Weekly Column: Job creation disappointed again

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Job creation disappointed again in May, with nonfarm payrolls up what normally would be considered a solid 559,000 but still short of lofty expectations, the Labor Department reported Friday. Payrolls were expected to increase by 671,000.– Jeff Cox, “Job Creation Accelerated in May but is Still Below Lofty Expectations,” www.cnbc.com, June 4, 2021.

President Biden painted a rosy picture of America’s economic rebound and claimed he beats all other presidents for job creation during their first three months in office. Biden, indeed, created the most jobs in his first three months than any other president — about 1.5 million — but that’s partly because the U.S. population is larger than in the past. When calculated as a percentage of the workforce, job growth under President Jimmy Carter increased more quickly from February through April 1977 than the same three months this year. –Marisa Schultz, “Biden Touts ‘Fastest Job Creation’ of any President in US History,”  www.foxbusiness.com, May 28, 2021.

Here we are again. The last instance of Saturn in waning square to Uranus was 45 years ago, in 1976-1977. We have pointed out the similarities between Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter, who was elected President in 1976 and started his term in January 1977. Correspondences exist in personality, correlations to their election-year cycles and geocosmics, and now with similar economic results after their first three months in office. You may also remember what happened afterwards. 1976-77 was the beginning of the huge surge in inflation that eventually led to stagflation for much of the next decade. Once again, our future may be held hostage to history, as noted by the correlation of planetary cycles to cycles in human activity.

But that becomes more important 1-3 years down the road. For the present, happy days are here again as more people go back to work and start having fun and traveling again in many parts of the world that have had access to the COVID-19 vaccine. As projected in the Forecast 2021 Book (written in November 2020), the transit of Neptune would leave opposition to the “super-charged degrees” of 15-19° Virgo in February 2021 (this is where the Uranus/Pluto conjunction occurred in 1965-66). This signaled that the height of the COVID-19 pandemic cases would peak within three months of February 2021, and by late Spring-early Summer, the worst would be over. In retrospect, the peak in the U.S. was indeed in February 2021. If my projections are correct, we won’t have to worry about COVID-19 or a next pandemic again until 2026 +/- one year, when Saturn will conjoin Neptune in 0° Aries.

Returning to the present, last week was another positive week for most world equity indices. All-time highs were recorded in the Netherlands AEX, German DAX, Zurich SMI, Australian ASX, India NIFTY, and Brazil’s Bovespa indices. Other indices maintained their multi-year highs of February 16-18, which was during the first passage of the Saturn/Uranus square. This was the case with China’s Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Japan’s Nikkei indices. The NASDAQ made the first leg of a double top to its all-time high then, too. This is important because the second passage of this powerful aspect unfolds next Friday, June 14. It is the most powerful of all geocosmic signatures in 2021.

In other markets, Gold made a new cycle high of 1919.20 on June 1. It hasn’t seen that level since January 6. Silver came close, reaching 28.71 on June 1, but still below its recent high of 28.91 on May 18. That case of intermarket bearish divergence was followed by a sharp selloff in both metals Thursday and Friday of last week. Crude Oil was also strong last week, soaring to its highest price since October 2018 and nearing $70.00. It’s right in line with our thoughts about Jupiter’s short visit into Pisces, May 13-July 28. Jupiter, Neptune, and Pisces rule Crude Oil prices.

Short-term geocosmics

The White House economic analysis boils down to an assertion that slow growth is inevitable. The belief is that the U.S. economy can’t grow faster than 1.9% over the long-term… There is no way an economy growing that slowly can afford both a robust defense budget and the Biden social welfare policies. To put it bluntly, this is a budget that is anticipating America’s economic and political decline. The question is whether the American people will settle for it.– Wall Street Journal Opinion Page, “A Future of Secular Stagnation,” June 2, 2021.

This is a huge bet that government investment can replace and produce better results than private investment. The track record on that isn’t encouraging… Which brings us to the Fed. It owns a substantial portfolio of mortgage-backed securities. Now, federal debt and mortgage-backed securities happen to be preferred investments for small, fixed-income investors. The massive buying program of the Fed has sharply reduced returns. The Fed has had a policy of screwing small savers for well over a decade. The immorality of that hasn’t received sufficient notice… The budget also assumes that there are no negative consequences other than screwing small savers. Last November, the electorate voted to escape from the Trump political soap opera. There is no mandate for taking such big gambles in fiscal and monetary policy. – Robert Robb, “Biden’s Budget is a Massive Gamble,” Arizona Republic, June 4, 2021. 

We are now in one of the most intense geocosmic periods of the year. It starts with Mercury retrograde, in its ruling sign of Gemini, May 29-June 22. The “Trickster” has a notorious correlation to skittish markets where prices change suddenly after giving a bullish or bearish technical signal. This is often a result of confused messaging on the part of government leaders or contradictory economic reports. The confusion may be even greater in this retrograde cycle than usual, for the Trickster is turning retrograde in a square aspect to Neptune in Pisces, the planet and sign of confusion and misunderstandings or intentional disinformation. Neptune and Pisces have an association with rumors and mis-information, in some ways similar to Mercury retrograde. This will likely be a bizarre couple of weeks on many levels, not the least of which pertain to financial markets. Is it a bull or is it a bear?

In the midst of this particular Mercury retrograde period, there is an annular solar eclipse on June 10 at 19° Gemini, also conjunct Mercury retrograde and square to Neptune in Pisces. In fact, June 10 is the midpoint of the Mercury retrograde cycle, a time when markets are again prone to reversals if they didn’t reverse at the time of the retrograde on May 29 +/- 2 days.

An eclipse (on the midpoint of Mercury retrograde) intensifies the issues of current events. In other words, confusion and misinformation/rumors may intensify. One may rightfully question: What is being covered up? What is being hidden? How are people being distracted from what is really taking place? If you believe something is happening or going to happen, it would be wise to consider the possibility that the opposite may occur. If it looks like a market is about to rally, consider that it might instead be readying for a decline, or vice-versa. What you see and think is happening may not be happening at all. This combination is indicative of mass illusion.

Now don’t get me wrong. Illusions can be pleasant if there is no need for accountability. But if you are supposed to be responsible, this is not the time to shirk your duties. At the same time as all this bizarreness is underway, Saturn will also make a second passage of its waning square to Uranus on June 14. As just mentioned, there will be a price to pay if one is not accountable. The price may be loss of position, or having your duties terminated. Given that Mars is also entering the drama sign of Leo on June 11, this isn’t likely to be handled discretely or quietly as all that Mutable Madness (eclipse in Gemini with Mercury retrograde in Gemini square Neptune in Pisces) would wish. Mars in Leo will be prone to create a scene for everyone to see. It could get embarrassing.

How will this affect financial markets? Possibly like an explosion, storm, or earthquake that no one saw coming. It may explode this week, or it may take until Mars makes its T-square to the Saturn/Uranus square in the first ten days of July. There may be an initial act under Mercury retrograde followed by a second act after it turns direct and crosses the same degrees it just retrograded over. This can be both exciting and dangerous. Try to stay safe and out of danger.

This may not be an easy 1-4 weeks for position traders. The Neptune/Pisces element suggests complacency. The favorable Jupiter transits of July 20-25 indicate “irrational exuberance.” But the “Mutable Madness” combined with the Saturn/Uranus/Mars dynamics through early July portend a rude awakening. The possibility of hysteria, even panic, is heightened. Keep an eye on Crude Oil (disruptions in distribution) and interest rates. Keep an eye on your trading positions, resisting the urge to overtrade or take risks larger than you can handle should markets suddenly reverse, as these cosmic patterns indicate they might.

On the other hand, those who are nimble and attentive may find this to be an extremely propitious time to capture large profits from steep price changes in short periods of time.