(22 March 2026)  Stocks fell for the fourth straight week last week as the conflict in the Middle East showed no signs of abating.  With the Strait of Hormuz now largely blocked by Iran, Brent crude is trading well over $100 and supplies are running low in several Asian countries which import their oil from the Persian Gulf.

While I was uncertain if stocks would extend their decline, last week’s sell-off was not hugely unexpected given the March 15 triple conjunction of retrograde Mercury, Mars, and the North Lunar Node.  I thought the transit chart of that conjunction looked “ugly” and warranted some caution in the markets.  Data from previous triple conjunctions suggested a bearish bias in the days following the conjunction.  Also I had noted that the Mercury direct station on Friday, March 20 could coincide with additional weakness given its one-degree conjunction with the North Node (aka Rahu).  Mercury stations — both retrograde and direct — often correlate with trend reversals, especially when aligned with other planets as was the case last week.  Interestingly, the low of the day on Friday occurred at 3:37 pm — just four minutes after Mercury stationed direct.  Could Friday’s low therefore mark the bottom in the current down trend?  It’s certainly possible although whether it signals a more durable bottom is more of an open question.

The updated ME-0-MA-0-NN cumulative trend chart below highlights how bearish the current conjunction has been compared with the average and median.  While both lines have a bearish bias both before and after the day of conjunction, the extent of the current decline is noteworthy.  The cumulative chart has been directionally useful, although it has not approximated the size of the decline…

To read the rest of this post, please visit my Empirical Astrology Substack