Weekly column: Uranus ingress, AI bubbles, and the ghost of 1942

Review

It took a few days to close thousands of Middle East oil wells early in the Iran war. The prolonged closure of the Persian Gulf means it will take months or even years for energy flows to recover.

— Ed Ballard, Joe Wallace, and Summer Said, “Persian Gulf Oil Damage Will Ripple Long Past the End of the War,” The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2026.

In last year’s column on November 10, 2025, I made a case for using the transit of Uranus for the identification of the next stock market bubble. At the time, the main concern was the growing web of debt across the AI sector. Michael Burry, the investor who famously predicted the bursting of the subprime mortgage bubble, made headlines by opening a short position of over $1 billion against leading AI companies. As noted in that column, the bubble can form in any industry related to the sign in which Uranus is transiting. I noted that the air sign of Gemini rules over “The mind, ideas, communication, technology, programming, media, software, transportation, and trade.”

This weekend, Uranus will make its final ingress into Gemini, commencing its 7-year transit. The last time Uranus made this transit was during World War II. As Uranus, the disruptor, transits through the sign of Gemini, trade routes and commerce are likely to be disrupted as they were during prior transits. We are late in the 18-year business cycle, and as pointed out in Forecast 2026, we anticipate the long-term crest, followed by a sharp decline. This event may be seen as a bursting bubble, and apart from the exuberant spending into AI, another emerging concern for global commerce is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

We are seeing the exuberant “Buy the dip, don’t sell the rip” trade dominate the markets, with the Nasdaq leading the pack, having rallied just under 20%, while bearish intermarket divergence continues to build with the DJIA, which has failed to exceed the February all-time high (ATH). In next week’s MMA Monthly Cycles Report Plus+, I will set out my outlook and price targets based on a recurring pattern that seems to be developing in the S&P 500. For the time being, the risk trade is on, with Bitcoin having rallied over 32% since the February low.

On the international front, the Japanese Nikkei is the only other equity market setting a new ATH, having rallied over 18% in the past four weeks. Other markets—including the Chinese SSE, Indian Nifty, the Australian ASX, and the European markets- have failed to take out the highs from late 2025 or early 2026. This is another case of intermarket divergence, echoing the concerns around the Strait of Hormuz.

Gold and Silver both had an inside week, trading within the prior week’s trading range as ambiguity about the US-Iran peace deal continues to dominate markets. The Full Moon in Scorpio may shed more light on the matter. The Moon is in its sign of detriment in Scorpio, a placement often associated with heightened intensity and more reactive or abrupt emotional responses. Lunations, particularly Full and New Moons, are similarly thought to amplify and unsettle human emotions. The last time the Moon was transiting Scorpio, we had a flurry of threats from the U.S. president and a mysterious U.S. operation deep in the middle of Iran, which resulted in the loss of several U.S. planes and helicopters. If we don’t have a peace deal by Thursday, I would expect more turmoil over the next weekend.

For the time being, Crude Oil remains the main barometer for the state of the conflict. Prices continue to remain buoyant as hopes over a peace deal fade. However, it’s too early to say what will transpire. What is becoming increasingly worrying is the impact that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will have on the wider economy.

Short-term geocosmics

We are in the orb of an important critical reversal date (CRD) of April 24-27. Several markets are rallying into this signature, which could mark a reversal. We haven’t really seen a sharp reversal or significant geopolitical events, which we would normally expect. This makes me think that something is around the corner as we experience the calm before the storm.

Longer-term thoughts and opinion

As a child, I was told that narrow waterways are of critical strategic importance in geopolitics, but I did not fully appreciate why. I found it difficult to understand the decision by the late Shah to accept the independence of Bahrain while consolidating control over three strategically significant islands, thereby strengthening Iran’s influence over the Strait of Hormuz. For many years, it appeared to me as an unfavorable exchange, involving a perceived loss of land and sovereignty. For the first time in my life, I can now say that I have a much better understanding of this deal. Now I understand why it is called the Persian Gulf.

How easy is it to open a chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz by force? History tells us it is quite a feat, one that has historically led to costly defeat. In fact, the history of conflict around chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz is fascinating, marking important turning points in the influence of superpowers and affecting global commerce.

The British Empire rose to power as the influence of the Spanish Empire started to wane, by taking control over the Strait of Gibraltar in August 1704. This strategic win allowed the British control over the Mediterranean and future routes into Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It occurred with the five outer planets forming a united midpoint into the heart of Gemini.

The British Empire was able to cement its dominance over the high seas and international trade by taking control of the other entry into the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal. Following the victory at the battle of Tel El-Kabir in September of 1882, the British took control of the canal with a Saturn-Pluto conjunction at 0 ^°Gemini. At the next Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which took place at 0 ^° Cancer in 1915, a young Winston Churchill was forced to resign as First Lord of the Admiralty for the failed campaign at Gallipoli. The British Empire failed to open the Dardanelles Strait, which the Ottomans had closed during World War I. This was a great example of a chokepoint closed and defended, and history shows that, despite the might of the British Navy and asymmetric power, it is extremely difficult to open a chokepoint by force. Some would argue that this defeat marked the decline of the British Empire. The victor, a young Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, went on to become the founding figure of modern Turkey.

If that event did not mark the decline of the British Empire, then the failure to retake and open the Suez Canal did. Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization of the canal resulted in the Suez Crisis of 1956. This affected the world economy through an oil shock, not too dissimilar to what we are currently experiencing. Looking at the astrological chart, it is interesting to see the same outer planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) forming a similar aspect to the world axis of 0 ^° Aries – 0 ^° Libra.

What emerges from these examples is a simple but powerful truth: That the narrowest passages often carry the greatest weight. Chokepoints are where geography, power, and commerce converge, and where the ambitions of nations are most sharply tested. Now I can begin to understand why the Crimea is so important to Russia, or why Saudi Arabia attacked Yemen.

Recurring astrological patterns, particularly those associated with Gemini and the cardinal axis, seem to echo these moments of tension and transformation in global trade. Whether symbolic or not, they provide an additional lens through which to view these turning points in history.

In the end, what once felt like a concession now appears as a strategy. Control, not expansion, is often the more enduring form of power.