Review and Preview

It was a pre-holiday week – the week leading up to Labor Day in the USA. Financial markets will be closed Monday in the USA. But for precious metals, last week was far from quiet as would normally be expected. Gold soar back to test $1000 per ounce, and Silver returned back above $16.00 per ounce. Less than two months ago, Gold was testing $900 and Silver was below $12.50. And the currency markets were relatively quiet, as bankers completed their summer holidays. So it wasn’t a case of the Dollar falling that gave a spark to Gold and Silver, as is usually the case. And stocks did not move that much either. Precious metals moved on their own, and that may be cause for concern in a mundane sense. Usually this kind of move in precious metals is related to a sense of a forthcoming crisis. Who is buying Gold and Silver? And why? From a Financial Astrology perspective, the third Saturn-Uranus opposition is approaching September 15. This is a signature that can coincide with a crisis, as it did last year. We will discuss this more in “Longer-Term Thoughts.”

In equity markets, most of the major world indices topped out late the prior week, and then sold off into the middle of last week. Most of these same markets then recovered into Friday, except in the case of Japan, where the stock market sold off sharply after Wednesday, following the huge sweeping victory by the Democratic Party of Japan. The DPJ has never won such a huge victory before, as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955. For people in the United States, this victory by DPJ is about as big as Barack Obama winning last November – and another reminder that the Saturn-Uranus opposition continues to turn the world political and social scene on its head. We must continue to expect the unexpected and the unbelievable as we are now fully into this portal from 2008 through 2015.

Short-Term Geocosmics

Two years ago, I used to begin my annual Forecast for 2008 speech with the words from the old television science fiction show called “The Twilight Zone.” It began as “You are about to enter a new dimension… a dimension of not only sight and sound but of mind… a place between the pit of Man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge… You are about to enter … The Twilight Zone.” It was the lead into the Cardinal Climax. And now, we are fully into that dimension, which is about to become even more bizarre as the third of the five passages of the Saturn-Uranus opposition will happen September 15 — during a Mercury retrograde cycle, no less.

On Tuesday, September 6, Mercury begins its retrograde motion through September 29. This should be a very powerful one because it also starts a very long dynamic geocosmic time band that lasts through October 16. That is, there are no more than 6 calendar days separating any two consecutive geocosmic signatures that relate to market reversals during this period. And the biggest one, course, is the Saturn-Uranus opposition of September 15. In some ways, Mercury retrograde has some characteristics of the greater and much more powerful Saturn-Uranus. They both correlate with surprises. They both correlate with the breaking of support and resistance areas in financial markets, only in the case of Mercury retrograde, it is usually a “fake-out,” whereas with Saturn-Uranus it is truly a break-out that exceeds anyone’s expectation of what should happen. Saturn-Uranus is the principle of a crisis because external events quickly coincide with things running outside of control. Mercury retrograde may seem like a crisis at the moment, but it has more to do with forcing actions before thoroughly considering the consequences. And then when the consequences unfold that were not foreseen, adjustments are quickly needed to guide the principle back to its intent. The bottom line for traders is to expect a very bizarre market in the next couple of weeks, perhaps lasting into mid-October. You may also see a reversal of trends in the economic data that had seemed so positive lately. Those “green shoots” may be going through a color change, just likes the leaves on the trees as the autumn season soon gets underway in the northern hemisphere. Another winter is approaching faster than anyone expects. Even that new moon in mid-September might correlate with an early freeze.

Longer-Term Thoughts

We are fast approaching the third of five passages of the 45-year Saturn-Uranus opposition September 15, followed by the new moon on the Saturn part of that opposition on September 18. The fact that is the middle of five passages gives this one extra importance. The fact that it happens with a new moon is also important. And so is the fact that the new moon and Saturn are all within orb of a conjunction to President Barack Obama’s Mars, in the health-related sign of Virgo, at a time he will go on the offensive to push passage of this major health reform bill. This is not going to be an easy sell, for anytime Saturn is on one’s natal Mars, it portends a difficult battle to win with the support you want.

Mars is the principle of fighting for something you believe in. When transiting Saturn is conjunct it, there is a tendency to fight hard for an issue or principle, but oftentimes you underestimate your opponents. You may be right in your belief or observation of what must be done. You may be right and they may be wrong. But if you don’t first gather your support properly – if you don’t handle this with political savvy — your opponents will get the better of you. With Saturn on Mars it is not enough to be “right.” You also need to be politically wise and make sure you have ample support for your position before the battle begins. Otherwise you risk suffering a set back that you did not think was even possible — because you thought you were right. Never make such assumptions that your concept of “right” will prevail under a Saturn-Mars combination. And even if you do prevail, chances are you could still suffer more harm than you believed possible.

In short, these next two weeks are extremely critical to the future of Barack Obama. If there is a sudden and unexpected set back, the economy and the financial markets could commence another serious tailspin. These aspects are not limited to just Obama and the United States, although it is interesting that the Saturn-Uranus opposition also forms a T-square to Mars in the USA chart. Saturn and Uranus in opposition can also pertain to terrorist activities, man-made or natural disasters, and possible escalation of tensions between the United States and Russia, or anyone else who wants to take the offensive against the United States. Maybe this is what the Gold and Silver traders are seeing, and maybe that is why large purchases of precious metals have started this past week. Saturn and Uranus opposition is a peak of the “fear sells” politics. It may also be interesting to note if President Obama’s own health care reform message to the people of the USA this week is going to be based on a “fear sells” political approach. If it is, the result will be polarizing, and not the unifying message the country needs right now. If it is, the result could be another big shakeout in the financial industry, for the last two times Saturn was in opposition to Uranus (November 4 and February 5), the market dropped approximately 2000 points within the following month.