(2 March 2020) It has been an eventful past few days to say the least.  Coronavirus fears took hold last week on mounting evidence that the pandemic cannot be contained and will spread throughout the world.  Financial markets sold off sharply in anticipation of its likely economic impact, although stocks did stage a massive rally today (Monday) in hopes of a coordinated central bank rate cut and stimulus program. (For more details, see below.)

Former Vice-President Joe Biden was also in the news as he won a huge victory in the South Carolina primary.  Biden was in a do-or-die situation as he was lagging frontrunner Bernie Sanders throughout February.  The win has catapulted him back into the race as Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar have now come out in support of Biden ahead of tomorrow’s crucial Super Tuesday primaries.

While Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren are still in the race, it looks increasingly like it will come down to Biden vs Sanders, i.e. the center vs the left.  The race may be so close that more analysts are now seriously looking at an open convention in July where no candidate has 50% +1 of the delegates.

Biden’s resurrection was largely reflected in his horoscope, although I admit I did have my doubts.  As I noted previously, Biden’s terrible February was likely to improve in late February and here in early March just as Jupiter (26 Sagittarius) aligned with his Midheaven (unequal 10th house cusp) at 26 Leo.  I’m uncertain if he will win more delegates than Sanders on Super Tuesday, but it is at least likely to be a fairly close contest which will keep Biden alive.

Actually, Biden’s chart looks even better for next Tuesday’s primaries (March 10) when the Sun will also align with Jupiter and his Midheaven.  The Venus-Uranus conjunction on his 6th house may also be helpful.  He seems more likely to win those primaries outright.

His remaining centrist rival now is former NYC mayor and billionaire Mike Bloomberg.  Bloomberg’s horoscope is in rough shape these days due a close alignment of Saturn and a near-stationary Mercury with his Ascendant.   While Bloomberg also benefits from Jupiter since it is aspecting his Mars tomorrow at 25 Aries.  However, Saturn is sitting opposite his Ascendant while Mercury is backing into a near conjunction with his equal 8th house cusp symbolizing obstacles, setbacks and embarrassments.  Mercury is due to station at 4 Aquarius next Monday, March 9.

There are a few ways to interpret this pattern but I would think it will be difficult for Bloomberg to have much impact on Super Tuesday.  He could finish above the 15% threshold in several states and therefore win some delegates but it seems likely he will finish behind Biden and Sanders, perhaps well behind.  There will then be enormous pressure on him to drop out so Biden can go head-to-head with Sanders.  Perhaps he will drop out next weekend before the March 10 primaries.  Alternatively, he could stay in the race and just do very badly on March 10.

In any event, I think Biden’s campaign should go fairly well through March and April.  While an open convention is looking very possible with no clear winner until then, I would think that Biden’s growing strength in the coming weeks could actually take him over the top in delegates before the convention.   It’s difficult to say for sure since the birth time of Bernie Sanders is unknown.  This makes reading his chart that much more uncertain.

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks soared in Monday trading on word of a coordinated stimulus program from central banks and the G7 to combat the effects of the COVID-19 virus.  Markets had plunged last week as US markets suffered the fastest ever 10% correction in history on growing panic over the rapidly-spreading virus.  While I thought we could get some significant downside in the first half of last week on the Mars-Ketu-Mercury-Sun alignment, I did not foresee the magnitude of the decline.  The late week was also surprisingly bearish despite some encouraging Venus placements.  At least, US stocks managed to rally strongly before the close on Friday thus setting up the technical basis for today’s huge rally.

The rest of the week will probably be less bullish.  The potential problem is the approach of the Mercury-Saturn alignment that is closest next Monday, March 9.  Mercury is retrograde here and moving very slowly as it backs into this near-exact 30 degree alignment.  This raises the possibility of some weakness, especially in the second half of the week.

We could therefore see more upside tomorrow (Tuesday) following the early morning (EST) G7 announcement but the planetary outlook will become less positive after Tuesday.  While Monday’s surge was powerful, bulls should not get too confident in light of this upcoming Mercury-Saturn configuration.  A retest of Friday’s low of 2855 on the S&P 500 is not impossible although we’re certainly a long way from there at this point.  A higher low may be a more reasonable expectation.

For more details and potential timing scenarios, check out my weekly subscriber newsletter which is published every Saturday afternoon (EST).   I outline the key technical and planetary influences for US and Indian stocks for the short and medium term, as well as currencies, gold and oil.

Photo: C-SPAN