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MMA Comments For the Week
Beginning October 27th, 2003

by Ray Merriman

All the major world stock indices that we track had significant declines last week. Some, as in the Far East, reached new yearly highs early in the week before suffering these sharp declines.

In Europe, the German Dax rallied to 3593 on Tuesday, October 21, before falling sharply to close the week at 3423.30. The high of Tuesday was the second failed attempt to take out the highs of September, and fell short even of the 3606 high of October 15. Both the Netherlands AEX and Swiss stock markets followed the same path. Neither exceeded their highs of September 19, or their highs of October 15. The AEX got to 331.90 on Tuesday, October 21, which was slightly below the 333.90 level of October 15. It then sold off to close the week at 316.40. The Swiss stock index got to 5301 on Tuesday, which was slightly higher than the 5297 high of October 15. But it too sold off sharply and closed the week at 5123. The London FTSE got to 4377.60 on Tuesday, just slightly below its yearly high posted the prior week at 4393.80. But like the others, it then plunged to close the week at 4239.

In the Far East, the damage was even more severe. After achieving its highest price in 16 months on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei fell from 11,239 all the way back to 10,187 during Friday’s trading. The Hang Seng also posted a new yearly high on Tuesday, reaching 12,298. But then a gap down day led it to 11,736 by Friday’s close. The Australian All Ordinaries climbed to new yearly high of 3317.50 on Wednesday, but then fell back to close the week at 3266.20.

The path was much the same in the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its yearly high on October 15 at 9850. It attempted to rally again early last week, coming back all the way to 9788.40 by Tuesday, October 21. But then the selling commenced, and by late Friday, prices were down below 9500. The index recovered quite a bit in the final two hours to close at 9582, and the futures did even better after the cash market closed. The NASDAQ Composite got up to 1952.50 on Tuesday, slightly below its yearly high of the prior week at 1966.90. But then a series of gap down days forced the average to 1841.60 late Friday. It closed the week at 1865.60. Like the other world indices, the U.S. stock markets also show momentum indicators pointing straight down.

This sell off in world stocks occurred very close in time to our earlier-mentioned time band for such a decline. Several weeks ago we mentioned the importance of October 22-November 3 as an overlap time band in which three of the strongest geocosmic correlations to 50-week or greater cycles would be in effect. And even last week we discussed the importance of October 21-24 as a possible high after which stock prices could fall sharply. And while stock prices fell, Gold prices soared, rising from 366.50 the prior week to 393 this week in the December contract.

So what are those three strongest signatures whose time bands are all in effect for a major move in the world stock indices? They are Sun trine Uranus on October 22 (the end of the “good times” for awhile), the Sun square Neptune on November 3, and Uranus turning stationary direct on November 8. Each has a 52-62% correlation to 50-week or greater cycles within an orb of 10-12 trading days, as reported in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles. I happen to think that this is the most important and valuable book I have written on the relationship between cycles in stock prices and geocosmic factors. It is certainly the most useful reference book, for it outlines every major aspect between all the major planets and their history to cycles in U.S. stocks.

As you will note of the above-mentioned signatures, two involve Uranus, which tends to correlate with unusual events and disturbances. Interestingly enough, there was a solar storm today (Friday) which caused havoc with communications systems throughout the world. Power outages and disruptions in communications are consistent with the nature of this signature. So too are earthquakes and sharp and sudden reversals in world financial markets.

But these are only three of a total of 17 major signatures in effect between October 17-November 26, making this the second most highlighted time frame of the year in terms of geocosmic activity. Last week we also alerted readers to the importance of both Neptune and Saturn changing directions on October 22 and 25 respectively, and the corresponding potential impact this would have upon mundane affairs. Specifically we mentioned “Saturn and Neptune turning directions combines the principles of fear (Saturn) with uncertainty (Neptune). This leads to a sense of paranoia, that something unseemly is happening beneath the surface that shakes the collective trust in various leaders… Politically, this can be a time of great embarrassment, as statements may be made that are later deemed to be untrue. And such statements may strain the trust that certain people (especially leaders) have placed in one another, The result could be a sense of great betrayal. The fact that this transiting Saturn falls on the charts of both the United States and George Bush should not be overlooked. Perhaps it would be wise for Mr. Bush – and those who speak for him - to fall back to low profile for the next two weeks.”

And what did we note last week? Well, here is a sampling of headlines from the Wall Street Journal: “U.S. OFFICALS ARE SET to declare success in signing Iraq donors.” The story goes on to state “The tag… seemed ready to be applied no matter how far short the Madrid session fell of the $20 billion U.S. contribution… An EU official estimated it would bring in $5 billion through 2004; the U.S. has said $23 billion is needed.” In another headline, the Journal states “SWITZERLAND’S POLITICAL BALANCE WAS UPSET as a nationalistic anti-immigration party won the highest shares of votes in parliamentary elections.” Further on, another article headlines “RUMSFELD UNSETTLED WASHINGTON with war-on-terrorism doubts.” And “FEDERAL PROSECUTORS SAY THE architect of a Pentagon program to train Muslim chaplains provided money to both al Quaeda and Hamas,” followed by “A FEDERAL JUDGE ACCUSED CONGRESS and Ashcroft of trying to intimidate judges in to handing down harsher sentences than they believe suitable.” These are just some of the almost classical textbook examples of Saturn and Neptune in action last week, with more to come this week.

But Saturn and Neptune can also have a spiritual and humane expression too. And last week we note that Bill Clinton (there’s a Saturn-Neptune life example!) “plans to announce his AIDS foundation has clinched a deal to cut prices of drugs and improved care in poor nations.” And the U.S. Senate voted 60-34 to deny themselves a pay raise, after already raising their salary $21,000 in the past 5 years. Geez, at a time when the percentage of workers without health insurance at large companies is reported on the rise (according to Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal), it is reassuring to know that our elected officials are willing to make sacrifices like the rest of us are forced to endure.

I joke, of course, to keep this column a little light, especially at times when the heaviness of Saturn is so prominent in the skies. Saturn does correspond to worry and fear in the market place. It can coincide with severe downturns in the world equity markets, and we know a 50-week cycle low is due before the end of this year, in which stock values could lose 8-20% of their value. And there is a very good chance that this decline is underway right now. But as we see over and over again, the dominant feature of the human mind is positive, and able to climb above these walls of worry, and steadily improve our lot on Earth. I only hope we correct again, as we have in the past, before we do some very serious damage to her. With the long-term presence of Uranus and Neptune in mutual reception through 2010, which indicates a mass movement towards world peace and the elimination of weapons and threats of violence, I think there is hope for this planet and her inhabitants. However, I also believe that before world peace can even be considered a realistic possibility, it will be necessary for the voices of astrologers to be heard once again, for they - perhaps more than any other branch of study - truly understand that there is a connection between Man and the Cosmos, and the Infinite intelligence that created this order in the Universe.

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.


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