Weekly column: Bulls charge ahead as Mercury and Saturn end retrograde

Review

Allies of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have laid the groundwork for him to push a rate cut through a divided committee at next month’s meeting even though it could draw multiple dissents. The unusual level of division inside the Fed means that, to an even greater degree than usual, the final call rests with Powell.
—Nick Timiraos, “Fed Chair Powell’s Allies Provide Opening for December Rate Cut,” The Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2025.

The rise of the side hustle complicates the modern economy. The self-employed content creator has an income stream and thus spending power—but that goes largely unrecognized by today’s statistics. Side hustles mean that data is increasingly underreporting economic reality. [It] may also shift some economic value creation from large companies to very small (“micro”) companies. While large companies may use accountants and lawyers to avoid taxes, a micro company may not be liable for taxes at all. Shifting economic activity to “businesses” that fall below current tax thresholds may challenge some government revenue streams.—Dr. Paul Donovan, “The Hassle of the Side Hustle,” UBS Weekly Blog, November 28, 2025.

Stock markets around the world got a welcome lift last week after falling to their lowest levels in at least 2-6 months. This fits well with the bullish seasonal holiday trend that usually starts near the Sun entering Sagittarius, which began a week ago, right in the time band of MMAs geocosmic critical reversal date, November 21-24, +/- 3 trading days.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, stock markets rallied last week. The Australian ASX made its primary bottom right on November 21, the same day the Hang Seng made a major cycle trough. Japan’s Nikkei index completed its primary cycle trough on November 19, while China did the same on Monday, November 24. India’s Nifty was just bullish all week, making a new all-time high (ATH) on Friday, November 28.

In Europe, the Netherlands’ AEX, Germany’s DAX, and London’s FTSE all bottomed on November 21 and rallied all week sharply. The SMI of Zurich also ended a good week with a double top on Friday, back at its six-month high set on November 13.

In the U.S., the DJIA, S&P, and NASDAQ all completed primary cycle lows on November 19-21 and rallied smartly last week, as new cycles usually do. The Bovespa in Brazil also enjoyed a good week, soaring to a new ATH on Friday, November 28.

The bigger story, however, was in Silver, which just exploded to a new ATH of 57.24 on Friday in the March contract. Gold had a strong week too, with the February contract rising to 4263, well off its all-time high of 4398 made a month ago in the nearby December contract. Even Bitcoin came back smartly from its drenching, which ended a week ago (November 21), around 80,000. On Friday, it tested 93,000, a gain of 15%, suggesting that this too is now a new primary cycle. This fits with the outlook given in last Sunday’s special MMA Options webinar, which called for a primary cycle low and a 20-35% rally in the follow-up sent to all participants right afterwards. Speaking of that options webinar, the T-Notes may be setting up for the top of the head-and-shoulders pattern also discussed. In addition, other strategies that were given during the event appear to be setting up to unfold. The recording of that webinar is now available and still very valuable.

Short-term geocosmics

Every nation must strive to preserve three basic elements of its existence—sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. Russia’s aggression has already compromised Ukraine’s control over its territory, and the proposal now under discussion would make matters worse. Under the terms of the original 28-point plan (reduced to 19 points after U.S.-Ukraine discussions in Geneva), Ukraine would be forced to pull back its troops from the parts of the Donetsk region it currently controls, and this territory would be internationally recognized as belonging to the Russian Federation. This provision would give international legitimacy to a naked land grab, and it would deprive Ukraine of one of its strongest defensive lines against future Russian aggression—just as ceding the Sudetenland in 1938 made it nearly impossible for Czechoslovakia to resist Germany’s army in 1939. No sovereign nation can be asked to forfeit the military forces it deems necessary to defend itself.
—William Galston, “Ukraine and the Off-Point Peace Plan,” The Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2025.

This weekend finds both Mercury and Saturn ending their retrograde cycles, which, for many, will be a relief to see the Trickster (Mercury retrograde) return to its normal habitat. More importantly, when two or more planets change directions nearby to one another like this, it often signals the end or start of primary cycles. We noted that stock indices and Bitcoin probably made primary cycle lows in the past week. But now we have to wonder about Gold and Silver. Was last week’s run-up a case of intermarket bearish divergence under these planetary stations?

We also note that Venus ends its grand water trine to Jupiter and Saturn-Neptune this weekend, which may be an astrological correlate for the robust rallies in world stock markets last week. But Venus is also in opposition to Uranus on Sunday, November 30, which could relate to the powerful upside breakout in Silver. Or it could also portend a reversal from a case of bearish intermarket divergence. With Uranus, it can be either or both. That is, it could be a breakout to a new multi-month or even yearly high/low, or a sudden reversal. The loss of the grand trine may become a concern this week, especially with Venus in opposition to Uranus, for markets that have rallied.

The next big aspect confluence starts on December 9 with Mars forming a waning square to Saturn. This is a warlike dynamic, where one side wants to force its will on the other, and the other puts up a powerful resistance. Equity indices do not generally like this type of conflict, but commodities often do. The next day, December 10, Neptune turns direct, followed by Mars forming a waning square to Neptune. Thus, any conflict is likely to witness more propaganda and falsehoods as attempts are made to redirect the narrative away from the truth.

November had the benefit of grand trines, which brought out a sense of hope about restoring sanity in various conflicts around the world. December, on the other hand, will be fraught with several waning squares involving the Sun, Venus, and Mars to Saturn and Neptune in late mutable signs (the Galactic Center at 27° Sagittarius is activated). The entire world may be drawn into this struggle. Mercury may be done with its tricks. But politicians and war mongers are likely to resume theirs.

Longer-term thoughts

Practical advice from one Charles Dickens in “Sketches by Boz”: “Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” G.K. Chesterton took a different tack—gratitude is “the highest form of thought.” Tolstoy took it a step further: You can infer from his work that he thought the moments in which we feel the greatest thankfulness are those in which we are most noble. Don’t be embarrassed by talk of gratitude this weekend, or think it rote or corny. Feel thankful enough long enough and it amounts to a stance toward life, a good one.
—Peggy Noonan, “Don’t Be Shy, Gratitude Is Good for You,” The Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2025.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving this was as I hosted about 15 of the world’s top astrologers on a 45-minute call to wish one another a happy holiday. But it turned into much more than that as we evolved our well wishes into a lively discussion on what is happening in the heavens and in the world. The thing about this group is that each of them is an original “out-of-the-box” thinker. Each had a unique take that inspired further discussion into areas no one expected but very much found to be a great value.

One of the subjects that came up was about AI. Antonia Langsdorf (my wife) mentioned a podcast she had just listened to that pointed out how AI’s tendency towards “hallucinations” is causing a downdraft in the reliability of the information it provides. As more people provide information online from AI that is derived from inaccurate information generated by AI (hallucination), the more it pollutes (and downgrades) the pool of information it regenerates in further retrieval of certain subjects. For instance, a student conducts a research project based on “facts” generated by AI about the subject. But those facts are not always reliable. The student posts the research study, based on inaccurate facts, online and then it becomes part of the agent’s retrieval when asked about that subject in the future. This process of proving inaccurate information, and then repeating it online, compounds the problem of getting correct facts and information as we go along.

Astrologers Demetra George, Susie Cox, Christeen Skinner, Darby Coatello, David Cochrane, Matt Carnecelli, and Aleksandar Imsiragic each had a refreshing response to that and the future of AI. All pretty much agreed that 1) we don’t know how this is all going to end up as it is a wave of innovation that is still being birthed, 2) AI has to be treated primarily as a source information and not so much as an “emotional support system” even though it is developing intuitive functions, but 3) those intuitive and emotional factors are exposing some to mental health challenges and dependencies in place of healthy social interactions and earnest fact-checking, but 4) AI will be a positive force for our evolution (personally and collectively) and so it is important to adjust well to this new pathway ahead for the world. It’s not going away, and it will continually improve over the long haul.

Actually, the conversations were much more exciting than this simple recount. There was a wealth of correlations shared about this AI movement, including Pluto in Aquarius, Uranus trine Pluto in air signs, and even Saturn and Neptune as the midpoint forming a double sextile to both Uranus and Pluto, each with a different twist. When someone mentioned the chaos engulfing the world today and wondered if it would ever end, I pointed out that I think it is peaking with Saturn acting like an eclipse to Neptune (Saturn is between the Earth and Neptune). Therefore, it is Saturn collecting the power of the Uranus trine Pluto presently. However, when Saturn starts to separate from its conjunction to Neptune, the power of Neptune will begin to accelerate as it (and not Saturn) will still be in the double sextile to Uranus and Pluto, collecting their power that Saturn had consumed over the past year. That too elicited further insights from this remarkable group of very intelligent, experienced, and professional astrologers.

All in all, I would say this discussion with such wonderful, thought-provoking astrologer friends made this the best Thanksgiving of my lifetime. It was far and away the most intelligent and inspiring conversation I have had with astrologers in quite some time. And for that, I am very thankful that we still connect with one another, even after working together over the past 40 years in many cases. What a blessing!

Enjoy the holidays! The favorable seasonality for stocks is now underway with the Sun in Sagittarius. It’s also a new and young primary cycle. Bulls should love this season.