Weekly column: How planetary alignments influenced the April jobs report and stock rally

Review

Stocks jumped sharply Friday after a softer-than-expected April jobs report boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates soon. Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report showed 175,000 jobs gained in April, below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate edged up to 3.9%, versus 3.8% in the prior month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage figures also came in less than expected, an encouraging sign for inflation.

—Samantha Subin and Pia Singh, “Dow Closes Higher by More Than 400 Points as April Jobs Report Bolsters Fed Rate Cut Hopes,” www.cnbc.com, May 3, 2024.

The Federal Open Market Committee maintained its interest-rate target for fed funds at 5.25% to 5.5%. This had been signaled after the inflation report for March, which came in hot at a 3.5% annual rate. But Mr. Powell said current monetary policy is restrictive enough to bring down prices, and he took a rate increase off the table: “It’s unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike.”

—The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, “Jerome Powell Isn’t Too Worried About Inflation,” May 1, 2024.

The Jupiter/Uranus conjunction of Saturday, April 20, is turning out to be an important turning point for many global stock indices. Several have rallied sharply since their multi-week lows of Friday, April 19; some have even risen to new all-time highs. While others, however, are still struggling to gain traction.

In the Asian and Pacific Rim markets, strong rallies were noted in China, Hong Kong, and India. China’s Shanghai Composite (SSE) soared to a new yearly high, supporting our view that a new 5.5-year cycle is underway. The Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong also rallied to its highest level since September 2023. The NIFTY index soared to a new all-time high on Friday in India. However, Australia’s ASX and Japan’s Nikkei were more subdued but held above their Jupiter/Uranus lows of April 19.

The divergence was just as apparent in Europe, where the London FTSE soared to a new all-time high on Friday, but the German DAX and Zurich SMI were much weaker, yet held their lows of April 19. However, the Netherlands’ AEX was robust and ended the week testing its all-time high.

U.S. stock indices also held their lows of April 17-19 and rallied sharply into Friday, May 3, but not to new all-time highs (yet). Brazil’s Bovespa also had a good week but still remains well off its all-time highs. The key takeaway is that markets reversed off primary cycle lows associated with the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, the longest-term planetary aspect of the year. Once again, this demonstrates the power of geocosmic studies as an exceptional market timing tool.

Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped to possible major or half-primary cycle lows in other markets on Wednesday, May 1. They then rallied sharply into Friday, with Bitcoin reversing from a low of 56,483 to a high so far of 62,191, an appreciation of over 10%. The low was within the time band and price range given in a second special report issued to subscribers on May 1, but it is still not enough to confirm the low is in. The decline into last week’s low from the all-time high of 73,803 on March 14 was 23.46% and touched our critical 116-day moving average, something we like to see when primary or half-primary cycle lows form.

Gold, Silver, and Crude Oil were not so fortunate. Each made multi-week (4 weeks or greater) lows. But note that Crude Oil is now in the time band for its primary cycle trough and entering the lower line of a downward channel formation (for chartists like us who watch for these things). For students of geocosmic studies, we also note that Saturn is now in the middle of Pisces. We anticipate a long-term cycle low in Crude Oil with Saturn in Pisces. The middle degrees of a sign is a good place for a longer-term or primary cycle low to form. Also, Mars (the planet associated with conflicts and war) entered Aries last week, which is the sign it rules. Geopolitical conflicts may erupt into violence if leaders act on impulse instead of patience, which could interrupt deliveries of crude oil supplies again this month. We are already seeing this unfold with protestors on college campuses across the nation, many of whom are reportedly not students of those institutions. Yet these protests are forcing school officials to close down classes or bring in police and National Guard units to restore order and protect those who are actually there to get an education.

Short-term geocosmics and longer-term thoughts

The demonstrations, which sometimes became riots, clarified some things, maybe for the first time in generations. America is a country of First Amendment rights, whether the students love our Constitution or not. It is a nation that supports the right to gather and protest. It respects the right to yell and write and put out the truth as you see it. It understands and accepts peaceful demonstrations. But it doesn’t respect breaking our laws. It doesn’t support violence as a tool or tactic and will move against it. It isn’t bad to re-establish these baseline principles.

—Peggy Noonan, “What I Saw at Columbia’s Demonstration: The Protesters Wear Masks, Avoid Eye Contact, and Seem Uninterested in Engagement or Progress,” Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2024.

 Last week’s column discussed the passive-aggressive tendencies of Mars conjunct Neptune in Pisces, which was in effect early last week. The column stated, “The next day, April 30, Mars enters Aries. Now the threat has “bite,” for Mars is home in its ruling sign of Aries. The only problem is that it may act and react impulsively, causing more mayhem than necessary and hurting support for its cause.” The threats are indeed turning from “barks” into “bites” as the passivity and patience of university leaders have reached a turning point regarding the dilemma to support free speech versus hate speech, intimidation, and occupation (trespassing) of college buildings that prevent students from attending classes and advancing toward careers. So much for passivity (Neptune and Pisces) now that Mars (action) has moved into Aries, which is linked to more physical combat between opposing sides, such as protestors and security personnel, and possibly Hamas/Iran and Israel, as well as Russia versus Ukraine (and other parties that are seen as “being in the way”). Mars in Aries is likely to act more assertively than Mars in Pisces. No more “Mr. Nice Guy.”

This is all occurring within the larger “Flip the Script” cosmic narrative that started when both the Sun and Pluto ingressed into Aquarius on January 20, 2024. This was further supported by the recent Mercury retrograde cycle of April 1-25. There has been a lack of clarity regarding the flip-flopping of narratives socially and politically. But it is also observable in the world of economics and financial markets where narratives are changing, and markets are suddenly reversing, right along the timing of the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction (April 20), whose orb of influence will continue into mid-May.

The biggest narrative reversal in the economy is unfolding precisely in accordance with our recent webinars regarding the Federal Reserve and the belief that first, interest rates would be cut, then they wouldn’t, and now, after Friday’s jobs report and the prior week’s weaker than expected GDP numbers, the narrative is again switching to the idea of Fed rate cuts. This fits so well with Mercury the Trickster’s nature, combined with 1). hard Saturn aspects in April to the Fed’s chart (December 23, 1913), followed by 2). soft Jupiter transits starting now as we 3). head into the exit of the Mercury retrograde “shadow” on May 11. It’s back to the future! Or back to the themes that were present in the first three months of the year (before April, which is before Mercury turned retrograde).

We are also coming out of Venus square Pluto (May 1) and Pluto turning retrograde (May 2). Pluto relates to debt, and there is a lot of concern coming out about the non-sustainability of the U.S. debt trend. The next big reversal period will be May 13-18, when the Sun and Venus will conjoin Uranus and Jupiter. That combination has a strong correspondence with financial markets and will likely either reverse this new trend or propel a breakout to new highs (or lows), depending on which markets are near their yearly highs or lows around that time.