Mercury-Jupiter boosts stocks; Saturn-Ketu suggests caution

Stocks rose last week as European leaders again re-affirmed their commitment to Greece and assured investors it would not default.   Private commercial banks were also aided by a coordinated effort by central banks to inject more liquidity into the system so that credit flows would not dry up.  It’s all part of the ongoing Eurozone saga that is seemingly without end.  A crisis emerges, a remedy is offered, calm is restored for a while then a new crisis pops up somewhere else.  Rinse and repeat until bankruptcy and/or hyperinflation.  In New York, the Dow rallied more than 4% closing at 11,509 while the S&P500 finished at 1216.  Indian stocks fared less well, however, although the Sensex did manage a modest gain closing at 16,933 and the Nifty at 5084.

This bullish result was largely in keeping with expectations as I thought the Mercury-Jupiter aspect would likely lift sentiment into Thursday.  The negative effect of Monday’s entry of Venus into the sign of Virgo also seemed to manifest as expected as Mumbai was significantly lower. The effect had waned somewhat by the time US markets opened as the morning was lower but then reversed in the afternoon.  It’s also worth noting that this Monday low and reversal occurred on the Full Moon just as the lunar cycle would predict.  While some of the enthusiasm had dissipated by Friday;s Mars aspect, the trend remained in place.

This week shapes up to be less hopeful and uplifting however as Saturn appears to take over for Jupiter.  The aspect between Saturn and Ketu (South Lunar Node) is exact at the end of the week so this is likely to cast some kind of shadow on the market.  Interestingly, there will be a much-anticipated announcement by Fed Chair Bernanke on Wednesday after the FOMC meeting. Many investors are hoping for bold new plans from Bernanke that will stimulate a stagnating US economy.  If the Fed delivers something big, then the market could rally further.  However, if the Fed is more cautious in its approach, then there is a greater chance for disappointment and declines.  Since Saturn is all about austerity and constraint, it seems more likely that Bernanke will remain fairly cautious here.  As a result there is a greater chance for declines this week, especially after Wednesday’s announcement.  We can also see that Monday’s Mercury-Saturn-Ketu alignment looks generally bearish.  Friday’s Mars-Uranus aspect also looks bearish.  In between, we could see some positive sentiment as a result of a passing Venus-Jupiter aspect.