(13 June 2022)  What goes up, must come down.  Stocks got hammered again today as investors hit the panic button on inflation worries amid a slowing economy.  Bond yields soared to their highest levels since 2011 as markets prepared for higher rates from Wednesday’s FOMC meeting.  While Fed Chair Powell had previously indicated a 50-point hike in June, it now seems more than likely that the Fed will raise 75 points after Friday’s CPI data showed inflation rising at its fastest pace in 40 years.

The US may be entering a particularly unstable period here as the air is finally coming out of the Covid bubble.  All those trillions in stimulus from the Fed and the government artificially pumped up the economy during a time when the value of goods was actually falling due to lockdowns and high unemployment.  The bursting of the Covid bubble is just another instance of the classic inflation story where too much “free” money (QE, stimulus checks, generous unemployment benefits) is chasing too few goods, thus causing prices to rise.

Now that the party’s over, the hangover begins.  Stocks are falling back down to earth as the Fed is forced to tighten in order to combat inflation.  While stocks have already fallen more than 20% — thus crossing the bear market threshold — they may well be destined to return to their pre-Covid levels as value finally returns to a state of equilibrium.

While the current astrological situation can be analyzed several different ways, the ongoing Saturn-Neptune alignment remains front and center.   Saturn is currently almost exactly 30 degrees away from Neptune and thus forms a resonant angle that is a divisor of a circle.  Saturn-Neptune aspects are invariably bearish and this one is especially bearish since Saturn is moving very slowly following its retrograde station on June 4.

But Saturn and Neptune often form similar alignments every 2 or 3 years and the market does not suffer such a major sell-off.  Why is this one any different?

One very important reason is that the the Saturn-Neptune alignment is also resonating with two other outer planets — Uranus and Chiron.  We can see that both pairs of planets are separated by about the same number of degrees — about 30-31 degrees.  This is very unusual planetary set up and provides a kind of conduit for Saturn’s bearish influence to manifest more strongly.  In Western terms, we could say that the midpoint of Saturn (1 Aquarius) and Uranus (22 Aries) is conjunct the midpoint of Neptune (1 Pisces) and Chiron (21 Pisces).  The Saturn/Uranus midpoint is at 11 Pisces and the Neptune/Chiron midpoint is also at 11 Pisces.  For added emphasis, 11 Pisces also happens to be the current location of Jupiter.

What makes this alignment especially powerful is that all four of these planets are moving slowly.  Saturn is the fastest of the bunch at three degrees per month but since it is retrograde, it is moving just half a degree in the month of June.  As outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Chiron all move at slower rates, with Uranus moving about one degree per month, and Chiron and Neptune moving even slower.  The point here is that this slow motion train wreck of an alignment remains within range for an unusually long time and thus is very powerful.  In fact, this alignment moved within a one-degree range back in April, just as stocks started their second leg lower.  It will remain within that same one-degree range until August.

Typically, alignments involving slow-moving planets require faster-moving trigger planets to release the stored bearish (or bullish) energy.  Venus apparently acted as a trigger late last week as it conjoined Uranus and therefore may have activated the alignment during the CPI-driven sell-off.  The bad news this week is that Mars is due to conjoin Chiron on Wednesday and the FOMC meeting.  This could serve as another trigger for a release of more negative market sentiment.

One caveat is that Mars (20 Pisces) is already very close to Chiron (21 Pisces) and thus today’s decline should be seen as at least a partial manifestation of this energy.  It is therefore possible that some of its impact has already manifested.  Tomorrow’s Full Moon is no doubt also part of this story, especially since it aligns fairly closely with Saturn and Neptune.  The Sun exactly squares Neptune and aligns with Saturn on Wednesday and suggests a cautious mood where the Fed is more likely to aggressively tighten.  While there is always some uncertainty predicting the exact timing of any transit manifestation, we should watch for a possible shift in sentiment after the Fed meeting as Mars begins to separate from Chiron.

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.