(27 February 2022)  As Putin’s military adventure in Ukraine enters its second week, markets remain volatile.  After an initial sell-off, last week ended with an oversold reversal from the lows and a short squeeze which actually printed a positive weekly candle for the major indexes.  It was perhaps evidence that limited wars can sometimes actually be bullish, following an initial period of uncertainty.

But the transits this week don’t look good.  First, the ongoing Venus-Mars conjunction could get a jolt from its alignment with Rahu (North Lunar Node) early in the week.  Sunday night futures are already down 2% so that could well be the result of this pattern.  Rahu acts as a disruptor, and Mars is an agitator and aggressor, while Venus resides in the more comfortable world of worth and value.  Given the double effect of these malefics, the positive influence of Venus may be overwhelmed and unable to boost sentiment.

But there are other alignments to watch this week.  On Wednesday and Thursday, the ongoing Venus and Mars conjunction will catch up to Pluto, the planet of power and coercion. The resulting triple conjunction looks quite intense as Pluto has a bearish bias, especially when combined with malefics such as Mars.  Given the current war between Russia and Ukraine, this Venus-Mars-Pluto conjunction suggests an intensification of hostilities.  This pattern not only points to an escalation of the conflict, it also could negatively impact financial markets.

The additional problem with this potent conjunction is that it is conjunct the south node of Saturn at 3 degrees of sidereal Capricorn — that’s about 27 Capricorn in the Western tropical zodiac. The effects of planetary nodes are not fully appreciated by many astrologers but they are definitely worth considering, especially if their symbolism is compounded by transiting planets.  i.e. benefic nodes are transited by benefics, or malefics are transited by malefics.  This week we have a situation where the malefics Mars and Pluto are simultaneously transiting over a malefic node such as Saturn.  This is a dangerous pattern that only serves to increase the probability of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Another transit pattern worth noting this week is the Mercury-Saturn conjunction at 24 Capricorn.  This is exact on Wednesday and has a decidedly bearish bias.  Saturn represents constraint and loss while Mercury symbolizes communication and trade.  This is often bad for stocks and can also reflect interruptions in transport and communication (including the internet).

Finally we should note the Sun-Jupiter conjunction on Friday and Saturday.  This tends to be bullish as Jupiter confers optimism and hope upon the Sun which represents the self and the ego.  Wednesday’s New Moon actually inserts the Moon into this close Sun-Jupiter conjunction and could offset some of the other negative influences that day.

For more details, check out my weekly subscriber newsletter which is published every Saturday afternoon (EST).   In addition to reviewing the key planetary and technical influences on US and Indian stocks for the short and medium term, I also provide an astrological analysis of potential upcoming moves in currencies, gold and oil.

Photo Credit: Sputnik / Sergey Averin