Weekly column: The Jupiter-Saturn square and its implications

Review

Why wait until September?… The Fed’s publicly stated criteria for a rate cut, that it can be confident inflation is moving down toward its 2% target, appear to have been met. The core consumer-price index, stripping out food and energy, rose just 3.3% in June from a year earlier—the slowest pace in over three years. This year-over-year core CPI rate has either slowed or stayed the same for 16 straight months, making the market’s freakout over a supposed inflation rebound earlier this year look decidedly overblown.

—Aaron Back, “It’s Time for the Fed to End the Waiting Game,” Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2024.

We are in the midst of a cosmic hurricane. The winds of change in financial markets are accelerating as the Fed finally has gotten about all the data points needed to be met to reduce short-term rates.

Although a bit delayed from our original forecast that the Fed would pivot and rates would likely come down by summer, the accommodative aspects to the Federal Reserve Board chart (December 23, 1913, 6:02 PM, Washington, D.C.) are now kicking in. The major indicator is that transiting Uranus is making a trine to the Fed’s natal Jupiter, which started in May 2024 and peaks January 18, 2025, +/- 2 months.

The anticipation of the nearly certain Fed rate cuts received a powerful boost with a negative .1% monthly reading of the consumer price index (CPI) last week. On that news, stock markets soared, with all three major U.S. indices making new all-time highs. This occurs as the Mars/Uranus conjunction in late Taurus takes place at the fixed star Algol, also known as the “Demon Star.” As discussed last week, hard aspects involving Uranus can either be reversal or breakout signatures. The latter is more common when markets are near multi-year or all-time highs or lows.

In addition to the DJIA, NASDAQ, and S&P, new all-time highs were also recorded in the Netherlands AEX, Australia’s ASX, Japan’s Nikkei, and India’s NIFTY stock indices.

In other markets, Gold and Silver enjoyed healthy rallies into Thursday. Still, both fell a little short of their multi-year highs of May 20 ( an MMA three-star geocosmic critical reversal date) and were up smartly from their recent lows, which coincided with the Saturn and Neptune retrogrades of June 28-July 1, +/- 3 trading days. Crude Oil had a decent week but fell slightly short of its recent multi-month high of July 5. Bitcoin and Ethereum had an interesting week, with Ethereum making a double bottom at 2822 on July 5 and July 8, whereas Bitcoin held above its low of July 5 at 53,523. This is a case of bullish intermarket divergence, which was also accompanied by a case of bullish oscillator divergence in Bitcoin. As Mars conjoins Uranus and Algol on July 15, it will be interesting to see if the accommodative interest rate outlook will coincide with a significant rally here.

Short-term geocosmics

“This should be a requirement. If Argentina can do it, so can America.”

—Elon Musk on ‘X’ in reply to a tweet stating, “Argentina hand-counted 99.9% of their 27M paper ballots in less than 6 hours.” July 9, 2024.

 In January 2018, US President Trump imposed tariffs on imports of all washing machines into the US. Imports were taxed at a rate of 20%, rising to 50%. US President Biden allowed the tax to lapse in February 2023. What did the tax do? By summer 2022, US consumers paid 42% more for a washing machine than in 2017. Euro area consumers paid 3% more and UK consumers 2% more. The tax increase was large and resulted in a significant drop in the foreign supply of washing machines—the number of units imported roughly halved. Domestic manufacturers had less competition, allowing them to raise prices. The effect of the tariff was to take money from US consumers, and hand it to the US government (as tax payments) and US washing machine manufacturers (as higher profits). Competition in the US has still not fully recovered

—Dr. Paul Donovan, “The Tariff Spin Cycle,” UBS Weekly Blog, July 12, 2024.

It’s all a cosmic prelude to Jupiter square Saturn. Markets have defied gravity, which is par for the course when it comes to Jupiter conjunct Uranus (April 20), which was followed by Jupiter (optimism) sextile to Neptune, and trine to Pluto (late May, early June 2024). Still, markets continue to defy as Jupiter transits into early Gemini over the same degrees that Uranus will hold when it trines Pluto in 2026-2028. This AI revolution is the centerpiece of the techno-renaissance discussed in my annual forecast books over the past three years. It’s what Nikolai Kondratieff termed the “communications revolution” that defines the long-term economic cycle named after him.

Yet even in this “New Aira” cycle (note: commenced at Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on 12/21/20 at 0° Aquarius), there will be pitfalls along the way. One (or two) of them is also due within the next five years. Quite possibly, the first comes soon as the “god of all things great” (Jupiter) finds itself not only posited in its detriment sign of Gemini but also about to begin a 10-month, three-passage series of square (hard) aspects to the “god of all things considered challenges and obstacles” (Saturn). With Saturn, it’s the law that holds some people back. With Jupiter, there is this belief that it’s all legal if you don’t get caught. But together, if you cross the boundary or if you are in denial about reality and your place within it, chances are you will get caught and be held accountable. Hence, the current election cycle in the U.S. may be entertaining and exciting, but it’s also likely to cause increasing stress for leaders of both (all) parties. And indirectly, the political drama is likely to have an effect on the economy. Depression (Jupiter square Saturn, Gemini to Pisces) is not just a collective psychological state but can also be something connected to the economy and finances. In other words, the buoyancy present in the stock market today may disappear by this time next year and quite possibly between the first and second passages of the Jupiter/Saturn square (August-December 2024).

The top will happen first, probably triggered by a Mars transit. One is underway now with Mars conjunct Uranus and Algol. The next will happen August 14-19 when Mars conjoins Jupiter (in the sudden reversal sign of Gemini), square to Saturn (first passage), and also part of a T-square with Venus (finances and luxury), all under a Full Moon in a T-square with Uranus. That’s like trying to conduct a sane conversation or speech with a hangover following a tequila binge and too much potato salad.

Mid-August is thus probably a good time for the president (and ex-president) to lie low. But he can’t. It’s just a little ironic that the Democratic convention is occurring August 19-22. Expect bitter fights over policies and rules, which, at best, might be novel and entertaining (assuming the electric grid is stable) and, worse, more like a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. I don’t think an astrologer was consulted when choosing these dates. Which is a shame if the Dems really believe democracy is at risk because under this combination, democracy (or lack of) is likely to be on full display, and it may not play out well. In sympathy, financial markets may also not play out very well.