Weekly column: Uranus in Gemini ignites market turbulence

Review

President Trump said the U.S. is poised to inform many trading partners of unilateral tariff rates of up to 70%, putting global investors on the defensive with U.S. markets closed for July Fourth. The notices will be sent to countries by July 9. He said the tariffs would kick in from the start of next month. The renewed trade tensions weighed on markets.

— Ed Ballard, “Trump Says Tariff Letters Imminent, Unsettling Markets,” The Wall Street Journal, July 4, 2025.

“So, what we saw in April was not a real break. A real break is when bonds drop 30 points, and everyone thinks they are really cheap, but they have to sell. If there is an opportunity at some point to buy bonds down say 25 points — and it’s not going to take 25 years, or 10 years or even five years —  I think 2027-2028 is going to be a window of tremendous opportunity because I think by then, the treasury problem will be even more in focus than it is today, and it will weigh upon market behavior…. There are places to hide. You should invest in India and foreign currencies.”

– Jeffey Gundlach, ”Risk of Forced Selling in Private Credit,” Bloomberg Television, Global Credit Forum, You Tube, June 11, 2025.

Global stock markets performed mostly well last week in anticipation of the passage of the “One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB).” It passed on July 3. But one day later, the president announced that his tariff plans would proceed, with rates going up as high as 70%. On that note, many global stock indices went into a tailspin on Friday while the U.S. markets were closed. Prior to that, the S&P and NASDAQ rallied to new all-time highs on July 3. The DJIA did not, which elevates the possibility of an intermarket bearish divergence setup that could lead to a substantial pullback if Friday’s overseas activity is any indication.

In other markets, the Swiss Franc soared to its highest level since its all-time highs in 2011. The Euro also rallied to a new 3-year high, and the Yen is on the verge of a 2-year high, while the U.S. Dollar fell to its lowest level in three years. This had a bullish effect on Gold and Silver, but not as dramatic as one would expect. With Neptune changing directions on July 4, a stronger rally could still commence. Bitcoin rose to $110,585 on July 3, just slightly below its all-time high of $111,965 on May 22, during the Sun/Uranus conjunction. July 4 was the Venus/Uranus conjunction. Bitcoin seems to respond to strong Uranus aspects. Crude Oil was positive last week, rising modestly following its plunge the week before. It still looks good.

Short-term geocosmics

“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X Monday evening, before the bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and the House on Thursday. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”

— Joe Walsch, “Elon Musk Vows to Start a New Political Party After Trump Feud,” CBS News, July 4, 2025.

The fun starts now.

Well, is it really to be “fun?” Excitement might be a better word. If you thought life has been chaotic since the start of the year (and it has), it may be nothing compared with what is ahead as Uranus now enters the wild and crazy sign of Gemini on July 7 for most of the next seven years. Is Gemini really that wild and crazy? No, not really. But when the disruptive and chaotic planet of Uranus enters the nimble and oftentimes too-flexible and changeable sign of Gemini, things can get interesting. Actions and decisions become more surprising and less predictable. That may seem impossible, given what the world has gone through since January. But that’s what the cosmos is messaging. Uranus moving into Gemini is an 84-year phenomenon. Do the math and see if what happened 84 years ago wasn’t crazier than what happened the prior seven years, which was crazy enough. History may not repeat, but it rhymes (Mark Twain).

Short-term, two important geocosmic signatures unfolded on July 4 (today, as this is being written). The first was Venus conjunct Uranus in the last degree of Taurus, just before both ingress into Gemini between now and Monday. Venus rules money, as in currencies and stocks. It also rules Soybeans and Sugar. Uranus pertains to sudden reversals or breakouts to new yearly highs or lows. Last week, we saw both the S&P and NASDAQ (the latter rules technology) soar to new all-time highs on Thursday, July 3. On Friday, both reversed on the Globex. How long this reversal will last is anyone’s guess, but our “best guess” is that it could start a double-digit fall, which is due sometime before the end of October. Before the end of August would fit even better, as we are getting late into the primary cycle, when sharp declines are most frequent.

The second signature is Neptune turning retrograde, also on July 4. It is not unusual to see Gold make a low 0-5 days before this station, followed by a rally that can last 0-10 trading days afterwards. We got the low on time, June 30, four trading days before. Now we are in the rally stage with a high due anytime this week or next. The extent of this rally will tell us much about the status of the 31.3-month cycle in Gold, a subject that we will discuss in next week’s July 13 special Options webinar. Why is this webinar important? Because I think the next several weeks will offer great trades from both the short and long sides in Gold as we head into one of our strongest geocosmic correlations to big rallies in Gold this fall. But first, I think there will be a big shakeout in both Gold and currencies. If President Trump goes ahead with his tariffs obsession, and they exceed 10%, it will be hard to see how the Fed will lower rates.

Following this week’s fireworks, our focus will be on both Saturn (July 13) and Mercury (July 18) turning retrograde. The entire period between July 4 and 25 is loaded with several geocosmic reversal signatures. And the parade will continue August 1-12 and again August 24-27, as described in our June 15 annual mid-year financial markets webinar, which is still very much in play with many markets.

Long-term thoughts and opinion

A thing Mr. Trump doesn’t understand is that regular citizens open to his leadership and willing to judge his actions fairly never feel free to trust or praise him quickly because they fear, rightly, that he’ll do something mad, say things so stupid and destructive they’ll immediately regret their support. So, they say nothing. Every time he lies, brags, accuses and acts insane, he undermines his power and jeopardizes his prospects in the greatness game. This won’t change. He’s unable to change it.

— Peggy Noonan, “Trump Seeks Greatness as Mamdani Rises,” The Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2025.

Somewhere along the way, we were all taught to say “we.” You were told not to tell your employees, “I made the sale,” even if you were the only person who met with the client. So, you say, “We made the sale.” You were told not to say, “My company.” So, you say, “Our company.” Team-first leaders emphasize teamwork, unity, and collective effort. Team-first leaders celebrate shared success. Great leaders don’t use the pronouns “I” or “my.” When things go well, even if you did all the work? Stick to “we” and “our.” When things go wrong, use “I” and “my.” Because when you’re in charge, it really is up to you.

— Jeff Hayden,  “Sometimes, ‘I’ Is the Right Approach, Especially When You Need to Take Responsibility,” www.inc.com, June 19, 2025.

We have a new market timing indicator. We will call it TUMDI, which will stand for the “Trump Uranus Market Disruption Indicator.

It works like this: whenever there is a time band featuring prominent Uranus signatures, President Trump will make an announcement or encounter an unexpected event that directly influences him (for better or worse), that disrupts financial markets. If an announcement, it will be completely contrary to what the investment community has baked into their future market outlook. For instance, everyone thought that since global stock markets had been rising, President Trump was not going to impose major tariffs fees on trading partners. He was going to go easy, soft, like perhaps a universal 10% rate, which financial analysts believed accounted for the recent rally to new highs in many U.S. stock indices (S&P, NASDAQ, but not DJIA so far). That is not what we thought, as posted in our reports over the past month. But on July 4, as Venus conjoined Uranus, and just before both moved into the volatile sign of Gemini, the president announced that he would, in fact, impose tariffs as high as 70% next week, and they will go into effect on August 1. U.S. markets were closed on Friday, but following this announcement, the Globex markets plunged, in typical Uranus fashion.

Here is why this new indicator works– and students of Mundane Astrology will easily understand this logic. President Trump was born under a lunar eclipse. But it was not just any high-energy lunar eclipse. Like all lunar eclipses, it was a full Moon,  but this time with the Sun conjunct Uranus in Gemini (with the Moon’s North Node), which by itself is a signature of chaos and erratic-but-sometimes-brilliant-ideas. It can symbolize a genius, but not a “stable genius” as he sometimes describes himself. The Moon is full, and in Sagittarius, which can be a sign of optimism, positive thinking, even greatness, but also indicative of exaggeration and inflation of oneself, especially since the Sun rules the chart, the Leo ascendant (with Mars also there, no less). He has boundless energy and belief in himself.

The key to the TUMDI market indicator, however, is Uranus. President Trump is like Mr. Uranus the Disruptor. He is a universal man in a position where his every move potentially affects the world. Thus, as a person largely associated with Uranus (to an astrologer), every major aspect involving Uranus to another planet in the heavens is a ripening of time for President Trump to announce something very Uranian – surprising, shocking, and contradictory to general thought. And that becomes an important market timing indicator. It worked this time. It has worked countless other times. And I fully suspect it will work time and time again as long as he retains his current position of world leadership.