Weekly column: Can the stars predict who will win the White House?

Review

The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. added a solid 206,000 jobs last month, slightly beating expectations and continuing a remarkably strong run. But the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, a sign of slack in a labor market that has already shown some hints of gradually slowing down…. Average hourly earnings were up 3.9% in June from a year earlier, marking their smallest gain since 2021. The counts for both April and May were revised lower by a combined 111,000 jobs.

- Justin Lahart and Nick Timiraos, “Case for September Rate Cut Builds After Slower Jobs Data,” wsj.com, July 5, 2024.

The Saturn-Neptune stations of June 29-July 2 saw Gold, Silver, Copper, and Soybeans make their stops at primary lows, and then…they left the station. Right on time, per our new MMA Solar/Lunar Reversal App signals, geocosmic critical reversal dates, and last weekend’s special MMA Options Webinar strategies devised by veteran options expert Derek Panaia and hosted by myself with a cycles’ update on these markets plus the S&P. Just as forecasted, Gold took out the 2329.70 low of the prior Friday, June 28, early last week, and by the end of this current week it was testing 2400. The options strategies given on Gold are up 50-75%. Silver was even more spectacular as the options strategy is now up over 150%. The Copper and Soybean strategies are up 65-75% as well. That’s not bad for a one-week trade so far.

It was a good week for world stock indices, too. New all-time highs were recorded in the tech-heavy NASDAQ, the S&P, Japanese Nikkei, Netherlands AEX and India’s NIFTY indices. Crude Oil had a positive week, soaring to its highest mark since mid-April. But the bigger story was the sharp decline in Bitcoin and Ethereum. BTC fell to its lowest mark since February (see “Short-Term Geocosmics” below).

As exciting for traders as last week was, the end of this week and the next may be equally exciting and rewarding if timed well. Saturn and Neptune stations will now give way to the high-speed Mars/Uranus bullet train. Changes will happen fast – faster than most political and financial pundits expect.

Short-term geocosmics

To me it feels like August 1974. The president’s position isn’t going to get better, it is going to get worse. The longer he waits to step aside the crueler his departure will be…. A cratering like that doesn’t happen because you had a bad night, or a cold, or were tired. It happens when an event starkly and unavoidably shows people what they already suspected. It happens when the event gives them proof. … (And revealing, too, that his true condition, the depth of his decline, had been kept, quite deliberately and systematically, from the American people. Oh, the histories that will be written, and the villains that will be named.)

– Peggy Noonan, “Biden Can’t Spin His Way Out of This,” Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2024.

President Joe Biden is facing an uprising from some his own party’s wealthy donors, including an heiress to the Disney family fortune, who say they will no longer fund the Democratic Party until Biden drops out of the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance.

-Brian Schwartz, “Disney Heiress, Wealthy Democratic Donors Say They Won’t Finance the Party Until Joe Biden Drops Out,” cnbc.com, July 4, 2024.

In astrology, Algol is one of the most unfortunate stars. Ptolemy referred to it as “the Gorgon of Perseus” and associated it with death by decapitation: mirroring the myth of the Hero Perseus’ victory over the snake-headed Gorgon Medusa.

Last weekend’s powerful Saturn and Neptune stations (June 29-July 2), which correlated with primary cycle or secondary lows in Gold, Silver, Copper, and Soybeans. Next weekend coincides with a powerful conjunction of Mars and Uranus in late Taurus, conjunct with the fixed star Algol, also known as the “Demon Star.” It is the second brightest fixed star in the heavens and is considered by ancient astrologers as one of the most ominous of all. Combining this legend with the nature of Mars (war, aggression, threats, heat) with Uranus (the “disruptor,” bearer of sudden surprises and shocks, such as earthquakes and natural calamities), and you have the ingredients for a potentially dangerous period for humankind. This can also translate into sudden and sharp reversals in several financial markets. In some cases, it may even lead to explosive breakouts in those markets that are near their all-time highs, like Gold and Copper.

With Uranus, you never know if a market will “break out” beyond support and resistance (Uranus doesn’t respect any boundaries) or reverse (Uranus loves to suddenly change its direction and disrupt any sense of comfort). Historically, if a market reverses under Mars/Uranus, the move could be sharp but not necessarily long-lasting. It does have a 75% frequency rate to primary cycles in U.S. stock indices, given an orb of 10 trading days. Furthermore, Uranus rules technology, so the action will likely be in that sector, with an interest in AI stocks, since they are “new” and Uranus is associated with that which is “original.”

Another market sector that could be impacted by this combination is Bitcoin. BTC has plummeted over 25% since its double top (secondary high) of 71,933 one month ago, on June 7. This is now entering the time and price range for a 24-month cycle trough, wherein downside projections are for a decline of 25-50%. This outlook will be updated in this weekend’s MMA Weekly Reports (and Weekly Bitcoin Report).

On the political front, we are already seeing signs of Mars and Uranus (with Algol) underway with the startling results of elections in the UK and France, and with the recent debate between Presidents Biden and Trump in the U.S. It was a disaster for the current President Biden. The calls for him to step down are not subsiding. And as columnist Peggy Noonan points out in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, it’s only going to get worse, not better. But he and his handlers continue to purport the delusionary narrative that he is the only one who can defeat Donald Trump. The reality is more likely the opposite: Biden may be the only one that former President Trump can beat.

When you consider that on Election Day, transiting Jupiter will conjunct the U.S. natal Mars, which also falls on Trump’s natal Sun/Uranus conjunction and trine to his natal Jupiter, the cosmic odds appear more in the former president’s favor. Biden, on the other hand, finds transiting Uranus in his 6th house (of health and service) in opposition to his Sun/Mercury (nervous system and vitality) in Scorpio in the 12th house (challenge of reality versus wishful thinking). This is an indicator of a major change of lifestyle. Additionally, there will be a Mars/Pluto opposition during election week, making a T-square with Biden’s natal Moon, a very challenging combination that rules popularity and family. When transiting Pluto is active to a sensitive point in a natal chart, it requires a surrender of sorts, a real commitment to enact a powerful change of direction in one’s life and/or behavior. If not voluntary, then by force of circumstance.

It is also interesting to note that Kamala Harris, the current Vice-President, and leading candidate to replace President Biden should he decide not to run, finds transiting Saturn high up in her natal chart in the 10th house of career, Jupiter near her ascendant and Uranus on her natal Jupiter. These are actually very favorable aspects for career advancement. However, the Mars/Pluto opposition makes a T-square with her natal Mercury, which is her ruling planet. Like Biden, she too will not likely escape this period unscathed. Pluto spares no one who doesn’t surrender their ego and voluntarily elect a change of direction or behavior, as the current patterns are not being accepted by others who matter in the native’s life, such as voters. As the current polls show, however, Kamala Harris has now overtaken Biden as the preferred choice of Democrats to face Trump. The new polls are consistent with the transits to their natal charts.