Weekly Column: There is still much work to do

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The U.S. economy rose at a disappointing rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in a sign that the U.S. has escaped the shackles of the Covid-19 pandemic but still has more work to do. Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and services produced during the April-to-June period, accelerated 6.5% on an annualized basis. That was slightly better than the 6.3% gain in the first quarter, which was revised down narrowly.– Jeff Cox, “U.S. GDP rose 6.5% last quarter, well below expectations,” www.cnbc.com, July 29, 2021.

It was another week of global divergences unfolding under the non-conventional and non-conforming character of Saturn square Uranus. Some world stock indices soared to new all-time highs last week while others crashed support, falling to multi-month lows. It’s not a level playing field, and that is probably just fine with Uranus, which gravitates towards the chaotic, but disturbing to Saturn, which prefers controls and predictability, and for everything to be in alignment. The latter is more rigid, and the former strays from “normal.” And all of the earth and its regions are not presently in alignment or agreement. There is a sense that things are going astray.

Yet the Fed and other world central banks continue to beat the drum for more stimulus and monetary accommodation. In response, many global indices continue their post-pandemic rallies. In the U.S. the DJIA, S&P, and NASDAQ each made new all-time highs last week, albeit on different days. And they weren’t explosive new highs. They were more in the vicinity of double tops to highs made 1-2 weeks earlier.

In Europe, the Netherlands AEX and Zurich SMI both rallied to slightly higher new all-time highs on Friday, July 30. But the German DAX still remains below its all-time high of two weeks ago. The London FTSE is treading water trying to figure out whether it wants to make a new high or start another dive.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, it was a very different story. Only the Australian ASX made a new all-time high. China’s Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, and Japan’s Nikkei all fell to new lows for this year. This is interesting because each made their highs for this year within one day of the first Saturn/Uranus waning square passage on February 17. On the second passage of June 14, the Nikkei made its most recent primary cycle crest, and both the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng were near their recent primary cycle crests. The Saturn/Uranus square has been a very powerful correlate to highs followed by significant declines in the stock markets of these nations. India’s Nifty index remains near its all-time highs of June 28, but the pattern developing may be more of a distribution top. We should know more next week when the Sun makes its T-square to the Saturn/Uranus square, August 2-7.

In other markets, Bitcoin and Ethereum showed new life with smart rallies testing their recent cycle highs of June 15. Gold also showed life, rallying to 1835.50 early Friday before falling back into the close below 1815. Silver on the other hand fell to 24.51 on July 27, a new low for this phase of its primary cycle. The new low in Silver and new cycle high in Gold is another reflection of the Saturn/Uranus waning square and its propensity to exhibit divergences. Financial markets have exhibited more than the normal amount of divergences this year. Both Crude Oil and currencies showed strength last week too, rallying to their highest levels since their mid-month sharp declines ended. 

Short-term geocosmics

The most powerful U.S. earthquake in half a century left Alaska mostly unscathed, thanks to the remote location and depth of the epicenter, officials said on Thursday. The magnitude-8.2 Chignik Earthquake, which struck at 10:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday (0615 GMT Thursday) just off the Aleutians, was the strongest felt in the United States since an 8.7 quake ripped through the western Aleutian Islands in 1965.– Shubham Katia, Yereth Rosen, “Alaska Rocked by Powerful Earthquake,” Reuters, July 30, 2021.

There is an old saying from my days in the Wall Street community that when a major natural disaster occurs (like earthquakes), stock markets fall soon afterwards. We will see. 

The cosmos will serve up a mixed bag of potential reversal signals in the next few days.

Last week ended with three planets changing signs: Mars entered Virgo, Mercury entered Leo, and Jupiter retrograded back into Aquarius. That’s a lot of planetary sign changes at once. In the process, the assertive (or aggressive) Mars was also in opposition to the exaggerative and sometimes careless yet optimistic Jupiter on July 29. The DJIA and S&P indices made new highs. In market parlance, Mars and Jupiter can correlate with greater volume, and hence wider price swings may be setting up. Uranus likes that too.

Greater price swings and reversals are further suggested by the transit of the Sun in Leo, in opposition to Saturn (August 2) and square to Uranus (August 7). These are each strong, Level 1, reversal signatures (Level 1 are the strongest of all correlations to market reversals as published in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles). They also correlate to disturbances in the mundane and natural world. Earthquakes, extreme heat or cold temperatures, high winds and hurricanes, may also be noted. The strongest earthquake in America in the last half-century just occurred in Alaska, magnitude 8.2.

Speaking of Uranus… not only will it be squared by the Sun next week, but it will also be in a  trine aspect from Venus on August 3. That’s another mixed bag, for in one case, Uranus is in a challenging square (with the Sun) and a couple of days earlier, it is in a favorable trine from Venus, which rules the sign Uranus is in. This has the look of a sudden reversal too. But with Uranus, you never know how long its change of mind will last. It could be brief and sharp, or it could last a while.

The next few days may once again have that special feeling of “chaos in exaggeration” with Uranus, Mars, and Jupiter all connected to the Sun and Venus. Even Neptune and Pluto join the play August 10 and 11. On the one hand, there is a call for peace and agreements. On the other hand, there is the urge to be disagreeable and hard to figure out. The problem is the peacemakers (Venus) can’t quite figure out how to appease the rebels (Mars and Uranus).

Maybe they will figure it out by August 20-22 when a spectacular full moon rises in the east with Jupiter beside it, as the Sun sets in the west. It will be one of the finest celestial sights to behold this year. And as an extra bonus, the Sun/Jupiter opposition is one of the top five geocosmic signatures coinciding with a reversal. In normal times it correlates with great optimism and festive social gatherings. But Uranus turns retrograde the day before (August 19), so nothing is normal yet. The markets probably reflect that cosmic dynamic with exaggerated moves one way or the other, or both ways in a short span of time.  With Uranus, it is difficult to predict what will happen. Its presence coincides with surprises and sudden events. With Jupiter, whatever happens is apt to be exaggerated and perhaps overrated. Still, it can be fun. But it would be wise to party or speculate responsibly. 

My vacation to Dubrovnik, by the way, was incredible. I loved the warm, Mediterranean sea breezes, the balmy evenings, and the splendor of this ancient city that was once the primary trading port of the world. I am glad to be back and will plan to return again, maybe every summer. It’s dreamy.