(17 March 2021) To no one’s surprise, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has refilled the punch bowl yet again.   In today’s FOMC meeting, Powell reaffirmed his commitment to an ultra-loose monetary policy of zero percent interest rates and $120 Billion a month in QE asset purchases.  Despite recent inflation worries and sharply rising bond yields, Powell asserted there would be no rate hikes until 2023 at the earliest.  Markets rallied modestly to new all-time highs as investors anticipated stronger growth in a post-Covid world.

Jupiter is still very much in the driver’s seat here.  Since Jupiter is a bullish influence, markets tends to rise whenever it forms a close alignment with a slower-moving outer planet. This seems to be the case at the moment as Jupiter approaches its 30-degree alignment with Neptune, which is exact on March 20.  While this is not a major Jupiter aspect by either Vedic or Western reckoning, angular separations of any 30-degree multiples can often coincide with a rise in stock prices.

However, once the Jupiter-Neptune alignment begins to separate on March 21, the probability of further gains will begin to diminish.  While this often manifests as an gradual shift in relative positive and negative energies, sometimes there is a sudden reversal immediately after the exact aspect, as if flicking a switch.  In other words, aspects can play out in different ways depending on other factors.

The condition of Saturn is another component in this equation.  If markets tend to rise with a Jupiter alignment, markets tend to fall when Saturn is more prominent.  As it happens, there is a Saturn aspect upcoming fairly soon.  On April 9, Saturn is due to form a 120-degree alignment with Rahu, the North Lunar Node.  In traditional Vedic astrology, both Saturn and Rahu are considered malefic planets which tend to deliver negative or otherwise unwanted outcomes when they are under affliction.   In market terms, their aspects are more likely to be associated with declines than gains.

While the exact aspect is still more than three weeks away, there is often some preceding downside, much like periods of rain precede the arrival of the center of a storm.  Next week could well see some early rain in that respect as Mars approaches a conjunction with Rahu and thereby activating a larger alignment with Saturn.  In that scenario, since all three planets involved are natural malefics, the downside risk rises further.

And we see that next week’s Mars-Rahu conjunction could have a significant impact on the horoscope of the blue chip S&P 500 Index (March 4, 1957).  Both Mars and Rahu are setting up opposite natal Saturn (20 Scorpio) and square the Sun (20 Aquarius).  It is very difficult to see the current rally continuing through these malefic influences.

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