Thursday’s polls showed President Bush dropping sharply in his approval ratings by the American people, as much as 8% from only a couple of weeks ago. And, as mentioned previously, this is the start of the election season where the U.S. equity markets will tend to mirror the incumbent’s popularity ratings. After rising to a new multi-year high on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average then posted two consecutive down days to end the week. At the same time, Democratic questioning of George Bush’s military service during the Viet Nam War became the hot topic on several news fronts.

But aside from the growing attention on the U.S. Presidential race, we note also the increase of technical divergence signals in many of the world’s financial markets. In Europe, the Swiss Stock market mirrored the DJIAS, as it raced to a new multi-year high too, reaching 5926.80 on Thursday. But none of the other European indices that we track confirmed this new high. The German DAX and Netherlands AEX came close with their highs on Thursday at 4150.60 and 360.40 respectively, just slightly off their 4175.50 and 360.90 highs of January 27. The London FTSE didn’t even come close, with a weekly high of 4436 registered last Monday, well off the 4527 high of January 20. All these markets closed rather weak on Friday.

In the Far East, both the Australian All Ordinaries and Hang Seng Index posted smart rallies off their lows of the prior week. Neither made a new yearly high, but both were close on Friday, and both closed strong for the week too. Each could make a new yearly high shortly by the looks of their technical oscillators. But I Japan, the Nikkei Index was well off its recent high of 11,194 back on January 20. By the middle of last week, that index was down to 10,299, before recovering somewhat to close the week at 10,558.

Intermarket bearish divergence continued to be present in the United States too. Although the DJIAS posted a new high on Wednesday, the NAASDAQ Composite could only rally as high as 2091 on Thursday, well off the 2153.80 mark posted January 26. Both the DJIA and Composite closed rather week on Friday, at 10,627.80 and 2053 respectively.

Divergence was also noted in the precious metals markets. After falling to 595 the prior week, Silver soared back to a new multi year high at 674 on Friday. Gold however could only rally to 419 during the week, well off its previous high of 432 in the June contract.

The only geocosmic signature of note coming up this U.S. Holiday week is Venus in a waning square aspect to Saturn on February 14. This is a Level 1 signature (most powerful), but by itself, it is not as powerful as the signatures that will start to unfold at the very end of the week. That is when the new moon in early Pisces will conjunct Uranus (February 20-21). The Sun-Uranus conjunction is also a Level 1 signature. This is followed by two more Level 1 signatures the following week, making the period of February 24-25, plus or minus three trading days, a critical reversal period for many markets. Many markets that are currently in a trend may see that trend come to an abrupt halt then. And the reason for that reversal is apt to be an unexpected surprise, for that is the nature of a new moon with Uranus.

The new moon with Uranus late this coming week could be significant in other ways too. Over the past year, I have frequently addressed the Uranus-Neptune mutual reception signature, in effect for about half of 2003, and lasting into 2011. Uranus is a planet whose dynamic has to do with the whole world, or at least mass consciousness. And Pisces, the sign it is in (as well as Neptune, its ruler) pertains to the dynamic of seeking peace. Together they represent the urge of the masses to attain world peace, to end the fighting and violence that has plagued humanity for so many years, and in particular the early part of this new millenium. And, as former U.S President Jimmy Carter mentioned just two months ago at the Geneva Peace Accord, everyone on the planet wants world peace. The only impediment to achieving world peace is the world leaders. Well, with a new moon in Pisces conjunct Uranus, it would seem to offer an element of hope to those who wish to mobilize the world in this direction, towards world peace. Perhaps we hear of a new initiative, a new plan that is both idealistic and innovative, and also practical. Not that Pisces or Uranus have anything at all to do with practicality, but this new moon does trine Saturn, which is a principle of realism and practicality. So, it is possible that an interesting step forward could be taken by humanity in the next few days. It is a period that could very well witness new solutions to old problems. It could indicate a period of bright new hopes, when much of the planet had been mired in complacency and resignation about its leadership. It may be a period of discovery, providing a new sense of optimism and hope for the future.

How will the markets respond? Well, when Uranus is present in an aspect to other planets, markets tend to be volatile, exhibiting sharp price swings in short amounts of time. This is especially true in interest rate related markets, like T-Bonds, T-Notes, and currency prices. Wheat prices also fluctuate and even reverse trends during these periods. For traders looking for some action, this is a period that might provide it. For more conservative investors who do not like surprises, the news may be both shocking and hopeful, and thus that is not a time that they generally like. My motto when Uranus is active is to “learn to adjust quickly. The faster you adjust to the new reality of your situation, the more exciting and fun it will be.”

Get ready, Another roller-coaster ride is about to begin.

There are still some Forecast Books remaining from our second printing last week. You may call us at 1-800-662-3349, or visit our web site at www.mmacycles.com, and go to Orders – MMA, if you wish to order. Also please note that our next MMA Market Timing seminar will take place April 2-4 in Amsterdam. Please go to our web site and click on the banner on the front page for more I formation. And finally, the last Forecasts for 2004 speech will be given in Miami, Florida this coming Thursday. If you live in southeast Florida, please call 1-800-982-1788 for information on getting tickets. Hope to see some of you there!

Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to predict the future movement of various financial markets. However, that is the purpose of the MMA (Merriman Market Analyst) subscription services. This column is not a subscription service. It is a free service, except in those cases where a fee may be assessed to cover the cost of translating this column from English into a non-English language. This weekly report is written with the intent to educate the reader on the relationship between astrological factors and collective human activities as they are happening. In this regard, this report will oftentimes report what happened in various stock and financial markets throughout the world in the past week, and discuss that movement in light of the geocosmic signatures that were in effect. It will then identify the geocosmic factors that will be in effect in the next week, or even month, or even years, and the author’s understanding of how these signatures will likely affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from a perspective of a cycle’s analyst looking at the military, political, economic, and even financial markets of the world. It is possible that some forecasts will be made based on these factors. However, the primary goal is to both educate and alert the reader as to the psychological climate we are in, from an astrological perspective. The hope is that it will help the reader understand these psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and hence financial markets of the day.

No guarantee as to the accuracy of this report is being made here. Any decisions in financial markets are solely the responsibility of the reader, and neither the author nor the publishers assume any responsibility at all for those individual decisions. Reader should understand that futures and options trading are considered high risk.