Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 43.88 points to 26,922.12

Note: There will be no weekly column next week due to travel. We will return the following week.

REVIEW AND PREVIEW:

Stocks fell from all-time highs on Friday after the release of stronger jobs data dampened hope for easier Federal Reserve monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 43.88 points to 26,922.12, snapping a four-day winning streak. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 2,990.41 and ended a five-day winning streak. The Nasdaq Composite fell for the first time in seven sessions, slipping 0.1% to 8,161.79. Earlier in the session, the Dow dropped as much as 232.67 points… The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June. Economists had forecast the U.S. added 165,000 jobs in June, after a stunningly low 75,000 jobs were created in May, according to Dow Jones. - Fred Imbert, “Stocks Fall From Record Highs After Strong Jobs Report Dampen Hope of a Fed Rate Cut,” https://www.cnbc.com, July 5, 2019.

Despite a lack of strong geocosmic aspects last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P index soared to new all-time highs, thus fulfilling the historical correspondence between Jupiter’s yearlong transit of Sagittarius and long-term cycle crests in world equity markets. However, the NASDAQ Composite fell slightly short of a new-time high. It rallied to 8171 on Friday, just shy of its record of 8176 on April 29.

There were similar divergences in other regions of the world. In Europe, for example, the Zurich SMI made an all-time high on July 3. The next day, the Amsterdam AEX, German DAX, and London FTSE raced to their highest levels since August 2018, but not new all-time highs.

The Australian ASX index soared to 6850 on Friday, July 5, very close to its all-time high of 6873 made in November 2007. But none of the Asian indices could even make a new high for 2019 last week, as trade tensions with the USA remain a depressant on their economies.

After posting a new 6-year high on June 25 at 1442.90, Gold fell sharply to start this new week of July 1 at 1384.70. Two days later, it was back up, testing that 6-year high, reaching 1441 on July 3. By the next trading day, which was Friday, July 5, the strong payroll report caused jitters about the possibility of no Fed rate cut, and Gold dropped back to 1388.60.  Those were some serious price reversals last week as heliocentric Mercury began its trek through Sagittarius, the sign of exaggeration. Bitcoin didn’t fare much better, dropping from its yearly high of 13,895 on June 26 to 9567 on July 2, and then beginning another recovery. In addition to heliocentric Mercury in Sagittarius coinciding with such currency and precious metals’ volatility, geocentric Mercury ended its transit through Cancer the week before on June 29. Our studies show that Mercury in Cancer correlates with highs in Bitcoin. With Mercury turning retrograde now, it will return back into Cancer July 19-August 11. It will be interesting to see if Bitcoin can make another run during that time.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS

Ever since the world left the gold standard, a die-hard band of goldbugs has demanded the U.S. return. President Trump just said he intends to nominate one of them, Judy Shelton, to be a Federal Reserve governor… When all countries were on gold, it made exchange rates stable and predictable. Without it, (goldbugs) argue, governments can goose the currency printing press to create jobs or wage wars. – Greg Ip, “Fed Pick is Goldbug Who Bends to Fit Trump,” Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2019.

There may have been an absence of planetary aspects last week, but that only means the likelihood of a reversal of the underlying trend was small. The fact that stock markets moved to new all-time highs, and the Gold market was all over the place (first down, then up, then back down) has more to do with heliocentric Mercury in Sagittarius, which has a reputation for being wild. Some financial astrologers may attribute the strong market movements of last week to the solar eclipse last Tuesday, July 2. However, that is not as strong a historical correlation to the types of market behavior witnessed last week as heliocentric Mercury’s ingress into Sagittarius, July 1-12. We have another week to go with this culprit.

Mercury may be more of a culprit now than usual. Often refereed to as a “Trickster,” Mercury begins his three-week retrograde motion on Sunday, July 7. Mercury is, by nature, very clever and changeable. But when retrograde, he is a lot more like the Roadrunner, first making a fierce dash one way, then abruptly changing direction and moving sharply the opposite way. In its retrograde period, no level of support or resistance is solid, and no technical indicator completely reliable. This may be due to retrograde Mercury’s correspondence to “fake outs.” That is, it may break resistance, giving the impression that the low is in and the market is going to go higher. But shortly after giving such a buy signal, the market may turn right around and take out support. But that too quickly ends in a “fake out,” as prices reverse right back up again with little warning. This type of market activity is usually in response to conflicting signals generated by political announcements and economic reports. Expect to see contradictory news items for most of this month. As a trader, you have a choice: be very nimble and short-term oriented, or stand aside until the noise stops.

Speaking of which, there may be a lot of noise the next two weeks. Both the Sun and Venus are transiting through the sign of Cancer, and both will form oppositions to Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, July 9-21. This is already a formation indicative of conflicts, and involves perhaps the most conflicted sign of the zodiac, which is Cancer (it’s an observation, not a proven fact, that individuals with strong Cancer planets tend to frequently get caught up in conflict-of-interest dramas and not even know why). Thus, this Mercury retrograde cycle may be more intense, sensitive, and confusing than most (and most are already confusing due to their correspondence to contradictory messages). It will be an interesting time to watch President Trump, whose Sun is in Gemini, ruled by Mercury, to see how he (how all Geminis) handles the Mercury retrograde tendency to get off message this month, to get sidetracked by small annoyances that could easily morph into a mountain or volcano of misunderstanding. It may also be an interesting time to see his detractors attempt to (and probably succeed) “get under his skin,” as we say in America.

In terms of markets, whenever we see Venus and Pluto involved in aspects to other planets or to each other in the same period of time (as occurs July 9-21), issues of debt and taxes seem to become more newsworthy. This, in turn, affects markets related to debt, like treasuries and currencies (such as the U.S. Dollar). Also, we have this rule: any market that declines into a hard aspect between Venus and Saturn, is a candidate to start a rally. Hence, we will be watching this time band very closely for excellent trading opportunities. Or not. After all, Mercury is retrograde, which is not generally a favorable time for position trading, as discussed earlier. Here, you can already see a conflict of signals developing (astrological) related to Mercury, the Trickster, turning retrograde. Better check and re-check any decisions to be made during the month. Make sure you have all your facts correct and enough information to make an informed decision. And also make sure you have an escape route in the event that you change your mind.