(21 September 2014)  China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba went public on Friday as its $22 Billion IPO was the biggest in history.  Started in 1999, Alibaba is now among the biggest companies in the world and is poised to erode the market dominance of US-based companies like Ebay and Amazon.  While the financial structure of the company and its shares have come under some criticism, the future looks bright for this rising Asian star in global e-commerce. 

After some delays matching the huge volume of buy and sell orders, the first trade of Alibaba (symbol:BABA) took place at 11.54 a.m. The resulting first trade chart is now the horoscope of Alibaba’s shares.  First trade charts represent a kind of "birth" of the publicly traded version of the company and provide useful clues to the ups and downs of the share price going forward.  Founding and incorporation dates also reflect the overall fortunes of the company, and therefore can add additional information about the direction of share prices. 

There are several placements that jump out as very appropriate for this much-anticipated IPO.  Mars is rising in its own sign of Scorpio and thus reflects the probable high profile of Alibaba shares.  1st house lord placed in the 1st house is a classic astrological signature for prominence, high profile and fame. The conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter in Cancer in the 9th house also looks beneficial in a general sort of way in terms of good fortune.  The Moon does well in its own sign of Cancer and Jupiter is exalted there so that could add credibility to the company’s image.  The strong Jupiter placement in the 9th house therefore reducing the likelihood of scandal or major problems.  Also, Jupiter casts a wide trine aspect to that Mars in the 1st house, so that is also a plus. 

There is also a nice arrangement of money influences here.  Jupiter rules the 2nd house of wealth and it is exalted and it aspects the ruler of the 1st house, Mars. This is a wealth-producing Dhana Yoga.  Jupiter’s trine aspect with Uranus may enhance the wealth-producing effects of this chart.  The 11th lord of gains is Mercury and it is also exalted in Virgo and placed in its own house with Rahu.  This is another very positive placement.  While Rahu can be troublesome, I see it as mostly positive here because Rahu does very well in the 11th house which is associated with material gains.  The 10th house lord, Sun (Leo) is also placed in the 11th house in Virgo.  This is a good indication that Alibaba’s fame will be connected in some way to income and likely share price increase. 

To be sure, it’s not all great.  Saturn is dubiously placed in the 12th house of loss although fortunately, it is exalted in the sign of Libra.  It is also otherwise unafflicted and a fair distance from the cusp, so I would not expect too many Saturn-like problems.  That said, the current dasha for Alibaba is Saturn-Mars so that is definitely a negative influence in the short run.  The Saturn-Rahu dasha begins in July 2015 and may signal better times ahead. 

In the short run, there is a chance that Alibaba’s share price will fall back to earth somewhat from its first-day valuation above $90.  Saturn will transit across its Ascendant in the coming weeks and therefore we could see some significant selling take place.  Saturn will then station in conjunction with Mars (9 Scorpio) in early spring next year so that is another reason to be cautious.  This is perhaps a fairly familiar dynamic with high profile IPOs.  Facebook was launched with a lot of hype and saw early gains but then the stock tanked heavily in the next 6-12 months.  It is now trading well above its IPO price and has fulfilled some of the positive expectation I previously wrote about in this space. A good natal chart doesn’t mean the stock will always go up; it only means that it should end up higher than its IPO price and should make its shareholders money over the long term.  I think that the Alibaba first trade chart is similar in that respect.  Long term, it looks quite good but there could well be some significant losses in the short term. 

Financial Markets Update

Stocks were generally higher last week as the Fed assuaged any fears of a quick interest rate hike.  Scotland also voted "No" (as predicted) and thus that black swan uncertainty was removed from investor calculus.  The Dow rose by 2% closing at a new all-time record high of 17,279.  The Indian Sensex inched higher closing at 27,090 after rebounding from earlier losses.  This mildly bullish outcome was not surprising as I thought some kind of rebound was possible after the early week Mercury-Rahu conjunction.  We did get some declines at that time but the buyers returned later in the week. 

This week could be interesting since Jupiter will form its exact aspect with Uranus on Thursday.  This is one of the reasons stocks have been fairly strong over the past couple of weeks so I would think more upside is likely.  Also Venus will enter Virgo on Thursday and thus begin its four-week long transit of its sign of debilitation.  This tends to be negative for stocks although the entry itself may be bullish.  For more info on the effects of Venus in Virgo, readers are invited to check out my previous posts on the subject.  Monday’s Mars-Neptune aspect looks difficult.