(21 June 2016)  All eyes are on the UK this week ahead of Thursday’s historic referendum on EU membership.  The Leave side had pulled last week ahead in most polls last week until the shocking murder of pro-EU Labour MP Jo Cox.  Cox was gunned down early in the afternoon on Thursday, 16th June by a mentally ill pro-Brexit constituent.  Stocks began to rally soon thereafter as investors sensed a shift in momentum.  Indeed, sympathy for Cox has spilled over into a significant boost for the Remain side in recent days and the most polls now show Remain slightly ahead of Leave.

As I have noted previously about the Brexit scenario, the end of June was likely to be an unstable and eventful period given the entry of Uranus into sidereal Aries.  Uranus is a planet of sudden and shocking events that are often marked by a desire for freedom, independence or even rebellion. Since Uranus only changes signs once every 7 years, this is a phenomenon not to be taken lightly.  Previous sign ingresses of Uranus have an impressive track record.  The October 1987 ingress of Uranus into Sagittarius coincided with the biggest one-day stock market crash in history.  The crash occurred just two days after the sign change of Uranus according to Krishnamurthi ayanamsha.  The April 1933 referendum for independence by Western Australia took place just four days after the entry of Uranus into — you guessed it — sidereal Aries.  Uranus completes its revolution around the Sun every 83-84 years.  (A big hat tip to a reader Kishore for this example.)

As an added wrinkle to this unstable Uranian influence, it also forms a close alignment with retrograde Mars, which is now at 29 degrees of Libra.  Mars is due to station direct on 29th June and may provide an added dimension of violence.   This is not a Mars-Uranus aspect by standard Vedic rules (150 degrees rather than the 210 degrees (8th house aspect), but it is rather an near-exact alignment.  Not quite as powerful, but nonetheless noteworthy. 

The transit overlay of the tragic murder chart to the UK national chart shows how both transiting and natal Mars (violence) were activated.   Transiting Mars and Uranus are closely aligned with the natal Moon at 28 Gemini within two degrees.  Transiting Moon was almost directly opposite natal Mars (20 Libra).  Of course, both Jupiter and Rahu were in close alignment with natal Mars and will continue to do so until early July.  This suggests the UK will remain a tense and volatile place for some days after the referendum.

For several months now, I had been looking at this very tense and difficult Mars-Uranus pairing in late June and assumed it would likely translate into the UK voting to leave the EU.  The fact that Uranus was at maximum strength as it changed signs on the same day as the referendum was just too perfect to ignore.  There are no guarantees in astrology (or in life for that matter), but it seemed karmically determined to play out in the form of a Brexit as the British people would cast a vote for their sovereignty from Brussels and ignore any economic consequences of leaving the EU. 

However, one of the inherent limitations of astrology is that it operates primarily on a symbolic level.  There are no given set of actual outcomes from particular planetary placements.  All placements must therefore be interpreted.   Planetary symbolism therefore must also make the leap from the subjective realm of collective energy (as much as I wince when I hear that term) to an objective form that manifests as actual human events. 

When I wrote about the upcoming strong Uranian influence on the possible Brexit vote, I noted that it was also conceivable that somehow the UK might choose to stay in the EU but the process underlying the vote would be very intense and unstable.  That seems to be the case already as the murder of Jo Cox has stunned the nation and almost made the vote into an anti-climax.  In that sense, the murder of the Jo Cox is very much a reflection of the dominant planets Uranus (sudden events) and Mars (violence).  Or violence (Mars) resulting from a desire for independence (Uranus).   I  had thought that this Uranus and Mars combination would manifest more at a collective level as the voters would choose to abruptly or even violently (Mars) sever ties with Europe in a desire to assert their independence from EU bureaucrats. 

But it now seems that a Brexit is unlikely given the most recent polls.  The manifestation of some of that Uranus and Mars karmic energy means there is now less of it left to take the UK out of Europe.  I believe there is still plenty of this destabilizing energy left in the coming days, but I’m less sure the UK will actually vote to Leave.  Betting markets now put the odds of a Brexit closer to just 20% instead of the 40+% of last week.  I would think the ongoing Uranus influence here means the chances are actually somewhat higher.  But if some of the Uranus and Mars karmic energy has been "burned off" with the murder of Jo Cox, there is less of it left for voting day.  I would not be surprised if the UK actually voted to remain now.  Nonetheless, I feel that Uranus still has more of its karmic payload to deliver, whether it happens in Thursday’s vote or indeed in the Spanish elections on Sunday that could remove the pro-EU party from power. 

Weekly Market Forecast

Global stocks bounced early this week after the Remain side showed renewed strength in weekend polls.   Stocks had generally been negative last week as expected as Brexit worries weighed on sentiment.  In last week’s market forecast, I thought the Mars aspect to Venus and the Sun early in the week would be bearish and this was largely the case.  Not surprisingly, we saw some gains around Wednesday’s Fed meeting.  The Dow ended Monday at 17,804 and is modestly higher in early Tuesday trading at the time of writing.  Indian stocks did not partake much in this week’s relief rally due to the surprising resignation announcement of respected RBI Governor Rajan.  The Sensex closed Tuesday at a middling 26,812.

The planets this week could bring a little more upside midweek as Mercury aligns with Jupiter and Rahu on Wednesday.  But the downside risk may grow in the late week as Uranus enters Aries on Thursday.  Next week also looks problematic as Mars stations direct late in the week.  This is likely to amp up the instability in global markets as the apparent energy of the Mars-Uranus alignment approaches its apex.

For more details and analysis on market trends for this week, this month and this year, please check out my weekly MVA Investor Newsletter.  The newsletter is published every Saturday and includes extended discussion of US and Indian stock markets, as well as gold, oil and major currencies.