(5 February 2018) Well, that escalated quickly. US stocks plunged today as investors began to take the inflation threat seriously. The Dow fell by more than 1000 points — a new one-day record — although on a percentage basis the decline was a more palatable 4%. Rising inflation pressures are forcing bond yields higher and this is creating problems for financial markets as the easy money, low-rate "goldilocks" environment of the past 9 years may be coming to an end.
As I noted in last week’s market forecast, there was a risk that last week’s decline could extend into this week since the Mars-Saturn alignment was still quite close. To be clear, I did not predict this kind of huge decline in this space nor in my newsletter although I thought this week would probably begin on a negative note. In last week’s post, I focused on the NASDAQ horoscope to illustrate the possible negative effects of the Mars-Saturn alignment, especially where they highlighted the Ascendant.
We can see that today’s decline is also evident in the chart of the S&P 500 (March 4, 1957), which is the most often cited index after the Dow. Mars (12 Scorpio) and Saturn (11 Sagittarius) are front and center again as the alignment sets up closely with the Ascendant (11 Taurus).
One of the basic principles of financial astrology is that planetary alignments involving two or more planets becomes more powerful when they align with significant points in the natal chart, Ascendant, Midheaven, Sun or Moon. If the planets involved are benefics like Venus and Jupiter, then gains are more likely. When they are mostly malefics like Mars and Saturn, declines can be larger. That is clearly the case here with the S&P 500.
The chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (May 26, 1896) also shows how the current Mars-Saturn alignment is wreaking havoc on markets. It doesn’t activate the Ascendant as in the NASDAQ or S&P 500 charts but it does hit the Sun-Moon opposition quite closely. It also aligns with the natal Mars (11 Pisces) very closely. Mars (12 Scorpio) is approaching its conjunction to the Moon (13 Scorpio) this week. I would think that stocks will begin to rise once Mars moves past the Moon. This happens midweek although the bounce could well begin as soon as tomorrow.
What happens next?
Venus enters Aquarius tomorrow and aligns with Uranus. This could well be positive enough to take stocks higher. The Mars will be past its opposition to the Ascendant in the S&P 500 chart although it may have a little more damage to do according to the DJIA chart. In making a prediction, we have to take all data points into account and try to find the most likely scenario. I suspect stocks should start to rebound tomorrow or Wednesday as Mars moves further out of alignment with Saturn. While I am generally bearish for the next few months, there is some reason to think that we could see a sizable rebound in stocks in the coming days. Please see my investor newsletter for more details and analysis of the possible scenarios for the market.
