Weekly column: Jupiter in Gemini and the astrology of June's markets

Review

Google Trends is reporting an astonishing spike in searches for “petrodollars.” This is apparently because of a viral story that on 9 June, Saudi Arabia failed to renew a secret 50-year deal with the US to keep oil priced in dollars. Oil has always traded in non-dollar currencies….Saudi Arabia’s riyal remains pegged to the dollar….The dollar’s reserve status depends on how money is stored, not how transactions are denominated. The story seems to have started in the crypto world. Many crypto speculators desperately want to believe in the dollar’s demise. Confirmation bias encourages people to ignore what is realistic if their prejudices are seemingly confirmed. This is a poor investment strategy.

—Dr. Paul Donovan, UBS GWM Chief Economist, UBS Weekly Blog, June 13, 2024.

More Americans lost their homes in May as foreclosures move higher.

—Megan Henney, “Home foreclosures are on the rise again nationwide,” www.foxbusiness.com, June 14, 2024.

U.S. indexes finished mixed, with the Dow industrials logging a fourth straight day of declines. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq booked weekly gains; the Nasdaq managed its 18th record close of the year.

—Market Roundup, “Stock Market News, June 14, 2024:S&P 500 Slips, Ending Streak of Records” www.wsj.com, June 14, 2024.

Jupiter in Gemini continues to exhibit cases of global stock markets headed in opposite directions.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, India’s NIFTY Index soared to another new all-time high on Friday following the prior week’s re-election of Narendra Modi as its Prime Minister. However, the other major indices in the regions are still below their all-time or multi-year highs made on our May 17-20 three-star geocosmic critical reversal dates.

The Netherlands AEX index in Europe made another new all-time high on Wednesday, June 14. But the German DAX and London FTSE fell to new monthly lows following their all-time highs of May 15. The Zurich SMI fell to a new 3-week low on Friday after briefly making a new 2-year high on Monday, June 10.

In the Americas, Brazil’s Bovespa fell to a new 7-month low. At the same time, both the S&P and NASDAQ made new all-time highs late last week, whereas the DJIA continued its fall since the all-time high on the May 20 three-star CRD (critical reversal date).

Bitcoin and Ethereum were both down last week and are starting to show signs of weakness as they tested their 116-day moving averages. Bitcoin is also going through a transit of Saturn in opposition to Uranus in its natal chart, a bearish geocosmic indicator pointed out by crypto analyst Robert Weinstein recently. The problem may linger a little because Saturn is approaching its stationary retrograde position over the next two weeks. Crude Oil was modestly positive last week as it approaches the 80.00 mark after probably making a primary cycle low the previous week at 72.48.

For us, however, the excitement was in precious metals, especially Gold. On Wednesday, June 12, we issued a “Special Alert on Gold” to MMA subscribers, stating: “A break below Wednesday’s low of 2327 will be a set up for a reversal (high weighted value score). Even better if it holds Friday’s (June 7) low of 2304 and thus becomes a “Lendahl Wiggle” as a low risk/high reward possibility…. The ideal setup would be a secondary low Thursday (maybe even Friday morning), below 2327 but not below 2304.” Bingo! At 12:25 PM, June 13 (EDT), Gold dropped to 2310. By Friday, the next day, it was over 2350. Copies of this “Special Alert” are available to anyone who subscribes to any MMA reports (monthly, weekly, or daily). Even a one-month trial of the MMA Monthly Cycles report will qualify for both the special alert on Gold as well as the June MMA Cycles Report that was issued last week.

Short-term geocosmics

For months, Yahya Sinwar has resisted pressure to cut a ceasefire-and-hostages deal with Israel. Behind his decision, messages the Hamas military leader in Gaza has sent to mediators show, is a calculation that more fighting—and more Palestinian civilian deaths—work to his advantage. “We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar said in a recent message to Hamas officials seeking to broker an agreement with Qatari and Egyptian officials.

—Summer Said and Rory Jones, “Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas,” Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2024.

Trump floated the idea of an all-tariff federal revenue system, large enough to replace the income tax. An all-tariff approach would (reverse)more than 100 years of economic policy that encourages free trade and requires higher-income households to pay higher tax rates than the middle class. Such a return to 19th-century fiscal policy could amount to a tax cut for high-income people and, effectively, a tax increase on consumers, who would pay tariffs passed along to them in prices. 

—Lindsay Wise, Katy Stech Ferek, and Alex Leary, “Trump Floats ‘All-Tariff’ Federal Revenue System,” www.wsj.com, June 13, 2024.

 Maybe I am missing something here, but aren’t tariffs inflationary and are, therefore, just another tax on consumers? Does the former president not know history—that tariffs were one of the main causes of the Great Depression? Or that the history of America’s greatness is intertwined with world trade? I mean, for someone whose supporters claim he is the smartest man in the world, this “All Tariff Federal Revenue System” strikes me as a dangerous idea for both the world and the national economy. It is hard to believe that the world would support American trade if this idea is enacted. The rest of the world will trade with one another and America will be isolated for its hubris for thinking that everyone wants what only America can offer. It seems so—un-American and anti-business.

On the other hand, other nations now think they can buy influence in America by bribing its political families. It’s unclear which path—which party—will lead to America’s downfall the fastest. It’s a race to the bottom disguised as a race to the top. But then again, Saturn is in Pisces. Truth is a commodity in great demand but with little supply.

And then there is the admission of the head of Hamas as to the real reason behind so many deaths of innocent civilians. After months of alleging that Israel was indiscriminately killing innocent children and civilians, we now hear of a “leaked message” from the leader of Hamas himself (reported by the Wall Street Journal) that this has been the strategy all along: use Palestinians as shields, let them be killed, and gamble that it will lead to world sympathy for their cause—which is basically to turn the world against Israel and eliminate all Jews from the planet.

When does this intentional misdirection and deceptive propaganda end? I think it could bottom with the “Aries Vortex” in 2026 +/- one year. This is a rare (as in “never happened before”) cosmic alignment when Saturn and Neptune (peak of propaganda) conjoin around 0° Aries (the “world degree”). This is also the midpoint of the Uranus/Pluto trine in early air signs. Humankind has something to look forward to if, collectively, we can avoid committing a colossal blunder before then.

Shorter-term and more market-related, we now leave our June 11 three-star geocosmic critical reversal date (CRD) time band. This included the Sun and Venus square Saturn and Neptune (June 9-20) as well as the dangerous Mars/Pluto square of June 11. We may have seen primary cycle lows in Gold and primary cycle highs in stocks (S&P and NASDAQ, but not the DJIA).

Next week, the Sun, Mercury, and Venus leave the unstable sign of Gemini for the more defensive and protective-minded sign of Cancer. Financial markets (investors) might become more emotional over the next month. But this could be a supportive combination for precious metals given that Silver is ruled by the Moon and its ruling sign of Cancer, plus the fact that both Gold and Silver are in a time band for their primary cycle troughs. Additionally, they exhibited intermarket bullish divergence last week, as one made a new multi-week low and the other did not. In stocks, it was the opposite, where a case of intermarket bearish divergence continues as the S&P and NASDAQ made new all-time highs last week, but the DJIA did not. As we were still in Gemini’s season last week, such divergences are probably more the norm. Gemini’s nature can be a bit divergent.