Market Preview for the week beginning February 24, 2020

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Review 

U.S. equity markets closed out the week on a down note as the coronavirus' spread outside of China accelerated and investors took a cautious stance heading into the weekend. The latest figures out of China showed the number of new cases continued to slow. The National Health Commission said there were 889 new coronavirus cases and 118 deaths in the country in the 24 hours through Thursday, raising the totals to 75,465 and 2,236, respectively. “Stocks Slide, Posting Weekly Losses,” Jonathan Garber, www.foxbusiness.com, February 21, 2020.

The coronavirus outbreak ruined for investors what was a solid earnings reporting season and is casting a pall on forecasts for this quarter and the rest of this year. And now with most of the earnings season in the books, look for the latest coronavirus headlines to fill the vacuum and weigh on stocks the rest of the month.- Yun Li, “Coronavirus Fears Spoiled a Solid Earnings Season,” www.cnbc.com, February 21, 2020.

World equity markets were a mixed bag last week. Perhaps the strangest result was seeing the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummet all week after its all-time high the prior week, whereas the Chinese Shanghai Composite rose all week, and in fact has been rising sharply ever since its low of February 4, in spite of the outbreak of the coronavirus that has hit China harder than any other county on the planet. But then again, this is Mercury retrograde (February 16-March 9), which started in Pisces, so anyone looking for logic in the markets (or in one’s own personal life) may be living in a parallel universe – or trying to.

Along these lines, I had an interesting conversation with my wife, astrologer Antonia Langsdorf, last night (yes, we talk a lot about astrology and how it works). She made the comment that one of the most important concepts she has learned is that, “If you can’t change it, accept it”. And this bit of wisdom applies at all times. To which I replied, “That’s true, but it is only important at times when you are undergoing hard transiting or progressed aspects to your natal chart.” When you are under soft, harmonious aspects, or even no transiting or progressed aspects, you are not under pressure to change your circumstances, whether you accept them or not. She saw my point. Which brings me to the point of current markets and the political environment, which I will discuss a little more in the latter section of this week’s column.

The behavior of financial markets last week was anything but clear, except in the case of Gold, which soared to a new 7-year high on Friday, February 21, as it took out $1650. It did this in spite of the fact that the U.S. Dollar also rallied to its highest mark since April 2017, and the Euro fell to its lowest mark since the same time. Gold is not supposed to rally so sharply when the Dollar also rallies so sharply….unless people are scared, and investors are confused or uncertain. Which, of course, is the name of the cosmic game when Mercury turns retrograde in Pisces (confusion and uncertainty), and even more so when you have three of the five outermost planets (Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn) in Capricorn (fear), a rare phenomenon known as the “Capricorn Stellium.” This stellium will be in effect for much of 2020, finally ending around the winter solstice of December 21, 2020 when both Saturn and Jupiter ingress into Aquarius. I am sure you will be hearing a lot of talk about “The Age of Aquarius” finally beginning then. It is symbolic of the end of an era and the start of a new one, but it doesn’t happen overnight. And which era will we talking about anyway?

But back to last week’s markets. The S&P and NASDAQ of the U.S., and the DAX and SMI of Europe, and the ASX of Australia, all made new all-time highs last week. The AEX of Amsterdam soared to its highest mark since February 2001. But the U.S. and European indices all fell hard by the close of the week as the fear of the spread of the coronavirus continued to concern investors. Other markets just continued to trade in congestion, as they have for most of this new year (Nikkei, Hang Seng, Nifty, FTSE, Bovespa. Crude Oil had a nice week, up over 10% since it dipped below $50/barrel two weeks ago. Silver had a nice rally, back above $18.50, but it couldn’t exceed its high of January 8, 2020, even though Gold exploded to its highest level since February 2013. Bitcoin came off its multi-month high of 10,519 made on February 13, but it is still holding above 9200, which makes it only a corrective decline after its powerful rally that started at 6350 two months ago. There is no sign the buying frenzy has ended, related to expectation of the “Bitcoin halving” event that is expected to occur in May 2020. That will result in a 50% reduction of the block subsidy given to Bitcoin miners.

Short-term Geocosmics and Longer-Term Thoughts   

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday that he found the Democratic debate in Las Vegas difficult to watch as Sen. Bernie Sanders assailed billionaire Mike Bloomberg and the wealthy. “It was painful because your wealth was really under fire last night,” Cramer said. “How did this get to be, that if you’re wealthy and you’re a Democrat, it’s just bad news?” – Kevin Stankiewicz, “Cramer on the Debate: ‘Your Wealth Was Really Under Fire’ as Sanders Sounded Like a Communist.” www.cnbc.com, February 20, 2020.

“Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.” Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (1844-1923), as quoted in the Arizona Republic, February 21, 2020.

This Mercury retrograde cycle, February 16-March 9, is an especially noteworthy one from the cosmic perspective because there are several other major aspects occurring during this three-week period that also have a strong historical correspondence to major reversals in financial and commodity markets. One of these is the transit of Venus making a square aspect to the “Capricorn Stellium” involving Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn, starting this week, February 23, and lasting through March 3. Venus rules currencies, stocks, and Soybeans. We also note that the middle of Mercury retrograde occurs on February 27. Oftentimes markets that didn’t reverse at the time of the retrograde (February 16 +/- 3 trading days), will do so within 2 days of the midpoint of Mercury retrograde. This will happen in the latter half of the new week.

This week also begins with a new moon in Pisces on Sunday, February 23. This too can coincide with market reversals if it happens within a time band containing other strong geocosmic signatures, which will be the case this week. Pisces, and its ruler Neptune, are associated with medicines and healing efforts. The new moon symbolizes a new cycle, a new awareness. Perhaps we will hear of a cure for the coronavirus being discovered in the next two weeks (the “waxing” period that follows a new moon and lasts until it becomes a full moon). Anything is possible under Pisces, for this sign rules the imagination where new discoveries can be visualized and then brought into manifestation. If that happens, then we could see world stock indices rally once again, with many making new cycle or all-time highs. I am not saying this will happen, only that it is possible based on it being a new moon, and occurring in the sign of Pisces, where the idea of miracles and cures to problems are a cornerstone of one’s belief system.

I would like to editorialize for a moment, given that I am the editor of this column, on the 2020 U.S. election process as I see it today. Earlier, I spoke of “changing it” or learning to “accept it,” related to hard aspects in your chart… there are a lot of hard aspects happening in 2020, and many are finding it frustrating to just accept things as they are. It is equally difficult for many to change these conditions, as people feel powerless against the political machinery that controls the governments of the world as well as the election process in those regions that claim to be democracies. It seems the only way to “change” things is to go into politics or become extremely rich so that you can influence politicians or buy votes to become a government leader. I can’t change that, so it is no problem for me personally to accept that this is the way it has become and therefore is. The only choice that I really have here is to decide whether or not I want to vote for a career politician to have the power to decide what I do in my bedroom, bathroom (medicine cabinet), or board room, or a wealthy person who can afford to buy votes that support issues and policies that I value, and who exhibits qualities of character that I respect in a leader, such as honesty, accountability, and compassion for others. But even then, I fall back upon another piece of wisdom I have learned over my lifetime: we all have the free will to choose the inevitable. Which is really just another way of expressing the value of learning to accept things that you cannot change, unless you have the power and the will to change those things that you cannot accept. Recognizing the difference is critical in the quest to achieve a happy life. So is learning to let your profits run when you are right and cut your losses when you are wrong.

Announcements

	The ICR (International Cycles Reports) will be released this week, February 25-26. The ICR Financials includes analysis on ASX (Australian Stock Index), RUT (Russell 2000), SSE (Chinese Shanghai Stock Composite), HSI (Hang Seng Index), AUD (Australian Dollar), DXY (US Dollar), and GBP (British Pound). The new ICR Commodities Report includes analysis on LC (Live Cattle), MJ (Cannabis), XAU (Gold and Silver), KT (Coffee), KA (Sugar), C (Corn), and W (Wheat). These reports are written by MMA Analyst and editor Mark Shyterman (metals, stock indices, and soft commodities), MMA Analyst Raymond Merriman (China markets), MMA Analyst Ulric Aspegren (Currencies), Isabella Suleymanov (Grains), and Ken Liao (Hang Seng) and Gianni Di Poce (Australian ASX and Dollar, and Live Cattle). Order now to make sure you get this month’s report, coming out Monday-Tuesday!
	LEARN ABOUT FUTURES TRADING USING MMA METHODS! We are hosting a three-part MMA Methods webinar course over a 4-week period, 2 hours each class. These will take place on Wednesdays, starting March 11, at 7 PM EST. The objective of this 3-class webinar would be to instruct attendees about trading futures, or ETFs that reflect futures’ prices, as given in each MMA subscription report. Ray Merriman will be the instructor. The class would be structured with the first hour of introduction and review of the current markets and trading opportunities that are setting up, especially during the important March 20-April 7 critical reversal zone. The second half of each 2-hour class will be Q&A. The cost for these three classes would be $295 / € 280. If you are interested, please visit Trading with MMA Market Timing Methods. Attendance would be limited to 30 people. If you can’t make the live presentation, video recordings of each class will be available one day later for those who sign up only. For a closer look at this course and an interesting Q&A interview with Ray Merriman on these three classesm, continue here>>
	The MMA Monthly Cycles Report and its sibling, Dutch SMT Cyclus Nieuwsbrief were released last week to all active subscribers of that report. With the stock market still making new multi-year and all-time highs and in a time band for an intermediate-term cycle crest, and a slew of geocosmic signatures, this issue provides MMA’s intermediate-term outlook for the U.S. stock market, Gold and Silver, Treasuries, Euro Currency, Crude Oil and Soybeans. Each issue also contains MMA’s original geocosmic critical reversal dates (CRDs) and Solar/Lunar reversal dates over the next several weeks for DJIA, Gold, and Silver. For more information please visit MMA Cycles Report and/or SMT Cyclus Nieuwsbrief (which including AEX analysis by MMA Anlyst Irma Schogt)>>
	The MMA Forecast 2020 recording is now available! This once-a-year broadcast showed the odds for a potential stock market crash in 2020-2023 and discussed what to do about it to protect one’s portfolio. This 2+ hour webinar discussed the geocosmic importance of Saturn conjunct Pluto that took place January 12, which is very evident in today’s news (impeachment, assassinations, sports scandals, record high in stock prices, rallies in metals, etc.). It discussed the forthcoming Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on the Winter Solstice 2020, right after the U.S. election, and its historical correlation to economic and market cycles. Updates were provided on financial markets since the book was written in November 2019, including the U.S. and German stock market (DAX), Gold and Silver, Crude Oil, Bitcoin, and currencies. The stock markets and Gold were given most attention.Cost is € 53, and includes the slides of the presentation, plus a video recording of the event. Read more here>>
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Disclaimer & State 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 Schogt Market Timing & 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.