Weekly column: Pluto's return to Capricorn and the upcoming US election

Review

The Commerce Department reported Friday that the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.2% on the month and was up 2.5% from the same period a year ago, exactly in line with the Dow Jones consensus estimates…. In recent days, policymakers such as Chair Jerome Powell have expressed confidence that inflation is progressing back to the Fed’s 2% goal. The Fed is expected now to switch from a nearly complete focus on bringing down inflation to at least an equal concentration on supporting the labor market.

—Jeff Cox, “The Fed’s Favorite Inflation Indicator Increased 0.2% in July, As Expected,” August 30, 2024, www.cnbc.com.

It’s over now, but that was certainly a strange Mercury retrograde cycle (August 5-28). It started out with a huge reversal on Monday, August 5, right as the “Trickster Show” (Mercury retrograde) began. It is very unusual for a primary cycle to bottom right as Mercury turns retrograde. It is even more unusual to see a 50-week cycle bottom then. Also strange was that the U.S. stock market rallied sharply for the next ten days, creating a series of bullish technical signals. Usually, the Trickster weaves in and out of swings every 1-4 days, with false buy and sell signals along the way. But this time, the rallies were legitimate.

The Trickster started behaving normally (well, in its usual abnormal way) with 1-4 day swings after it passed the midpoint of its cycle (August 16-17). But even then, some global indices continued to make new cycle (and even all-time) highs while others did not. We call this intermarket bearish divergence, which—as the name implies—has bearish implications. But that conflicts with the amplitude of the rallies that started on the low of August 5. Those rallies indicated a new 50-week cycle, and that’s bullish.

So, we leave this Mercury retrograde cycle with the same frame of mind that we leave most Mercury retrograde cycles: mixed signals, a little bit of uncertainty in the near-term market outlook, but optimistic that normal charting signals will soon return. As far as the longer-term outlook goes, I will stay with my prior views given in the special alerts of two weeks ago that the U.S. (and many global stock indices) are in a new bullish stage. Several global indices confirmed this with their new all-time highs last week.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, all equity indices rallied into the end of last week, with India’s NIFTY leading the way with another new all-time high on Friday. It was the only major market to do so in this region, although others came close. China’s Shanghai Composite was a bit of an exception as it dropped to its lowest level in six months on Thursday, but then had a sharp rally on Friday.

In Europe, there was also a case of intermarket bearish divergence as the German DAX soared to a new all-time high on Friday, August 30. The London FTSE and Zurich SMI had smart rallies and came close to their all-time highs, while the AEX also rallied but remained well off its all-time high made on July 15.

The United States also exhibited intermarket bearish divergence, with the DJIA making a new all-time high late last week. But this was not matched in the NASDAQ and S&P, which had decent rallies but still well off their highs of mid-July when Mars, Uranus, and Algol all conjoined in late Taurus. The Bovespa index of Brazil also made a new all-time high last week.

In other markets, Gold flirted with a new all-time high but then started to pull back in earnest on Friday. Silver breached the 30.00 mark during the week but couldn’t sustain it as it closed near the lows of the week on Friday. Crude Oil was also a disappointment, rallying nicely early last week, but then also closing near its weekly lows on Friday. Bitcoin started the week looking positive, trading around 65,000. But by Friday, it was trading below 58,000 again, casting doubt on the view that it has turned the corner on its bearish behavior since its all-time high recorded back on March 14 at 73,803. Nevertheless, an overlap of cyclical and geocosmic time bands suggests an important low (or re-test of the August 5 low) may unfold within the next five weeks.

Short-term geocosmics

“Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?”

—Buddha, as quoted by the Psyche Wizard in a post on ‘X’ on August 29, 2024.

There goes Mercury retrograde. However here comes its higher octave—Uranus retrograde. We lose the “Trickster” but now get the “Disruptor.” Whereas Mercury represents the mind and communications, Uranus represents the genius mind that often gets ahead of itself when trying to communicate its insights in a logical, believable way. It’s the solution that no one is ready to accept. It can also be the rebel that refuses to accept the logical solution. Think of Mercury as the calculator, and Uranus as the high-speed computer; Mercury as the automobile and Uranus as the space rocket; or Mercury as the wind and Uranus as the hurricane or tornado. In terms of markets, Mercury can indicate short-term fakeouts, whereas Uranus represents breakouts of long-term resistance or support, or sharp corrections against the trend followed by reversals back with the trend. It’s a disruption to a trend or a breakout to new highs or lows in the direction of the underlying trend. In either case, there is the element of surprise, usually in the amplitude of the move. It can also relate to natural calamities, like earthquakes and hurricanes.

However, Uranus turning retrograde may not be the most significant geocosmic signature taking place next week. Also, on September 1, as Uranus turns retrograde, Pluto will re-enter Capricorn due to its own retrograde motion. It will stay there until November 19, when it enters Aquarius for the next 19-20 years. Pluto has been (and will be) dancing back and forth over the Capricorn-Aquarius cusp five times between March 23, 2023 and November 19, 2024.

Pluto is the planet of reformation, transformation, endings, and beginnings. Capricorn represents the past, history, and traditions of the human race or a nation. Aquarius represents the new, the modern, the future, and the need to change things dramatically, even radically. Like Uranus, the planet ruling the sign of Aquarius, new ideas and reforms can be ahead of themselves to the point that others resist, at least at first. It is as if the world is trying to decide if it wants to reform its past and rewrite history going back many, many years, even centuries, or if it wants to reform the radical movements that have disrupted life and customs as they were experienced for many years and even centuries until recently. The old versus the new. The young and restless versus the aged and wise.

Thus, between September 1 and November 19, we are at this crossroads between the two eras, the two dynamics, the two choices of direction, and their potentially vast differences. This seems to be reflected quite clearly in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, which takes place on November 5, between former President Donald Trump and current Vice-President Kamala Harris. To many, they seem to be polar opposites. But if you remove biases and just look at the 2025 ingress charts of the United States and apply the dynamics of the planets and their aspects involved in the 2025-2027 “Aries Vortex,” it is not the end of the world as each side accuses the other of fomenting.

The image that comes to mind is being alone in a room with two doors. You have to choose which door to enter. You don’t know what is on the other side. You have great hope that one will lead to happiness and good fortune. Yet you also fear that the other door will lead to misery and tragedy. But what you don’t know is that whichever door you choose, it reveals a path that leads to the same end result.

As Pluto struggles to define which is more important to the most number of people, the 2024 election is shaping up to be a very close race. Both candidates claim to be the mantle of change. Both are trying to attract the middle from a perceived position of extremes by members of the opposing side. Both have strong charts with transits and progressions showing the potential of a victory. At the time of the election, Pluto will be in Capricorn for the last time in 248 years. Right after the election, Pluto will be in Aquarius, the symbol of a new and electric dynamic that will continue to influence the collective psyche for the next 20 years. In one sense, it doesn’t matter who wins. There will likely be a radical change from the past in how this nation, this world, is governed. There will be a surge towards more freedom and individual rights, which is the hallmark of Aquarius, despite what each side accuses the other of offering. Yes, I know this sounds naïve. But the cosmos doesn’t care about accusations, opinions, or theories. It only cares about truth and necessity—and kindness, if we are ever to attain a collective sense of unity.