(17 June 2019)  Predictably, the past few days have been sub-par for US President Donald Trump.  New polls released last week for the 2020 election show Trump well behind all Democrat contenders with Trump 13 points behind former Vice-President Joe Biden.  Trump’s leaked internal polling confirmed that he is well behind, including in most swing states. After hearing of the leak of bad poll news, Trump promptly fired his pollsters. 

This bad news for Trump coincided closely with the Mars-Saturn alignment I had noted last week .  It hit his natal Jupiter almost exactly and strongly incline him towards difficulty since Jupiter is his dasha ruler. I thought he may have also had some additional legal or financial troubles with this transit but aside from the usual tales of corruption, malfeasance and obstruction, nothing stood out.

Joe Biden is emerging as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.  As Barack Obama’s popular Vice-President, the 76-year old Biden is well-known and positions himself as a moderate in the increasingly left-leaning Democratic party.  He is seen to be the most electable Democrat against Trump since his policies can appeal to a wider part of the electorate.  Biden currently polls around 32 percent, well ahead of Bernie Sanders (15) and Elizabeth Warren (12) and the rest of the field.   So what are his chances for winning the nomination?

Biden’s horoscope is very strong over the next year.  He is currently running the Jupiter-Mars dasha period.  Jupiter is an extremely favourable influence for him since it is in its highest degree of exaltation in the 3rd degree of sidereal Cancer (actually 2CN10) and placed in the 9th house of good fortune.  Mars is looking somewhat less uplifting, however, as it is placed in the 12th house.  One saving grace may be its conjunction with Mercury which can yield high intellect and greater speaking ability.  Plus, Mars’ dispositor Venus is very well placed in the 1st house with the Sun.

I would call Biden’s campaign dasha set-up as sub-optimal, although it may still be enough.  It is worth noting that Biden enters his Jupiter-Rahu dasha period on April 9, 2020 in the middle of the primaries.  While Rahu has a decidedly mixed reputation, it is usually quite good for career and material pursuits like politics.  Moreover, Biden’s Rahu is placed in the 10th house of status and career, very close to the equal 10th house cusp. 

In my experience, whenever Rahu is placed in the 10th or 11th houses, it creates positive outcomes.  Overall, Biden’s Rahu is a very positive influence for him.  If he is not doing that great in the early part of the primaries, I would think the shift to the Jupiter-Rahu dasha period in early April could help him get over the top towards the end of the primary season. 

Without having looked at the charts of the other candidates, I would nonetheless lean towards Biden winning the nomination.  There are a couple of trouble spots worth tracking, however.  One is in late September or early October when transiting Rahu (19 Gemini) aspects his natal Mars (19 Libra).  This could reflect some frustration and conflict which may find him losing his control and poise as frontrunner.  The 12th house hints as possible problems from foreign connections, including romantic dalliances. 

The other potential source of difficulty is in late November or early December.   Mars will transit Libra, his 12th house, and will therefore oppose his Aries Moon and then conjoin his natal Mars and Mercury.  There is a lot of tense and potentially negative Mars energy during this series of transits.  Since Mars rules the 6th house of health and the Moon is placed in the 6th opposite the 12th, Biden may have some kind of health concern during that Nov-Dec time frame.  It is hard to say how serious it will be, although I think he will continue to pursue the nomination.  I hope to post something on Biden’s chances for winning the presidency in the coming weeks.

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks are treading water today (Monday) ahead of the Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting on Wednesday.  While some global markets (e.g. India) did pull back in the second half of last week on the Mars-Saturn-Ketu alignment, US markets basically went sideways.  

Fed Chair Jay Powell has been adept at issuing reassuring dovish pronouncements in order to support the market (which is the unstated Fed mandate as we all know), the planets do not paint a clearly bullish picture this week.   This makes me wonder if he may disappoint expectations or if any intended boost for stocks fades rather quickly.  The astrological problem here is that Mercury conjoins malefic Mars and both will opposes Pluto during midweek very close to the time of the FOMC decision at 2 p.m. EDT.  Powell is unlikely to cut rates in any event, so his language will be parsed for possible changes in emphasis.  This planetary pattern is potent and could provoke a big reaction, or at least in terms of volume, if not in price.  Friday’s Mars-Moon aspect adds a bit to the bearish side of the ledger this week. 

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