(20 Sep 2026) Stocks ended mixed last week after the Fed rate hike and the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East.  While stocks initially sold off after the widely-anticipated rate hike, they staged a partial late week recovery.  The Nasdaq posted a winning week while the S&P 500 was flat and the broader market were generally lower. I thought we might have seen a bit more upside, if only due to mean reversion in several of the bullish alignments we are monitoring.  As we get closer to the Venus retrograde station on October 3, we may well ask if this recent run of market weakness has further to go since the retrograde station can often serve as a trend reversal pivot.  I don't have a strong opinion either way on that 'bearish before/bullish after' Oct 3 scenario although the longer stocks track sideways or lower in September, the more plausible it becomes. Certainly, the past three Venus retrograde cycles have coincided with pullbacks in Jan 2022, Aug 2023 and Mar 2025.  But each of those periods of weakness featured...