(5 April 2025) The global economic order was turned upside down last week after the imposition of across-the-board reciprocal tariffs by US president Donald Trump. Stocks sold off sharply as investors were not expecting the size and extent of Trump’s long-promised tariffs. Markets now fear that higher consumer prices and reduced international trade will slow economic growth and produce a recession this year.
While Trump is insistent that his new tariff regime is here to stay, the strongly negative market reaction may be creating some second thoughts within his administration. No doubt many business leaders are lobbying the president behind the scenes to get him to reverse course before any further damage is done. However, Trump may be holding out for better trade deals with individual countries in order to justify his scorched-earth tactics.
Based on Trump’s horoscope, it seems clear that he is under a lot of pressure at the moment. A rare six-planet alignment of Saturn (1 Pisces), Rahu (North Lunar Node) (2 Pisces), Uranus (1 Taurus), Mercury (3 Pisces), Venus (1 Pisces) and Mars (1 Cancer) is activating his 12th house conjunction of Venus and Saturn within a degree or two. Of course, any planet in the 12th house carries with it some notion of loss and isolation, and when it is afflicted by transit as it is here, there is greater risk of negative outcomes. And we see that Saturn (0 Cancer) was not only exactly conjoined by Mars last week but it was also aligned by a 120 degree angle with Saturn and Rahu. Venus and Mercury (both retrograde) are also close at hand and fed into the negative Saturn-Rahu influence. While Saturn’s 120 degree aspect not considered full-strength, Rahu’s 120 degree aspect can be more malefic. Its ongoing conjunction with Saturn, Venus and Mercury therefore intensify its effects considerably.
Therefore, Trump’s afflicted Saturn represents his political isolation on this issue as this global allies and trading partners (12th house) have turned against him. We should also note that Saturn’s rulership of the 6th house of competition and open conflict (Capricorn) brings out this antagonism to his current policies.
Trump is unlikely to feel much relief this week as Mars conjoins his Venus (2 Cancer) while the Saturn-Rahu influence on his natal Saturn will remain very strong. Mars-Venus conjunctions are often marked by conflict and hostility as social relationships are damaged by assertive and aggressive behavior. But this could manifest in several ways. It is possible that Trump will double down on his tariffs and resist the increasing political pressure, even from within the GOP. This could translate into more volatility and further declines in the stock market. However, it is also possible that the Mars-Venus conjunction may represent some forced concession on his part to placate political allies which throws a lifeline to the markets. Mars tends to act in blunt ways, even if it may be part of a coerced compromise in which Trump is forced to do something he would rather not do.
Will stocks fall further?
Trump’s chart doesn’t offer any clear indication about the short term outlook for the stock market. What we can say, however, is that the upcoming Jupiter-Uranus conjunction at 24 Virgo on April 15 looks more constructive for Trump, and, by extension, for the US economy. Trump’s natal Uranus-Jupiter alignment is being activated by transiting Jupiter in mid-April which should coincide with positive outcomes, such as favorable trade negotiations. And since President Trump’s chart is a proxy for the US as a whole, if the Trump horoscope has a good transit, that is more likely to manifest as positive economic news. In other words, there is a good chance that the mid-April period should bring a significant improvement in the overall political and economic environment.
The NYSE horoscope provides more clues of some immediate improvement. As I’ve noted previously, the tertiary progressed NYSE chart has a very strong alignment between Jupiter, the Sun and the Moon starting this week. All Jupiter alignments in both transits and progressions have a bullish bias, and this one in particular looks quite good as it forms favorable 120 degree aspects with the Sun and Moon. This is the full-strength 5th house aspect in Vedic astrology which is the same as a trine aspect in Western astrology. Both are considered the most positive alignment for Jupiter. In addition, the 60-degee Venus-Pluto alignment also has a bullish bias.
While these influences point towards a rebound this week, we should note that progressed planets are very slow moving which can make timing forecasts more difficult. For example, since the tertiary progressed Moon moves about one degree every two days, it is possible that the much-anticipated relief rally may occur later in the week or even into early next week rather than on Monday. April 7. The progressed Sun and Venus move even more slowly — about one degree per month each. Thus, the Sun-Jupiter alignment will only become exact on May 2. As a rule, however, progressed planetary alignments tend to felt weeks before they are exact and this particular alignment will be within that key one degree threshold range this week. While the exact timing its of effect can only be speculated, there is a reasonable likelihood that is bullish influence will be felt in the coming days.
Transit outlook this week
If there are some favorable influences on the horizon now, the transits this week are actually rather mixed. Nonetheless, Monday has some prospect for gains since Mercury ends its retrograde cycle at 7.07 a.m. EDT. As our recent research study on Mercury retrograde suggests, the changing direction of Mercury often accompanies a change in trend in the market. Mercury turned retrograde on March 15 — just two days after US stocks bottomed and began a rebound that would last 10 days. Similarly, it is possible that Mercury’s reversal on Monday could coincide with an end to the recent selling. That said, this is by no means a 100% correlation and only suggests an increased probability for a bullish reversal around the time of its April 7 direct station. While evidence for a strong bullish reversal was weak in our study, it nonetheless suggested that further downside after the direct station did not occur in about 60% of cases.
Volatility is still possible here since the rare six-planet alignment will still be within effective range for all of this week. Mercury (2 Pisces) will conjoin Rahu (2 Pisces) and both will remain conjunct Saturn (1 Pisces) and Venus (1 (Pisces) and in an alignment with Uranus (1 Taurus) and Mars (2 Cancer). The closeness of this alignment suggests that even if we do see a bounce at some point this week, markets are likely to stay volatile. This is also perhaps a reflection of the approaching Saturn-Rahu conjunction on April 14. Our empirical study of previous Saturn-Rahu alignments suggested that while it tends to be bullish over a longer 60-day window (March 15 – May 14 in this case), there is sometimes a bearish period just ahead of the exact conjunction. Thursday’s Moon-Venus-Saturn-Rahu alignment could be a focus for this lingering volatility.
We should also take note of the Venus direct station on Saturday, April 12. On that day, Venus ends its retrograde cycle which began on March 1. This reversal of planetary direction is another potential signal for a change in market trend. Certainly, this has been one of the most bearish Venus retrograde cycles in history as US stocks have fallen 15% in just 35 days. And yet the direct station at 0 Pisces offers another opportunity for stocks to reverse their current swoon. The close proximity of Saturn (1 Pisces) and Rahu (2 Pisces) means that the period around the Venus direct station may continue to exhibit higher than normal volatility, however.
And yet with both Mercury and Venus returning to forward motion over the next week there is an increasing probability of a significant rebound beyond just an oversold bounce. And with the tertiary progressions in the NYSE chart looking bullish for April generally, there are good astrological reasons to think we are days away from an interim bottom in the stock market.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
