(30 June 2020) It’s all too appropriate for 2020: a lunar eclipse that takes place just minutes after America’s July 4th Independence Day celebrations.  The world’s only superpower, the United States, finds itself in an unfamiliar state of chaotic disrepair as a result of an incoherent response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The lack of any coordinated government response has seen infections rise once again following the premature and haphazard reopening after the Memorial Day holiday in late May.   Today saw a single-day record of 46,000 new infections in the US.  The recent anti-racism protests and riots also haven’t helped matters as many states now report worsening numbers, largely among young people.  Southern states are now having to reverse their reopening in an effort of gain control of the new outbreak.

Of course, astrologers know that eclipses are traditionally seen as celestial events that mark times of uncertainty, disruption and chaos.  It is therefore perhaps not surprising that Sunday’s lunar eclipse will occur just a day after the US national holiday.  It is almost as if the stars are declaring that all is not well in the ‘land of the free’ and that the universe has yet to decide what course it will set for the future.

As the Mercury retrograde cycle continues, it seems likely that the US will be unable to gain the upper hand in the fight against the coronavirus in the near term.  In last week’s post, I suggested that the end of the Mercury retrograde cycle on July 12 could be just the first step towards getting a better handle on the virus.

In terms of financial markets, last week’s decline was not too surprising as Mars was aligned with Saturn and the Lunar Nodes, Rahu and Ketu.  That said, I thought we might have seen some upside late in the week with the culmination of the Venus retrograde cycle, although we did get one up day on Thursday.  Friday’s decline coincided with the Mars alignment with the June 21 solar eclipse point at 6 Gemini.

So far this week, we have seen stock markets rally as Jupiter conjoined Pluto in the first degree of sidereal Capricorn.  This was in keeping with the forecast outlined in my newsletter since Jupiter alignments with outer planets like Pluto tend to coincide with rallies.  This was perhaps even more likely since the Sun conjoined Mercury today (Tuesday).

The rest of this week is perhaps somewhat less bullish, although not really bearish either.  Jupiter has moved past Pluto while the Sun has moved past Mercury.  This suggests diminishing positive sentiment for the rest of the week.  At the same time, I would not be surprised to see further gains, if only due to upward momentum.

After the lunar eclipse just after midnight on Sunday, July 5, I would expect sentiment to turn more bearish.  In addition to the post-eclipse uncertainty, irascible Mars will aspect Mercury, the planet of commerce, in the first half of next week.  This is a bearish combination that seems more likely to see stocks decline.

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Photo: CSPAN.org