Market Preview for the week beginning June 13, 2022

Review and Preview 

The consumer price index rose 8.6% in May from a year ago, the highest increase since December 1981. Inflation has been a political headache for the White House and President Joe Biden. How much the central bank will have to raise rates remains to be seen. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers recently released a white paper with a team of other economists that suggests the Fed will need to go further than many are anticipating. The paper asserts that the current inflation predicament is closer to the 1980s situation than it appears because of differences in the ways that CPI is computed then and now. – Jeff Cox, “Inflation Rose 8.6% in May, Highest Since 1981, www.cnbc.com, June 10, 2022.

Ah, yes! The current inflation situation is closer to what we saw going into the 1980’s. The economic and stock market path under President Joe Biden is following a very similar pattern to that of Jimmy Carter, the U.S. president who served under the last 45-year Saturn/Uranus waning square cycle. This similarity was described in great detail during our February 2022 Annual Forecast webinar.

It didn’t end well for Carter and it may not end well for Biden, but he still has time to turn this trend around and it really isn’t that difficult. The way to bring inflation down is simply to increase supply more than demand. One way to decrease demand is by raising rates, which is what the Fed is doing. One way to increase supply is to mend the broken supply chain issues and increase production, especially of the fastest rising part of the inflation index, which is energy, and today, specifically, crude oil production and distribution, which is in the purview of the administration.

Biden’s attempt at reducing inflation seems to be 1) releasing crude oil supplies from the nation’s Strategic Oil Reserves and 2) increasing the production of alternative sources of energy. The problem with the first part is that you have to buy back the reserves at much higher prices than they were purchased, which ends up being more inflationary. The problem with the second part is that it will probably be another 5-10 years (Lunar North Node in Aquarius-Capricorn and Saturn conjunct Uranus) before alternative sources of energy will be abundant enough to solve the nation’s energy woes. In the meantime, increasing production and supplies is possible while at the same time also continuing to increase efforts to develop alternative sources of energy. You can do both at the same time even as you plan to make fossil fuel-based energy a thing of the past soon. Thus, the problem is not that our energy woes and inflation can’t be reversed. It is that the solution to do so has become political.

The markets get this. And last week they exhibited their understanding of the situation by first rallying as expected, and then collapsing Thursday and Friday, as the Venus/Uranus conjunction in Taurus approaches this weekend. With Venus in its ruling sign of Taurus, and the Moon transiting Venus’ other ruling sign of Libra, June 8-10, one may have expected the market to be bullish. But once again the actual market performance demonstrated how the correlation really works. Favorable geocosmic signatures and aspects aren’t necessarily correlates of a crest. They – as well as discordant signatures – are primarily correlates of reversals. And many of the world stock indices peaked out either May 31, which was within 2 trading days of the Mars/Jupiter conjunction of May 29, or late last week, which is within days of the Venus/Uranus conjunction in Taurus. This was covered in last week’s MMA Weekly subscription report, stating, “We will probably know the answer this week or next as Venus conjoins Uranus in Taurus next weekend (June 11). This is a fairly strong reversal signature and has a 76% correlation to sharp moves within 4 trading days. We will look for that to be the 2-3 week trading cycle trough.”

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, the stock markets of China, Hong Kong, and Japan all soared to new cycle and multi-month highs at the end of last week. India had a nice rally that ended June 3 and then declined into the end of last week, whereas Australia’s ASX index fell to its lowest level since January.

In Europe, the London FTSE and Zurich SMI all made cycle highs on May 31, within orb of the three-star critical reversal date (CRD) correlating with Mars/Jupiter conjunct in Aries. The Netherlands AEX and German DAX made cycle highs or double tops on Monday, June 6. Each of these European indices then dropped to multi-week lows on Friday, June 10.

In the Americas, the Bovespa of Brazil topped out on the May 30 three-star CRD and then plunged into Friday, June 10. All U.S. major indices topped out June 1-2 in the orb of the Mars/Jupiter conjunction, had a secondary rally into early last week, then also plummeted into Friday, June 10, ahead of the powerful Venus/Uranus conjunction. As stated in MMA’s weekly subscription report last week, “We will probably know the answer this week or next as Venus conjoins Uranus in Taurus next weekend (June 11). This is a fairly strong reversal signature and has a 76% correlation to sharp moves within 4 trading days. We will look for that to be the 2-3 week trading cycle trough.”

Gold also exhibited a powerful response to the Venus/Uranus conjunction on Friday. The yellow metal fell to 1826.50 its lowest price since May 19. But then in typical Uranus fashion, it reversed and staged a remarkable rally to 1879.60 by the end of the day, its highest price since May 9. Silver likewise dropped to a new multi-week low of 21.73 on Friday but could not even rally above its previous day’s high, for a possible case of intermarket bearish divergence to Gold in this reversal zone.

The cryptos were also interesting. Ethereum dropped to 1658 on Friday, its lowest mark since March 26, 2021. But Bitcoin only fell to 28,814, well above its low of 25,350 on May 12.

Shoter-term Goocosmics and Longer-term Thoughts

“It’s an extraordinary moment; we have our first pandemic in 100 years. We have our first invasion in Europe in 75 years. And we have our first inflation around the world in 40 years,” Morgan Stanley co-president Ted Pick said. “When you look at the combination, the intersection of the pandemic, of the war, of the inflation, it signals a paradigm shift, the end of 15 years of financial repression and the next era to come.” – Hugh Son, “A Paradigm Shift Has Begun in Markets,” www.cnbc.com, June 5, 2022.

Didn’t we originally say in 2007-2008 that we wanted inflation, as the stock markets began to crash and the Fed dropped interest rates from over 5% to zero? Wasn’t the idea that ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) and QE (quantitative easing) would eventually cause inflation, and with that we would be able to “inflate” our way out of world and national debt? So what if that meant the destruction of the retirement and savings class that could rake in $50,000 per year in interest on the one million dollars they had saved up all their working life. With Pluto moving into Capricorn, seniors and the retired became expendable. Capricorn rules “old age.” Pluto rules “the expendable.” Age discrimination ruled. Please, get rid of them. Move them out of our sight, or at least until Election Day because they still vote. But that may change as Pluto prepares for its first entrance into Aquarius on March 23, 2023. Inflation and interest rates are starting to rise. Seniors and those who save may once again find their status in society improving and no longer the “forgotten class.” That designation may fall to the youth, ruled by Aquarius.

Capricorn and Aquarius have much relevance to governments too. Under Pluto in Capricorn, we saw democracy take a hit (even in nations that are supposed to be democratic) and autocracy rise. Pluto’s nature is to empower or disempower – even destroy – the areas of human activity ruled by the sign it is in. In Capricorn, dictatorships and the rise of power in central governments over the role of the individual increased. In Aquarius, the urge for individual freedom, equality, and democracy will either be empowered by the consensus of the collective (democracy) or disempowered by the will of powerful minorities (also Aquarius) bent on revolution and the wish to nuke the whole system. Pluto in Aquarius can be like that. Either reform or burn it down, Pluto says. Aquarius is associated with either brilliance and revolutionary solutions to world problems, or the acts of psychotic madmen that scorch the earth and could care less for human freedom and equality, let alone life itself.

Yet there is hope with Uranus also moving into Gemini and forming an air trine to Pluto in Aquarius in the middle of this decade. The possibility of empowering the masses and the concept of resurrecting democracy cannot be ruled out. After all, Aquarius and Uranus possess themes of renaissance, and you don’t get a much better cosmic opportunity than a trine between these two outer planets.

Returning now to the market environment of next week, we note that Venus will square Saturn on June 18. This will complete the “translation” of Venus to the Saturn/Uranus square (June 11-18). The entire period is a reversal time band. With Uranus, you can have a breakdown in prices, as witnessed last week in stocks and treasuries following the surprisingly strong and disappointing CPI report. Any market near a long-term low or high is vulnerable to a breakout. With Saturn, any market that is declining becomes a candidate for a buy.

An even stronger correlation to reversals than Venus square Saturn on June 18 is the Sun square Neptune on June 16. Thus, next week will likely see the return of worries, concerns, and confusion in the midst of the high rolling and wanna-get-rich themes of Mars and Jupiter in Aries. After all, economic reports like the CPI are about the past. It won’t take long for traders to start looking ahead and changing the narrative from depression and fear to hope and greed once again.

Announcements

	The June Issue of The MMA CYCLES REPORT got released last week! With Mercury and Saturn changing direction last weekend, the current state of financial markets and the economy are subject to changes in their outlook. Every issue provides MMA’s intermediate-term and near-term outlook for the U.S. stock market, Gold, 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, complete with trading strategies for position traders during the next month. If you are not a subscriber to the monthly MMA Cycles Report and would like a copy of MMA’s outlook for financial markets, consider trying this issue for only $35. For an additional $20, you can also receive the next issue, due in two weeks, of the MMA+ addendum edited by Pouyan Zolfagharni, which has become a very popular addition to the MMA Cycles Report (less technical, more visual, high quality analysis and update on MMA Cycles Report markets). Read more about MMA Cycles Report>>, and/or for The Dutch edition, which includes AEX index analysis by MMA analist Irma Schogt, read more here>>
	THE NEXT ISSUE of the English version of the Monthly Chinese Shanghai Composite Report will be released THIS WEEK, June 14-15! We are pleased to announce that there is now an ETF with the symbol ASHR that is an index tracking 300 of the largest and most liquid Chinese shares and closely follows the Shanghai Composite Index (SSE). As our most sophisticated and experienced global traders know, China’s financial markets are critical to the global economy. Each monthly report of this important market is 5-8 pages in length and includes daily and weekly charts, with a list of geocosmic indicators and critical reversal dates for the next several weeks, and what to expect. These reports also include an additional feature on the solar/lunar signals in effect each month for the SSE based on current studies underway by MMTA student Yating Hu. These will identify the 2-4 most likely periods, lasting 1-3 days each month, when the probability is greatest for trading cycle highs and lows based on the historical studies of the SSE since its inception in December 1990. The subscription rates for this MMA SSE monthly report are: 1 year = $275; 3 months = $95; 1 issue = $35 These reports will be translated and available in Chinese too, at the same rate, via NoDoor. For a subscription to this service, please visit www.mmacycles.com and go to shop> subscriptions and scroll down to this report. Or click here>>
	Monday: first 3-minute video (Dutch language) on the AEX and geocosmic aspects About the Amsterdam stock market: from review to preview, geocosmic aspects and strategy for traders. The video will be posted and shared after receiving from professional editor. Members and subscribers will receive an e-mail notification when the video is ready. It will be posted on markettiming.nl's home page this Monday. Members of markettiming.nl (Dutch language) will receive an email with link to video.

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.