Feb 21- 25
Stocks in New York inched higher yet again last week as more positive
earnings reports kept the QE2 rally intact. The Dow closed up 1% to
close at 12,391 while the S&P500 finished at 1343. This bullish outcome
was not unexpected given the Sun-Neptune conjunction that was exact on
Thursday. This was a favourable pairing that corresponded fairly
closely with larger up days. I had expected a little more in the way of
downside due to the Saturn aspects on Monday and Friday, but the result
was unimpressive as Monday-Tuesday was only mildly negative while Friday
was actually an up day on the Dow, although broader indexes like the
NYSE Composite were mostly flat.
Indian markets staged an impressive rebound last week as bargain hunters
moved in and bought banking and metal shares. Despite a fairly sharp
decline Friday, the BSE Sensex climbed almost 3% to 18,211 while the
Nifty ended the week at 5458. While I thought the early week might be
somewhat bearish, the overall strength of the market was not unexpected
given the favourable placement of the Sun with Neptune. Friday's
sell-off was a reminder of the continuing power of Saturn as its aspect
with Venus saw a loss of optimism. Indian markets are attempting to
rally after a severe correction and may also be buoyed by the fact they
are in pre-budget mode as the government releases its Union Budget on
Saturday 26 February. On the day of the budget, there will be an
alignment of Sun, Jupiter and Pluto which will reflect bold and
assertive plans to deal with pressing financial problems such as
inflation. While this combination seems quite bullish, it also may
ultimately be inflationary in the long run. We will have to see how
that shakes out.
As reports of the economic recovery increasingly fill the US media, one
wonders when this positive feedback loop will come to a stop. The good
news continues to bring new money into the market as more fund managers
put the recession behind them, and yet there is an irony here that poses
a risk to the rally: if the economy recovers too quickly, the Fed may be
forced to wind down its QE2 stimulus measures ahead of schedule. Fears
of inflation are lurking in the background here so too much growth could
cause the Fed to hit the brakes and withdraw the liquidity from the
market. This would likely be problematic for stocks. With the
Jupiter-Saturn opposition aspect coming up at the end of March, it would
seem that we are getting closer to a more pessimistic view of the
economy. This may or may not reflect new economic data. Since the
market is all about perceptions, Saturn's growing influence may mean
that we are simply shifting towards a 'glass half-empty' outlook.
This week promises to be very interesting as Mercury and Mars are in
conjunction with Neptune and all three are in aspect with Ketu, the
South Lunar Node. Mars-Neptune combinations generally reflect
difficulty and the nodal influence from Ketu has the potential to both
magnify and distort market behaviour. Since the aspects are closest in
early and midweek, markets may be more vulnerable to declines then.
(N.B. US markets are closed for a holiday Monday) Some markets may be
subject to steep sell-offs here. The late week period appears to be
somewhat positive as Mercury conjoins the Sun and both move into
alignment with Jupiter on Friday.
Stocks in New York inched higher yet again last week as more positive
earnings reports kept the QE2 rally intact. The Dow closed up 1% to
close at 12,391 while the S&P500 finished at 1343. This bullish outcome
was not unexpected given the Sun-Neptune conjunction that was exact on
Thursday. This was a favourable pairing that corresponded fairly
closely with larger up days. I had expected a little more in the way of
downside due to the Saturn aspects on Monday and Friday, but the result
was unimpressive as Monday-Tuesday was only mildly negative while Friday
was actually an up day on the Dow, although broader indexes like the
NYSE Composite were mostly flat.
Indian markets staged an impressive rebound last week as bargain hunters
moved in and bought banking and metal shares. Despite a fairly sharp
decline Friday, the BSE Sensex climbed almost 3% to 18,211 while the
Nifty ended the week at 5458. While I thought the early week might be
somewhat bearish, the overall strength of the market was not unexpected
given the favourable placement of the Sun with Neptune. Friday's
sell-off was a reminder of the continuing power of Saturn as its aspect
with Venus saw a loss of optimism. Indian markets are attempting to
rally after a severe correction and may also be buoyed by the fact they
are in pre-budget mode as the government releases its Union Budget on
Saturday 26 February. On the day of the budget, there will be an
alignment of Sun, Jupiter and Pluto which will reflect bold and
assertive plans to deal with pressing financial problems such as
inflation. While this combination seems quite bullish, it also may
ultimately be inflationary in the long run. We will have to see how
that shakes out.
As reports of the economic recovery increasingly fill the US media, one
wonders when this positive feedback loop will come to a stop. The good
news continues to bring new money into the market as more fund managers
put the recession behind them, and yet there is an irony here that poses
a risk to the rally: if the economy recovers too quickly, the Fed may be
forced to wind down its QE2 stimulus measures ahead of schedule. Fears
of inflation are lurking in the background here so too much growth could
cause the Fed to hit the brakes and withdraw the liquidity from the
market. This would likely be problematic for stocks. With the
Jupiter-Saturn opposition aspect coming up at the end of March, it would
seem that we are getting closer to a more pessimistic view of the
economy. This may or may not reflect new economic data. Since the
market is all about perceptions, Saturn's growing influence may mean
that we are simply shifting towards a 'glass half-empty' outlook.
This week promises to be very interesting as Mercury and Mars are in
conjunction with Neptune and all three are in aspect with Ketu, the
South Lunar Node. Mars-Neptune combinations generally reflect
difficulty and the nodal influence from Ketu has the potential to both
magnify and distort market behaviour. Since the aspects are closest in
early and midweek, markets may be more vulnerable to declines then.
(N.B. US markets are closed for a holiday Monday) Some markets may be
subject to steep sell-offs here. The late week period appears to be
somewhat positive as Mercury conjoins the Sun and both move into
alignment with Jupiter on Friday.
