We continue through the later stages of one of the most heavily congested time bands of geocosmic signatures for the year. Between October 17-November 26, there are 17 major signatures in effect, and there are no more than 5 calendar days between any two in succession. This is known as a “cluster,” and is the basis for identifying important critical reversal dates via financial astrology, as I practice it. Not only that, but such clusters also coincide with important mundane events, and these become the fundamental explanation underlying changes of trends in various financial markets.

Last week we noted the importance of Uranus changing directions, from retrograde to direct, on November 8. The high to date in the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurred on the Friday before, November 7, at 9903. In the past week, the S&P futures made a new high on Friday, November 14, but the DJIA did not. This creates a phenomenon known as “Intermarket bearish divergence,” one of the key chart patterns that we oftentimes see during a geocosmic critical reversal zone (i.e. cluster) when an actual market reversal takes place. As mentioned before, there were three powerful Level One (strongest) geocosmic signatures whose time bands for a reversal overlapped October 22-November 7, and two of them remain in effect through November 21. So it would not be unusual, from the point of view of geocosmic studies, to see a high in one market prior to November 7, and a high in another related market November 10-21. Now we have to see if indeed this indicator takes hold this time. If so, then we should see a close below weekly support numbers this coming week. If not, then it becomes another possible fake out.

Many readers are wondering how the stock market can come down in light of the very positive economic growth numbers that are being reported. We addressed this issue last week, and will reiterate again, from another viewpoint. Let’s look at it in terms of the horoscope of the United States and President George Bush Jr. Let’s start with the conventional wisdom of politics.

Everybody knows that 2004 is the U.S.A. Presidential election year. Conventional wisdom is that the incumbent party will be re-elected if the economy is strong, and if there are concerns about national security. George Bush would not be the first president to try to win re-election by implementing policies that would propel the economy as well as raise serious concerns about national safety. Clinton did the same, and so did Bush Sr. and Ronald Reagan before him.

In Bush Jr.’s chart, we note his Sun in Cancer is square to his Moon-Jupiter conjunction in Libra. One of the possible dynamics of a strong Jupiter can be a tendency to “over reach,” to do things in extremes. Let’s say, for example, that President Bush really wants to be re-elected. Given the “conventional wisdom” regarding the economy and national security going into an election, what could he do? Well, first he could do whatever is possible to make sure interest rates are low. That would be an economic stimulus. Then he could support tax cuts. That would be a stimulus too. And if that didn’t work, he could actually issue tax rebate checks to taxpayers, with the assumption (and hope) that they would turn around and spend that money, thereby stimulating the economy too. It might take a little time for that to filter through the system. If so, and if one were impatient, what else could he do? He could start spending a lot of money, turning budget surpluses into record budget deficits, perhaps? Or he could put pressure on his Treasury Secretary to resign, and bring someone in who would help promote a weaker dollar, so Americans would stop spending money on foreign goods, and instead buy American. In fact, a lower dollar would encourage foreign consumers to also buy American goods, which would bolster American companies worldwide, and hence the U.S. economy.

Now, if all those economic stimulus efforts started to work all at once, what do you think would happen? The economy wouldn’t just gradually improve, but it would jump start with a bang! Which is exactly what is happening. Productivity, Gross Domestic Production, and employment all exploded in the last 1-3 months. At the same time, the Federal Reserve has announced that it will not increase interest rates any time soon, so the U.S. Dollar starts to fall sharply again. This is a recipe for inflation. Maybe not today, but in the near-term (like in the next few months to a year). And then on the front page of Friday’s U.S.A. Today newspaper is the headline, “Tax Refunds Expected to Jump 27%: Checks will likely help the economy and Bush.” Now, do all of these economic stimuli sound like an over-active Jupiter? Do these efforts seem measured and gradual (which what investors really like for long-term growth, and not just short-term explosions)? Or do they seem extreme and perhaps even overkill?

A look at Mr. Bush’s progressed chart shows the Sun is now in conjunction to Mars. This is a very competitive signature, and perhaps an impatient part of one’s life cycle too. To me it implies that Mr. Bush doesn’t want to just squeak by into the White House as he did in the disputed 2000 election. He more than likely wants to win by a landslide! He wants an overwhelming mandate of support for his leadership. And, his Jupiter aspects – and history so far - suggests he is an “all or none” type of person. Witness his declaration to the world on Terrorism, “You are either with us or against us.” So overkill on the economy is perhaps one prong of his effort to be re-elected. How about National Security? Will the American public vote in someone new if the country’s national security is in question? Probably not, and to foster that will cost more money for the armed services, or defense.

The point I am trying to make is that this is an election year coming up, and the policies of the White House will likely be extremely simulative to the economy near-term, but very questionable to the well-being of our economic health long-term. The policies seem to be potentially very inflationary, with danger of a falling dollar, escalating federal spending, and eventually rising interest rates, which poses considerable economic (and other) risks, especially after the election. And these concerns may be a primary reason why the market could pullback sharply for a couple of weeks yet, before the end of this year. And these are reasons why the later half of this decade may produce the serious recession, or even economic depression, consistent with the 16-20 year period in which Saturn and Pluto move from the opposition (2002) to the conjunction (2020).

Several readers have asked how can they convert U.S. Dollars to foreign currency money markets. I don’t like promoting anyone in this column, but it seems that many of you are having problems doing this, and now the Dollar has fallen over 20% since I first recommended this strategy. For these reasons, perhaps you can call a broker friend of mine at 1-800-274-5333 (ask for Steve or Jimmy). I receive no compensation or advantage for giving you this information, so please know that. There is no conflict of interest, or personal gain, for me to do this. I do it only because several of you want to know how, and your own brokers can’t (or won’t) help you. Good luck!

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.