell 40% by mid-October. Well, it is an interesting one-time correlation, and no guarantee it is a cycle related to markets. What is probably more important is what these shifts mean for the future. In my way of looking at the connection between cycles of human activity and the cosmos, these are indicators of “The Great Reset” that I have written about extensively over the past two years. These cycles started in November 2016, became official with the Sun/Saturn conjunction on the Winter solstice of December 20-21, 2017, and will grow in visibility and influence into at least 2020, and probably into February 2026, +/- 1 year, when Saturn and Neptune will cross over into Aries together. I anticipate that both of these trends – the diminishing importance of the U.S. Dollar and the decline of births in the USA – will continue into then, and result in a powerful shift in world affairs, especially in the world financial structure. It is also a reason to support the view that precious metals will become more and more important in terms of world currencies, perhaps along with new forms of currencies like cryptos. I keep in mind Silver’s 60-year crest cycle, due in 2040 +/- 5 years, probably along with Gold, which is a subject I will give a presentation on at the UAC conference in Chicago, May 27. I hope to see many of you there (see “Announcements” for details).

Shorter-term, we are focused on the Jupiter trine Neptune on May 25, and the transit of Venus making a grand trine to the Jupiter/Neptune trine on June 1-2, as discussed in the earlier section of this column. Crude Oil and stock markets are most related to these signatures, but currencies and treasuries may be as well, which in turn could coincide with cycle reversals in precious metals. It promises to be a rather amazing two weeks, with plenty of good news coming out too, probably about potential summit meetings between North Korea and the USA, but also between European leaders, Russia, and the USA. It is a time to give peace a chance. Or, get married. Or, have babies.