Weekly column: Saturn-Neptune and the end of the Dollar’s 15-year bull cycle

Review

 Mr. Trump says foreigners bear the costs of the import taxes. He claimed in his essay for us that researchers at Harvard had found that “foreign producers and middlemen, including large corporations that are not from the U.S.” pay “at least 80% of tariff costs.”

 But that doesn’t tell the full picture of how the tariff cost is distributed. The Harvard economists note in the same paragraph that U.S. consumers are bearing up to 43% of the tariff burden, with U.S. companies absorbing most of the rest. That aligns with other research, such as a recent paper from Germany’s Kiel Institute that found Americans pay 96% of the cost of tariffs. Foreign exporters either pass on the full cost of the tariffs to their U.S. customers, or they ship smaller quantities of goods.

The Editorial Board, “Are Trump’s Tariffs Winning?” The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2026.

Tariffs are not only inflationary for a nation but also risk undermining the trust and credibility that go hand in hand with the responsibility of being the leading nation in the free world and controlling the world’s reserve currency. It’s worth looking back at the Pound Sterling and how it lost its status as the world reserve currency to the Dollar. The Sterling lost its dominance due to a combination of factors, including high wartime debt resulting from World War I, the suspension of Gold convertibility, and the rise of the U.S. economy. With unprecedented levels of debt, a lack of a Gold anchor, and the threat of a Chinese economic slowdown, the Dollar is in trouble. Last Friday, the DXY index saw the first weekly and monthly close below the lower limits of the long-term bullish price channel that has been in effect since 2011. The cracks are starting to appear. It is also worth noting that a devalued dollar will put inflationary pressure on imported goods.

In the meantime, China is pushing the Yuan and courting foreign trading partners in an increasingly polarized world. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Yuan, which only accounted for roughly 2% of world trade in 2020, now accounts for around 9% and is rising. More significantly, the Dollar accounted for 85% of Chinese exports (15% in other currencies) in 2010. In 2025, 54% of Chinese exports were transacted in the Yuan, with 41% in the Dollar and 5% in other currencies. This leads me to believe that perhaps more significant events are destined to manifest during the Saturn-Neptune conjunction that is taking place on the midheaven of the Federal Reserve Board chart (FRB), in T-square to the natal Sun-Pluto opposition, as analyzed in detail by Ray in Forecast 2026. An important correlation to note is that the Dollar was in a 15-year bullish cycle from the time Saturn transited the IC (or the lowest point in the FRB chart) until it reached the highest point or MC. Transiting Saturn is now due to move back down on this chart. Could this result in a long-term decline in the value of the Dollar? If so, which currency would you choose to park your liquid assets in? Is this a changing of the guards?

The intermarket bearish divergence continues to build, with the DJIA putting in a new ATH on Friday, whilst the S&P 500 and Nasdaq experienced 4% and 8% corrections, respectively, off last week’s highs. The S&P 500 had managed to put in a new ATH last week, whilst the Nasdaq failed to take out the October ATH. The intermarket divergence was evident in Europe too, as the UK’s FTSE and Swiss SMI set new ATHs, whilst the German DAX has been in a three-week decline.

It was a similar picture in Asia, with the Japanese Nikkei recording a new ATH, whilst the Chinese tech-heavy Hang Seng recorded its high last week, and the Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) has also been down for three weeks. After two decades of negotiations, India and the EU announced a new trade deal last week, which was bolstered by news of a new U.S.-India trade deal on Feb 3, sending the Nifty to a new ATH. Meanwhile, in Australia, the ASX also failed to take out its October ATH. It’s a very similar picture in the Americas, with Argentina’s Merval continuing to find resistance at the November high. Brazil’s Bovespa index is testing the December ATH. In South Africa, the JSE index continues its bid for new ATHs.

Silver’s blow-off top continues on its way down this week, having lost almost 50% of its value from last week’s ATH of 12179 down to 6390. Gold has held up much better, ending the week up. We generally find that Gold outperforms Silver when the white metal turns parabolic. That is why I was using the Gold-Silver ratio as an indicator in the weekly reports. Subscribers to the MMA Monthly Cycles Report Plus+ managed to catch the crest with a highly profitable short trade last week. For our outlook on these markets, I highly recommend the MMA Monthly Cycles Report, which comes out next Monday.

Another asset that has been performing as forecasted is Crude Oil, which is finally finding a bid as the restrictive planet Saturn is exiting Pisces, the sign that rules over Oil. As U.S. military assets continue to build in the Middle East, the focus is on whether Iran can strike a deal. More on this in two weeks, when I will be writing this column again, and I hope to share the astrology of Iran with subscribers.

The biggest story of the week was Bitcoin and Ethereum. If you recall, I raised the alarm bells that the 4-year crest had most likely formed back in November 2025. The crest formed at 126,272 on October 6, and we have seen prices drop more than 50% to a low of 59,930 on the CRD (critical reversal date) of February 6. The main question now is when the 4-year trough will form, and at what price? You will find great insight into these questions in the Forecast 2026 and weekly reports. We are also launching a new crypto report in April, so keep an eye out for announcements.

The grains finally found the bid we were waiting for, with Soybeans rallying over 8% this week, and hitting Wyatt Fellows’ price targets as provided within the weekly report. More on grains below.

Short-term geocosmics

Crypto’s brutal descent found a new low point on Thursday, with Bitcoin posting its biggest one-day drop since the 2022 crash and the company run by the token’s leading evangelist [Michael Saylor’s Strategy] reporting a $12 billion loss.

Vicky Ge Huang, “Bitcoin Booster’s $12 Billion Loss Headlines Crypto’s Worst Day Since 2022 Crash,” The Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2026.

As Uranus, the planet ruling over technology, turned direct this week, we saw volatility pick up with a sharp sell-off and a reversal by Friday in related markets such as the Nasdaq and cryptocurrencies. The biggest drops occurred in the cryptocurrencies that had already turned bearish in their respective primary cycles a week earlier.

Over the coming week, we have Saturn leaving Pisces and entering Aries on Feb 13. We also have a number of Uranus aspects, suggesting that there is more to see in the tech world. We have a Venus-Uranus waning square on Feb 8, and the Sun-Uranus waning square on Feb 16. There is also a solar eclipse square Uranus the next day. When Uranus is activated in this way, we tend to see sudden and sharp moves that often break support and resistance levels abruptly.

The solar eclipse takes place in the final degrees of Aquarius, as an air sign. With the Sun and Moon, both in air signs, this may prove to be an important inflection point for Silver.

Longer-term thoughts and opinion

When analyzing the winter ingress chart in Forecast 2026, I made the following forecast in relation to Uranus on the IC of the chart:

“In astrometeorology, Uranus is associated with high-pressure systems that bring cold air from the upper atmosphere or the Arctic Circle. Its location on the IC suggests strong and unusually cold winds hitting the East Coast from the North. The region is likely to experience below-normal precipitation and perhaps an Arctic outbreak bringing extreme cold, dry air, and biting winds. It is worth noting that the Saturn–Neptune conjunction brings together two slow-moving, low-pressure planets. The conjunction of these two planets may result in extreme weather patterns related to precipitation, with moisture concentrated in certain areas prone to flooding, while other regions experience drought.

On the geopolitical stage, Aquarius rising gives the United States a disruptive, contrarian stance—more likely to break with allies, redraw alliances, or pursue unorthodox strategies. Fiscal strain (Saturn–Neptune in the second) could weaken America’s leverage in international finance, while internal instability may reduce its ability to project power abroad. Uranus on the IC also raises the risk of natural disasters or environmental shocks—earthquakes, severe storms, or infrastructure breakdowns—events that could not only destabilize the homeland but also reverberate through global markets and alliances.”

Uranus is the planet of disruptions, disobedience, and popular revolt in the face of injustice. Therefore, it is no surprise to see protests and unrest across the U.S. in response to recent shootings and aggressive immigration enforcement operations by federal agents in Minneapolis.

The forecasted Arctic cold reached large parts of the U.S., plunging temperatures to record lows and causing disruptions and power outages. At the time of writing, I could not understand how the Uranus high-pressure system would interact with the Saturn-Neptune low-pressure system. Last week, this manifested as a “bomb cyclone” of cold, dry air (Uranus) from the North colliding with warm, moist air (Saturn-Neptune) from the South. This resulted in intense winds, heavy snow, blizzard conditions, and flooding in coastal regions, causing damage and disruption along the East Coast and resulting in record low temperatures as far south as Florida. The extreme precipitation of Saturn-Neptune is not limited to the U.S. Over the past few days, Storm Leonardo has brought floods to Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. However, as the precipitation is concentrated in one part of the world, other parts are likely to experience drought.

How can these forecasts help us with the markets? I would highly recommend you watch this week’s MMA Cycles Update on YouTube, presented by Gianni Di Poce with special guests Wyatt Fellows and Derek Panaia. In the discussion, Wyatt raised concerns about the risk of crop damage to winter wheat. As Wyatt explains, snow cover can provide insulation against the extreme cold. Winter wheat is grown in the United States (Great Plains), Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and India. The region most prone to the risk of winterkill is currently Ukraine (the world’s 6^th largest producer), which currently has no snow cover. Also worth noting that the Indian regions are experiencing a drought. Therefore, we continue to track Wheat for a supply shock.

I want to close this week’s column by reflecting on the words of Saadi that portray the importance of understanding cycles (Bustan, Chapter 7: On Prudence, Foresight, and Judicious Planning):

To think ahead in times of ease

Is better than seeking remedies too late.

 When the moment has already passed, if one repents,

What use is lamentation or outcry?