Stock markets around the world continued their rallies last week, with many reaching new multi-month and even multi-year highs. And the same was true in the currency and precious metals markets, with the Euro reaching yet another new all-time high against the Dollar, and Gold soaring to a new 16-year high.

The fact that the Dollar is falling, and both currency and precious metals markets are rising, should not be a huge surprise. Back in the presidency of George Bush Sr., Treasury Secretary James Baker publicly orchestrated a declining Dollar as a way to bring the U.S. out of recession, brought on by the Persian Gulf conflict. The reasoning was that a falling U.S. Dollar would make U.S. goods more affordable abroad, and would help the profit-loss ledger of large corporations that did business abroad. It worked.

In 2001, after George Bush Jr. was elected to his first term as President, it was assumed (in this column) that he would eventually adopt a similar policy. Once the U.S. began entering a recession in 2002, we became even more convinced that such a shift in currency policy would be forthcoming. Finally, in December 2002, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil was forced to resign, after tax breaks and low interest rates failed to spur the U.S. economy upward. Something had to be done, and that something was to bring down the Dollar again. It began immediately, with the appointment of Treasury Secretary Snow in December 2002, and the Dollar hasn’t stopped falling since. And as the Dollar falls, many large corporations in the U.S.A. are once again showing healthy profits.

But now there is a growing concern that the Dollar could actually collapse. Could it? What does Astrology have to say about this possibility – a possibility that also has direct consequences to the price of Gold?

First of all, the Financial Astrology Research FAR for the Galactic Trader) software program shows that the greatest volatility in Gold prices takes place when Jupiter transits Virgo through Scorpio. That time band began in August 2003 and lasts through the end of 2006. During this period we can anticipate Gold going way up, and then falling back down, before this time band ends. The same will likely be true with many currencies against the Dollar.

The second thing we need to remember is the phasing of the Saturn-Pluto cycle. The entire cycle lasts 32-37 years, depending on Pluto’s elliptical orbit. Generally speaking, the two-year period surrounding the conjunction is a time of high interest rates, taxes, and federal deficits. The economy is usually under great stress, and the stock markets of the world are also under pressure. This was the case when this cycle last began in 1982, and even the time before that, in 1947. The world economic and political landscape was not doing very well. However, that conjunction period is historically a very good time to start investing in equity markets around the world. It is the time to begin a capital appreciation effort, like “buy and hold” stocks.

For the next 16-18 years, as Saturn moves from the conjunction to the opposition, interest rates tend to come down, taxes come down, the economy begins to prosper, and federal deficits start turning to surpluses. The stock market tends to soar during this period, until a time band within two years of the opposition. The last times that Saturn was in opposition to Pluto were in 1966 and 2001-2002. In 1966, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 1000 for the first time.

But then the cycle reverses the second half of the Saturn-Pluto cycle, from the opposition to the conjunction. By the time Saturn moved into the waning square to Pluto in 1974, it had lost nearly half of its value from those highs. In 2001, the DJIA was also near its all-time high of 11,750. In May 2001, it was above 11,400, virtually a double top, and the United States was enjoying its first budget surplus in nearly 4 decades. And now we have to wonder what will happen as Saturn moves towards the waning square to Pluto in 2009-2010.

Already we see that the budget surplus has changed to a record deficit in the U.S.A. as we have now entered the second half of this cycle, the downward phase. But to his credit (I think), President Bush is not repeating the mistake of raising taxes as we head into this period. But he is allowing the U.S. Dollar to fall to multi-year lows, and if a currency panic should ensue, it could cause investors around the world to pull their money out of the United States. Then the only way to protect the Dollar, and keep investors invested in U.S. markets, might be to raise interest rates. And indeed that is what happened again this week, as the FED raised its short-term interest rate for the 4th time this year, with most analysts (including me) agreeing that more raises of interest rates are yet to come. I base this conclusion also on the fact that transiting Saturn is in Cancer, in opposition to the natal Jupiter in Capricorn in the chart of the Federal Reserve Board. Saturn transiting to this chart indicates when the FED tightens rates, whereas Jupiter in transit indicates when the FED tends to be more accommodative.

I don’t think a currency and/or interest rate panic is going to ensue right away. In fact, I think we are at least one year away from that prospect. But from late 2005 through the end of this decade, I believe that serious troubles could start manifesting in the financial markets – and hence world economy – if measures are not taken soon to make sure the U.S. Dollar does find some level of support.

Such a support, at least temporarily, might be about to happen. Mars has just entered Scorpio on November 11, where it will remain until December 25. Venus will join Mars in Scorpio November 22 through December 16. Scorpio is the sign that governs debt and all debt-related instruments, like Treasury Bonds and Notes, and hence currency prices. It also has a lot to do with precious metals too, like Gold. Typically Gold prices and foreign currency prices (vis-à-vis the Dollar) will soar at some point, making an important cyclical crest while Mars in Scorpio. They are soaring now as the ingress begins. But as Venus enters Scorpio, currency prices tend to experience a major reversal. Since they are rallying now, we can anticipate that this will rally will culminate shortly, perhaps even within the next 2 weeks.

Presently we are in the midst of a huge cluster of geocosmic signatures, in effect November 4 through December 5. The midpoint of this cluster is also right about the time that Venus enters Scorpio, November 19-22 (we don’t count weekends). The midpoint of any cluster is always important. It is the symbolic (and oftentimes literal) peak to the trend, to the “energy,” symbolized by this gathering. And in this case, it is 16 geocosmic signatures that are gathering within this time span. That’s a lot! We speculated last week that this was a symbol of an eruption, or earthquake, and again we saw evidence of that literally last week.

But as we move out of this middle section, we will soon come to the first of three passages of Jupiter forming a waning trine to Neptune, a long-term planetary signature that will be in effect through August 17, 2005. The first passage occurs on November 29. This is a potentially very peaceful influence, one that lends itself to cooperation and good will. Maybe the passing of Yasser Arafat last week will lead to renewed peace efforts in the Middle East, especially with regards to Israel and her neighbors. Maybe President Bush will reach across party lines and find someone from the Democratic Party who has a history of helping the peace process along in that region of the world, like either Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton. It is a unique opportunity for the world to come together and forge a real peace agreement in this troubled area, and for it to succeed, the United States has to make a serious, non-partisan, effort. Not only might it bring the world closer together, but it might also heal the wounds of a divided nation following the recent election. It could happen, given these harmonious aspects coming up.

But of course, as with all things astrological, the ultimate outcome doesn’t just depend on astrology. Astrology is only the choice-revealer, not the choice-maker. Astrology may describe the situation before us, but the ultimate outcome of that situation depends more upon our own free will, and individual or collective choice, made in that situation. This is a special historic opportunity for George W. Bush to truly take a step forward in his claim to be a uniter, not a divider, of a nation composed of one people, and not two parties. It is a chance for George W. Bush to take a step forward to becoming a President of Peace, and not just a President of War.

Announcement: The special pre-publication discount on Forecast for 2005 book is now over. But you can still pre-order next year’s book at $39.95. As always, this book is written between October and November, and is shipped out upon return from the printer, around December 15. Order now and lock in your reservation for next year’s book! For further information on pre-ordering next year’s book, please go to our website at www.mmacycles.com, and click the banner on ORDERS or BOOKS.

Second Announcement: Monday, November 15, is the last day of a special pre-registration rate for the ISAR 2005 conference, taking place next year in Chicago, under the final passage of Jupiter trine Neptune, August 17-21. For more information, go to www.isarastrology.com. There will be a special financial astrology track at this conference, featuring Ray Merriman, Arch Crawford, Grace Morris, and others.

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.