The NASDAQ and S&P futures also made new all-time highs last week

REVIEW

“New home sales posted a steep decline in December… Purchases of newly built, single family homes, decreased 10.4% from November… the steepest one-month drop since March 2015. The drop ‘was a shocker,’ said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance.” Laura Kusisto and Ben Luebsdorf. “New Home Sales Fell Sharply in December,” Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2017.

“U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter as a plunge in shipments of soybeans weighed on exports… Gross domestic product increased at a 1.9 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its first estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. That was a sharp deceleration from the 3.5 percent growth pace logged in the third quarter. As a result, the economy grew only 1.6 percent in 2016, the weakest pace since 2011.” Reuters, January 27, 2017.

Saturday’s New Moon in Aquarius also marks the start of the Chinese New Year, the year of the Rooster – a Fire Rooster, no less. Can you imagine a rooster on fire? According to http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/rooster.htm,“Roosters expect others to listen to them while they speak, and can become agitated if they don't. Vain and boastful, Roosters like to brag about themselves and their accomplishments.” Hmmm, I can think of a couple of examples of this as the old year (and regime) ends and a New Year begins.

However, one segment of human activity that is allowed to boast after last week is the U.S. stock market, where several indices soared to new all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, for example, finally broke the 20,000 barrier. It had been stuck with the 19,999 all-time high of January 6. The NASDAQ and S&P futures also made new all-time highs last week.

The equity euphoria was not limited to the USA, however. In South America, Argentina’s Merval Index also exploded to a new all-time high, while the Bovespa of Brazil rallied to its highest mark sine March 2012.

In Europe, the German DAX was strong, rising to 11,893 last week, and approaching its all-time high of 12,390 made in April 2015. The Zurich SMI also rallied to its highest level in a year. However, there was also a clear case of intermarket bearish divergence in Europe, where the Netherlands AEX and London FTSE could not even make new monthly highs. The high in the AEX remains 489.91 on January 3, our exact and last three-star critical reversal date. The same is true with Russia’s MICEX index, whose all-time high was 2294 on January 3, but is re-testing that level with last week’s rally that climbed back to 2266 on Friday, January 27.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong and the Nifty index of India recorded their highest marks since October 2016. China’s Shanghai Index made a new two-week high. However, rallies in Japan and Australia fell short of their recent highs made in early January, nearby to our last three-star CRD, which poses a problem if the rally of last week runs out of steam now.

Both Gold and Silver declined into Friday, January 27, as Venus formed a square to Saturn. In Gold, prices fell from a new high of 1220.10 on Tuesday, January 24, one day after our January 23 one-star CRD, to a low of 1179.70 early Friday, January 27. Silver’s cycle high was the week before, creating a case of intermarket bearish divergence, and true to form, both sold off into Friday’s Venus/Saturn square. That may actually be a positive chart formation, for as stated in last week’s column, “The Venus/Saturn is another interesting signature. With Venus ruling “values,” and Saturn representing “contraction,” we have a rule that states any market declining into this aspect is a good candidate for a reversal and rally.” Gold and Silver fit into this setup. U.S. Treasuries might too, which may have bottomed January 26, one day before. However, it may be the opposite in stocks, which – instead of declining – rallied to their new all-time highs on Thursday, January 26. This was not only an allowable one day before the Venus/Saturn square, but also a very strong solar-lunar reversal date (see our website at www.mmacycles.com for these weighted values each day in stocks and Silver).

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS

We will now keep in mind what happened as Venus squared Saturn on Friday, January 27 +/- 1 day, because that aspect will occur again, but much stronger, on April 8 and April 21, a period during which Saturn turns retrograde (April 5) and Venus turns direct (April 15). Not only is the Venus/Saturn square a strong geocosmic correlation to reversals in financial markets, but both Saturn and Venus stationary are even stronger. They are each Level 1 types, the strongest correlations to primary cycles, according to the studies presented in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles. So, we must be very alert when we get to April, which just happens to be the time of income tax reporting in the USA.

However, even before that, we have another powerful time band of strong geocosmic signatures – maybe more powerful than that of April 5-21 – that takes place around the solar eclipse conjunct Neptune on February 27-28. As stated in last week’s column, “After that (February 6-11, a Jupiter period), it gets very interesting, as the strongest time band of geocosmic signatures of the year begins February 22, lasting through April 21. This period kicks off with a powerful solar eclipse (south node eclipse) on February 27, which is usually more challenging than the north node eclipses, right in the middle of Mars conjoining Uranus and making a T-square with Jupiter and Pluto…. this is symbolic of a major eruption or disruption in world affairs, and it may also coincide with the same dynamic in Mother Nature. This is not the best time to take risks where potential danger is concerned.” Although it is too early to make a confident call as to what the markets will be doing then, it is my bias that equities would be making new highs as record monies pour into retirement accounts – and then into mutual funds headed for stocks – ahead of the time when baby boomers will be forced to start IRS withdrawals in mid-2017. Besides, a solar eclipse conjunct Neptune in Pisces, with Mars and Uranus also in opposition to Jupiter, is the perfect symbolism for “irrational exuberance,” a collective psychological state of mind that nearly always accompanies important crests in world equity markets. Get ready for some really wild times in about a month – more wild than last week, which was already a little wild when you consider just how productive (for better or worse) President Trump was in his first full week in office. As a Capricorn who values hard work and productivity without wasting a lot of time, I found that to be pretty amazing.