(24 November 2012)  Stocks rebounded sharply in New York last week on encouraging talk from the key players in the fiscal cliff negotiations.  The Dow rose 3% closing at 13,009 while the S&P 500 finished at 1409.  Indian stocks also enjoyed modest gains last week as hopes grew for an interest rate cut.  The Sensex climbed 1% closing at 18,506 while the Nifty ended the week at 5626. 

This bullish outcome was not surprising as I noted the presence of a favorable Sun-Venus-Neptune alignment in the first half of the week. However, Friday’s gains in the US were unexpected given the Mars-Saturn aspect.  Since these are both considered malefic planets, I had thought that the odds were higher for a decline.  In this case, I wonder if their valences were reversed to positive by virtue of a larger alignment with Uranus and Chiron, both of which stand at 11 degrees of their respective signs. 

I suggested last week that the fiscal cliff negotiations would likely drag on into December and perhaps into January.   Normally, one would expect the agreement to be reflected in the prominence of positive planets like Venus and Jupiter in the USA horoscope.  These seem to be lacking in November and early December so I would tend to think that an early deal won’t happen. 

In terms of the stock market, we would also expect any deal to boost stocks.  However, there are no clear indications at the moment of a positive planetary configuration either by transit or by reference to the key natal charts.  That doesn’t mean that a deal can’t happen soon, since there will always be exceptions.  However, it does indicate that a quick deal is less likely. 

The chart of the New York Stock Exchange (1792) is another reason why a quick deal is unlikely.  There are a number of difficult transits in effect at the moment which will likely influence the market over the next month or so.  Transiting Neptune forms a tense square aspect with the Sun in this chart, typically a sign of weakness and confusion.   To be sure, Neptune is now separating from this aspect so it is possible that this negative influence may be on the wane.  Another potential source of difficulty is the ongoing transit of Ketu (South Lunar Node) with natal Mercury.  This conjunction has been in effect for the past several weeks and is arguably one reason why the US market has declined in that time.  Ketu is often an unpredictable influence which can coincide with both gains and losses but it tends more towards the negative. Like the Neptune influence, the Ketu-Mercury conjunction is now separating so this plausibly negative influence may also diminish over time. 

However, we can also see that transiting Saturn (12 Libra) is opposing natal Venus. Despite Saturn’s favourable transit of Libra, its sign of exaltation, this is usually not a good influence. By sidereal reckoning, this aspect will be exact on December 20.  It seems fairly unlikely that the market could rally at any time when this aspect was close.  That is another reason why I suspect the market may remain tentative at best into December.

There are several potentially important aspects this week, not the least of which is Wednesday’s lunar eclipse. The eclipse occurs at 12 degrees of Taurus and in a near exact 30 degree angle to Saturn.  On paper, this is not a good thing.  Wednesday is also distinguished by the fact that Mars will conjoin Pluto on that day. Both of these planets are considered troublesome and hence we should be open to the possibility of some negativity becoming manifest, either on the day or shortly thereafter.  The early week will be dominated I think by the Venus-Saturn conjunction in Libra. While Saturn is bearish, Venus may well be able reverse its influence.  I would therefore not be surprised to see some gains on Monday or Tuesday from this conjunction.

Transits for Wednesday 28 November 2012 9.30 a.m. New York