(12 May 2013)  Gold came under increased selling pressure last week on renewed strength in the US Dollar and more signs of slowing inflation.   Friday saw gold fall sharply and at one point it was down 4% and trading at $1420 before partially recovering to $1450 by the end of day.   In recent weeks gold has rebounded somewhat from its April plunge low of $1320 but Friday’s sell-off may have marked a return to bearish sentiment in precious metals. 

Astrology offers a unique understanding of the price fluctuations of financial assets.  While consistent and infallible predictions are not yet possible with any method or technique, there are nonetheless some situations in which correct predictions are more likely.  The trick is to be able to note ahead of time when such high probability predictive scenarios are at hand in order to differentiate them from the random noise of many common, unremarkable and ultimately unknowable planetary alignments.   Friday’s gold decline was one such high probability predictive scenario.

In the first instance, it is usually helpful to look at the transit picture at any given time.   Transits are a snapshot of planetary positions and are the baseline from which forecasts can be made.  As I noted last week, there was a somewhat greater chance of volatility in stocks and most asset classes on Friday due to the solar eclipse.  This was perhaps more likely to pertain to gold specifically because gold is traditionally symbolized by the Sun, along with Venus and Jupiter.  Since this was a solar eclipse, the Sun was being eclipsed by the Moon and therefore is was arguably weaker according to traditional astrological notions of planetary weakness. 

In addition, we can see that the Sun suffered from a second weakness.  The Sun was in the sign of sidereal Aries at the time, which is said to be ruled by the planet Mars.  But Mars was closely conjunct malefic Ketu (the South Lunar Node) and thus was unable to convey its positive energy to the Sun by normal means.  If Mars had been conjunct a benefic planet like Venus or Jupiter, then that positive energy would have been more available to flow back to the Sun.  This would have been a less damaging situation for the Sun and hence gold might not have declined and indeed it might have even risen. 

But transits offer only one dimension of the multi-dimensional planetary reality.  The other dimension involves relevant natal charts which reflect something of gold’s inherent nature.  As I have discussed previously in this space, the horoscope of the moment of the first public set price for gold is a useful chart that can describe and predict price moves.  This first price fix happened in London in September 1919 and continues to be relevant today.  A quick look at this chart shows why gold was more likely to suffer late last week.  At that time, transiting Mars (20 Aries) formed an near-exact square aspect to natal Mars (20 Cancer).  This is one of a fairly short list of high probability aspects that are correlated with losses and declines in financial astrology.  Mars is considered a negative planetary energy and when it forms a hard aspect (45/90/180 degrees) with another planet but especially another malefic (like itself), then a decline becomes more likely.  Of course other factors have to be integrated into the total picture, but since there were no other close or powerful planetary aspects in force at the same time, the Mars-to-Mars aspect appeared to carry the day. 

But is gold likely to decline further in the wake of this latest weakness?  While the longer term outlook for gold still looks difficult to me, there is a reasonable case to be made for gold rebounding a bit further once the Sun enters sidereal Taurus on May 15.  Instead of transiting through a sign ruled by malefic Mars, the Sun will be in a sign ruled by Venus.  This is usually a more friendly set-up for gold.  As an added plus, Venus is quite strong here since it is also in Taurus now with benefic Jupiter.  All of these planets clustered together in Taurus ought to provide some support for gold and could well help it recover further.  But that is only one layer of the planetary matrix.  According to the gold 1919 chart, Saturn continues to back into the Ascendant.  As a malefic influence, Saturn will tend to depress sentiment on gold for the next couple of months at least.  Just how these two opposing influences reconcile is somewhat uncertain.  I would tend to think that the bullish Taurus effect ought to play out a bit before Saturn has a chance to dampen the enthusiasm.

Stocks generally rose last week as the Jupiter influence on the eclipse and other short term aspects kept the broad optimism about central bank bond buying in place.  As expected, stocks rose into the eclipse and then suffered some volatility right around the eclipse on Thursday or Friday.  This week could see more gains as the Sun’s entry into Taurus looks bullish (pun intended).  That said, there are a couple of risk factors here that are worthy of mention, both of which involve Mars.  Monday could see some fallout from the Mars-Ketu conjunction.  I tend to think it won’t be significant, however.  More problematic is the late week conjunction of Mars with the eclipse point at 25 Aries.  This has the potential for a sudden and large decline, especially on Friday when the Moon is aligned with Mars.  

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