We now start the last half of one of the most intense and prolonged time bands of geocosmic signatures of the year, November 4 through December 5. It has indeed been a noteworthy period as the Euro continues to make a new all-time high, other currencies make new multi-year highs against the U.S. Dollar, and Gold has soared to a new 16-year cycle high, all as of late last week. And many stock indices of the world have made multi-month and even multi-year highs during this same cluster zone, although many have also pulled back a bit last week.

The midpoint of this huge time frame was November 19-22. In the type of market timing explained in the various books I have written, I demonstrate how financial markets oftentimes reverse their trends within three trading days of the midpoint of such a cluster of signatures. In The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles, I present historical studies that show an 82% correlation of all primary cycles in the Dow Jones Industrial Average have occurred within three trading days of a midpoint of a cluster, which I term a “critical reversal date.”

But even with the knowledge of these geocosmic studies, they still must be applied within the framework of other studies to determine just how powerful the reversal of the trend is likely to be. For instance, in the U.S. stock market, the low of October 25 was a long-term cycle type, known as the 22.5-month cycle trough. This is the half-cycle to the vaunted 4-year cycle in stock prices. And when a long-term cycle culminates, the reversal of that cycle will last at least 1/8 of its median length. Thus a 22.5-month cycle low will usually be followed by a rally that will last at least three months before the low will be taken out.

So here is the case now, where we now find a huge cluster of geocosmic signatures present, November 4-December 8. The midpoint is November 19-22 (Friday-Monday). But it is only 3-4 weeks following the low of a 22.5-month cycle. The ultimate top for this new cycle is not due for at least three months. But the market is rising into this “critical reversal date.” As traders, we can look for a crest to form. But as cycle’s analysts, we do not expect the reversal from this point to be extremely significant. We expect only a “corrective decline” and not a reversal that will take out the low that started this new cycle back on October 25. And that is indeed what has happened in many stock indices around the world.

In Europe, we see that the German DAX soared to its highest price in several months on November 19, which is exactly on the November 19-22 critical reversal date, as prices hit 4202.50. Since that time, they have been making a corrective decline. The London FTSE index made a new 2-year high one day earlier, on November 18, at 4818.30. It has declined back to a low, so far, of 4713.60 on Wednesday, November 24. Both the Netherlands AEX and Swiss stock markets completed their first leg up on November 15, before pulling back into last week.

A similar pattern was noted in Japan, where the Nikkei completed a half-primary cycle crest at 11,269 on November 16, still within three trading days of November 19-22. But here the market looks much weaker than most other places, because it “gapped down” last week, forming a technical pattern known as a “bearish island reversal.” If that gap is not filled shortly, at 11,077, we could see the Nikkei testing the 10,000 mark before the end of the year. Yet the Hang Seng market of Hong Kong continued higher last Wednesday, November 24, reaching 14,041, a virtual double top to its yearly high so far at 14,053 on March 1. November 24 is also within three trading days of November 19-22. And in Australia, the “All Ordinaries” index continued its sensational “blow-off” to new all-time highs, hitting 3928.20 on Friday, November 26.

In the Americas, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its first leg up on November 17 at 10,602.80, which is within our allowable time band, before starting its corrective decline. The same was true in the NASDAQ Composite, which topped out at 2112.20 on November 17. But the Composite made a run form this high again last week, getting up to 2110.40 on Friday, forming what is probably a double top formation. If that double top is not exceeded substantially this week, then the corrective decline is continuing. But again, understand that this is a corrective decline, and not a new bear market. The high for this new 22.5-month cycle is not due until at least January. When will it occur? Well, that is the kind of information that I provide for subscribers to our newsletter services. The purpose of this free weekly report (as indicated in the fine print below each week’s report) is not so much to predict the immediate future of stock and financial markets as it is to alert readers to the geocosmic climate in effect the next week, and even the next month or year, and how those signatures might relate to fundamental news. Yet it is true that sometimes I will make a specific forecast even in this weekly column.

To complete our report on the Americas, we note also that the Argentina Merval stock index topped out on November 8 at 1339.69, a new multi-year high. As of November 24, this index has fallen all the way back to 1173.94. Unlike most of the other markets, this decline is not so much a corrective decline, as it is the start to a 44-week cycle low due early next year, as outlined in my recent speech to investors in Buenos Aires.

Since the purpose of this weekly column is to educate readers about various geocosmic signatures that are in effect, and which may have an indirect or direct impact upon the economy and various financial markets, I would like to point out a very unusual formation that is currently unfolding. It is the waxing sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) between Saturn and Uranus. Most astrologers would consider this a minor aspect. But as reported in Volume 2 of my stock market timing series, it is the 8th strongest geocosmic correlation to 4-year or greater cycles in U.S. stocks. This instance occurs in a three-passage series starting on August 7, 2004 and lasting through June 12, 2005. Now in terms of stock market cycles, there is no 4-year or greater cycle trough due during this period. But it is possible – even likely, I think - that we could see the 4-year cycle crest form during this period. And as discussed in my previous weekly reports, I also expect that once this crest is completed, the U.S. stock market could resume a very serious bear market that will last through most of the remainder of this decade. One of the fundamental causes of this decline may be the issue of a Social Security crisis in the United States, as Baby Boomers begin retirement into their “Golden Years.” Another even more serious issue may be the Medicare deficit. In Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, columnist Jonathan Clements writes, “Yet Social Security’s $8 trillion headache is a pittance compared to the money needed to cover Medicare’s shortfall… estimate that liability at some $61 trillion.”

Why is astrology important to this understanding? Because in 2008-2010 Saturn-Pluto-Uranus will form squares and oppositions to one another, something we have not seen since 1931. Pluto rules debt. Saturn rules old age. And Uranus may have to do with a sudden and unique crisis. President George Bush, to his credit, wants to start addressing the issue now. If he succeeds in doing something about it, the issue will probably make him very unpopular. But if he does take action on this looming crisis, the worst could be over by the end of this decade. If he doesn’t, then I foresee an even worse crisis that instead will begin at the end of this decade, and last through the entire next decade, until the two-year period surrounding the Saturn conjunction of Pluto in January 2020. This is what Saturn-Pluto tells us: it is very likely going to be a debt crisis, either at the square in 2009-2010, or at the conjunction in 2020. We are on the downside of this Saturn-Pluto cycle (opposition to conjunction), when interest rates rise, taxes increase, and so too do Federal deficits. Another reason a debt crises and higher taxes could unfold have to do with the White House’s desire to privatize social security. This is NOT, in my opinion, a good idea. As Clemons writes in the article referred to above, “The more freedom we have the more expensive the system will be – and the greater the chance that some folks will mess up royally. (And if that happens) there will be a political outcry to bail out the losers, and that will mean higher taxes for the rest of us.” Remember those words. I believe Clements is right on the money with that forecast, which fits almost perfectly to the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto aspects forming late this decade.

And to finish my thought about Saturn in waxing sesquiquadrate to Uranus, August 2004 through June 2005… this will then be followed by Saturn in waning sesquiquadrate to Pluto September 9, 2005 through June 29, 2006. Yes, the same planets that will be in a very hard and major aspect formation 2008-2010, are in a similar minor hard aspect formation August 2004 through June 2006. It means we are getting a mini-preview of 2008-2010 for the next two years. During this time – and even right now – Saturn is transiting at the midpoint of Uranus and Pluto. Saturn is 27 Cancer, stationary retrograde at the moment, and the Uranus–Pluto midpoint is 27 Capricorn. It is also on George Bush’s natal Saturn (he is having his Saturn return). We wonder why there is so much anger over the recent election in the United States… there is your astrological answer. We wonder why there is so much hatred in the world today, so much violence as evidenced by the murder of Van Gogh the filmmaker in the Netherlands recently and the subsequent violent reaction against this extreme Islamic behavior, and there is your astrological answer. As the great German Astrologer Reinhold Ebertine wrote in his classic, titled “The Combination of Stellar Influences” in 1960, Saturn on the midpoint of Uranus-Pluto denotes “Acts of Violence, upsets, subversive activities, putting the gun to someone’s head (did we not see many instances of beheading and shooting someone in the head?), fanaticism, one-sidedness, the mania for destruction.” This midpoint structure will be in force until August 2005, but the influence will be in effect until the Saturn-Pluto sesquiquadrate ends in June 2006.

Thank God, Jupiter is in waning trine to Neptune throughout much of this period too. This incredibly peaceful dynamic begins its three-passage series this Monday, November 29, lasts through August 2005, and will be the subject for next week’s column. Traders should also note that Mercury begins its retrograde motion this week as well, from November 30 through December 20. As always, our strategy as traders is to “take profits quickly” during this period, as markets swing back and forth, and technical levels of support and resistance tend to be unreliable.

Announcement: You can now pre-order next year’s Forecasts for 2005 book at $39.95 (plus $5.00 postage USA and Canada, or $12.00 elsewhere). This unique overview of each year covers forecasts and critical reversal dates for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Gold, Silver, T-Notes, Euro, Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen, Corn, Soybeans, Wheat and Crude Oil markets. Plus it provides astrological insights into the U.S. and World Economy, as well as the USA Presidency. It even has a section on the year ahead for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac, by Raymond Merriman! As always, this book is written between October and November of the previous year (2004), 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.

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.