Weekly column: The Jupiter Saturn square decoding market shifts amidst global tensions

Review

The European Union (EU) has delayed imposing its first retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. until mid-April after President Donald Trump threatened a 25% tariff increase on all steel and aluminum imports earlier this month, according to Reuters.

 — Pilar Arias, “EU delays imposing first round of retaliatory tariffs against US until mid-April,” www.foxbusiness.com, March 21, 2025.

It was a typical Mercury retrograde week, as stocks started the week rallying, only to reverse, with stocks moving into a low on Friday, which was then followed by a sharp rebound into the close for the weekend. The big question is whether the week’s highs were yet another lower-high with respect to the corrective downtrend in the U.S. If it was, we should be prepared for a breakdown to new lows. In other words, the March 11 low we saw across many markets recently may not hold. However, short-term geocosmics hold the key to what’s transpiring now, as explained below.

In Europe, the major indices have still held their lows since March 11, but most finally paused in their rallies and finished lower in the week, save for the Zurich SMI and the AEX in Amsterdam.

Over in Asia, the Japanese Nikkei managed to finish in positive territory, but it too saw some selling after a high formed mid-week. The Australian ASX was one of the standout performers last week, as it recovered most of the previous week’s losses. The Shanghai Composite sold off for most of the week and finished at the lows. The Hang Seng Index suffered the same fate, but not before starting the week with a solid rally. It also finished near the week’s lows on Friday.

The year-to-date trend of international markets outperforming U.S. markets finally paused last week, and whether or not this trend continues will depend on the political situation in the U.S. Let me clarify: the U.S. market has had its run of outperformance against its international counterparts for years, so some of this recent underperformance is merely cyclical. Plus, we must keep in mind that Europe and China have been much more aggressive in their stimulus lately compared to the United States. Another point worth noting is that Japan is moving in the opposite direction, as it has been tightening its monetary policy.

Gold hit another new all-time high last week but saw some selling into Friday’s close. Silver was lower on the week, as it continues to lag Gold. It’s also been unable to exceed its high from October 2024, which could be a concern in the near term. Copper, on the other hand, closed at its highest weekly level in history. Otherwise known as “Dr. Copper,” this isn’t the most recessionary signal – it may be more appropriate to be in the “economic slowdown” versus “recession” camp if we’re going to listen to this particular base metal. But then again, Copper’s ruler, Venus, is retrograde at the moment, so this could be a false signal, too.

Crude Oil also saw a modest rebound, as this could be an especially sensitive market to all of the Neptunian and Piscean energy coming in the next couple of weeks. Grains finished mixed, with only Corn notching a gain on the week.

In debt and currency markets, T-Notes and the Dollar managed to finish the week in positive territory as Fed Chair Powell signaled more rate cuts could be coming – eventually. The Fed stayed put and left rates unchanged last week, but here, too, the geocosmics give us a clue as to when the next rate cut could occur.

Over in crypto land, both Bitcoin and Ethereum managed to come away with modest gains on the week. The technical and cyclical situation in both of these cryptocurrencies remains compelling – but further confirmation is still needed to instill confidence that intermediate-term cycle lows are complete.

Short-term geocosmics

This isn’t the ideal time to formalize and sign agreements, but out of obligation to one’s partners and allies, the seat at the negotiating table must be kept warm. It’s as if the European Union just wants to buy a little more time on the tariff matter in the hope of a resolution. Note that the retrograde chaos period that’s been in effect since late November comes to an end on April 12, and the next date for retaliatory tariffs is now April 13. How’s that for some geocosmic symmetry?

This week, we have both retrograding personal planets, Mercury and Venus, moving back into Pisces from Aries. This makes for an interesting dynamic because typically, Venus is exalted in Pisces, and Mercury is in detriment in Pisces. However, since they’re both retrograde, it could lead to a temporary inversion whereby communications concerning the general welfare of all (Pisces) lead to progress, but a final and binding compromise (Venus) may not be reached.

And, of course, we cannot neglect the fact that Neptune is in the picture as well, and the god of the sea remains in that final, potent, 29th degree of Pisces, no less. The importance of Neptune and Pisces when it comes to global trade sometimes gets overlooked in modern discourse, but think about how many goods are shipped across the seas. Jupiter ruled Pisces before the discovery of Neptune, and on its own, Jupiter is a ruler of long-distance, international trade.

In other words, it’s going to be a very Neptunian and Piscean week, emphasized by the personal planets of Mercury and Venus. There is a dense fog of confusion surrounding the markets and the looming threat of a potential recession. But is this based in reality? It’s hard to know what to believe on the surface, which is why transcendence is required in order to discover the facts of the situation. Could it just be that the economy slows down, and we avert a full-blown recession? In the past, such scenarios haven’t been bad for stocks. But on its own, this could be enough to confuse the majority of market participants – there is little comfort in the consensus during times like these.

So, where does this leave us in the short term? Well, there could be some explosive and revelatory developments that emerge – like throwing gasoline onto a fire – once Neptune makes the initial ingress into Aries on March 30. But would such accusations actually be true, or could they be merely designed to incite a retaliatory response? We probably won’t have a better sense of what’s real until Saturn comes back into the geocosmic picture on April 7 via a conjunction with Venus.

The timing of this hard aspect between Venus and Saturn couldn’t come at a more auspicious time. Again, these planets are still in Pisces, but Saturn may offer a chance to add some structure to this fluid and watery environment and start separating fact from fiction. Given the market’s mood is more pessimistic than optimistic at the moment, it appears lined up to turn into a situation where things are not actually being as bad as they seem. It’s the ideal environment for a panic to finally subside.

Longer-term thoughts (and opinion)

Battle lines being drawn

Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong

— Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth, 1966, Atco Records

Sales of previously owned homes in February rose 4.2% from January to 4.26 million units on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Industry analysts had expected a drop of 3%…. Sales were 1.2% lower compared with February of last year.

— Diana Olick, “February Home Resales Jump Much More than Expected, Despite Higher Mortgage Rates,” CNBC, March 20, 2025.

Back before the discovery of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, observers of the cosmos were only focused on the planets up to Saturn. The only two outer planets for the classical world were Jupiter and Saturn, and the synodic cycle between these two, which lasts roughly twenty years, is known as the Great Chronocrator.

I want to bring attention to this aspect, specifically within the context of economic expansion and contraction. Jupiter rules expansion, whereas Saturn rules contraction. We had the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in December 2020, right in the thick of the Covid pandemic. It was a time of tremendous monetary and fiscal stimulus, but just a couple of years later, in 2022, we saw the Fed embark on its most aggressive tightening campaign in history.

This brought us to the summer of 2024, and specifically, August 19, 2024. It began the central time band of the current Jupiter-Saturn square, which lasts until June 15, 2025. Back in the summer, there was a real concern about an economic slowdown, which led the Fed to panic and cut interest rates by 50 basis points.

The Fed continued with 25 basis point rate cuts until the December 18, 2024 meeting, which was less than a week from the second-of-three square signatures between Jupiter and Saturn. But at that meeting, Powell said the need for further rate cuts is questionable.

The theme thus far around these first two exact aspects has been one of the Fed panicking or reversing their actions. Interestingly, the market is pricing in the next rate cut to be on June 18, just three days after the final Jupiter-Saturn square. Does this kick off the next round of aggressive rate cuts – perhaps until the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in early 2026? Remember, the Fed’s job is to “walk the line” of expansion and contraction and to maintain stability as much as possible.

The characteristics of these three Jupiter-Saturn squares should also be examined, because all three have been unique from one another. The first one, back in August 2024, had Saturn retrograde. In other words, the energy of contraction was off, and it led to a 50 basis point panic cut. But then, in December 2024, Jupiter was retrograde, so the expansion energy was off, and it led to Powell signaling that more stimulus may not be necessary.

But the third and final one in June has both Jupiter and Saturn direct, but in the subsequent signs, Cancer and Aries, respectively. Jupiter (expansion) is exalted in Cancer, while Saturn (contraction) is in fall in Aries. So, what happens when expansion is exalted and contraction is in decline? My instinct says aggressive stimulus – even more than the market is currently expecting. This means interest rates across all timeframes are set to trend lower.

It’s unlikely that we’ll go back into quantitative easing with Neptune set to ingress into Aries on March 30 – Neptune in fire signs has historically been inflationary – and again, the ideal metaphor is like pouring gasoline on a fire. The Fed’s monetary policy tool of QE was a phenomenon associated with nearly two decades of relatively tamed inflation pressures – we’re in a new inflationary paradigm now and must adjust accordingly.

Going from a Jupiter-Saturn square this year to a Saturn-Neptune conjunction next year (on the Fed’s Midheaven, no less) looks to be a recipe for a massive policy error, especially when it comes to inflation. Right now, the market seems to be more concerned with a recession and a rise in unemployment versus inflation. This may well give the Fed a false sense of security that it can proceed and cut rates.

But we can’t ignore the mounting tensions between the White House and the Eccles Building. Pluto will move into the orb of the Fed’s natal Uranus at 5 degrees Aquarius around the same time of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction on their Midheaven. The central bank can’t win with this administration – they’ll be blamed for whatever goes wrong, and it looks like it may become a situation where their independence (Uranus) comes under threat from those Plutonian forces. The monetary rules could very well be rewritten, just as the trade rules seem to be now, too.