MMA COMMENTS FOR THE WEEK
BEGINNING JUNE 27, 2005

Review and Preview:

            The full moon combined with the summer solstice early last week coincided with new multi-year highs in several stock indexes. But by the end of the week, several of the indices – especially in the United States – began to plummet.

            New multi-year highs were noted last week in all the European indices we track – the German DAX, British FTSE, Netherlands AEX, and the Swiss stock index. The same was true in the Australian All Ordinaries index, which raced to another new all-time high following its decline from its previous all-time high in March. Both the Japanese Nikkei and Hang Seng of Hong Kong put in a strong week too, reaching their highest level in several weeks. But in America , it was a little different story. After reaching 10,656 the prior Friday, its highest level since March, the DJIA lingered around the 10,600 mark until Wednesday. But then it dropped sharply, closing below 10,300. It did not fulfill the “bullish 8-week rule,” as prices did not make a new cycle high following Tuesday of the 9^th week (June 21), which leaves intact the idea that March 7 might very well be the 4-year cycle crest. The NASDAQ Composite cash index edged to a slightly new multi-week high last week, but the NASDAQ futures did not, and then both also sold off to close the week, thus providing another case of Intermarket bearish divergence. In Argentina , the Merval Index was basically quiet, making neither new multi-week highs nor lows.

            The bigger story, however, was in Crude Oil, where prices tested the 60.00 mark for the first time ever last week. Soybeans also continued climbing to new highs for the year, touching 770/bushel on the full moon, summer solstice, of June 21. Gold also soared to nearly 445.00, its highest level since March. But Silver did not perform so well, exhibiting another case of Intermarket bearish divergence. And, contrary to what one would expect, as Gold made new cycle highs, the Euro and other currencies dropped to new cycle lows against the U.S. Dollar.

            All in all, it was a rather noteworthy week, consistent with what one might anticipate given that Uranus has recently turned stationary retrograde, the summer solstice occurred on a full moon, and the week ended with Mars in opposition to Jupiter.

Short-Term Geocosmics:

            If you enjoy watching the drama in the night skies, you will be in for a treat the next few days. Starting Friday night, June 24, Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be very close together right after sunset for several days appearing almost as a bright star, or a new constellation. “Such a small separation of Venus and Mercury isn’t expected again until 2070,” according to Michael Barnett of Knight Ridder Newspapers.

            How it will impact financial markets is hard to say. Anytime Saturn is involved, we always look to markets whose prices are being depressed. Oftentimes a hard aspect from Saturn will keep prices low, and as soon as they start to separate away from Saturn, prices lift to the upside. By itself, this might bode well for stocks that fell at the end of last week. It might also bode well for the currencies against the U.S. Dollar, which also fell again last week. Supporting the argument that stocks might rebound this week is the fact that it is a pre-holiday week in the United States , a time when indices tend to rally more often than decline.

            But geocosmics may have an opposite impact. We note that U.S. stocks started falling hard last week, into the Mars-Jupiter opposition. Jupiter has a tendency to correlate with over optimism or a sense of hysteria and panic. And at the end of this coming week, we have another hard aspect involving Jupiter: the Sun square Jupiter on July 1. It will be interesting to see which dynamic has the greater force in U.S. stocks: the bullish seasonality of going into the July 4 holiday, or the continuation of a mini panic/hysteria, related to hard transiting aspects involving Jupiter. On a related matter, Jupiter is the co-ruler of Pisces, which rules Crude Oil. Here too we saw a bit of a panic in the investment community last week as Crude tested 60.00. Maybe this is the other side of the Jupiter principle – that of over-optimism (or fear) that drives prices to such lofty levels.

            This coming week also finds both Mercury and Venus leaving the nurturing sign of Cancer for the more dramatic fire sign Leo, on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Such ingresses close in time often correlate to a change in investor psychology.

Longer-Term Thoughts:

            In the mundane world, we continue to be concerned about another multiple aspect formation that is about to unfold. This is a cardinal T-square developing between the Sun, Mars, and Jupiter June 24-July 12. As stated previously, “It can be a war-like period, when very bold – and risky - military campaigns are initiated. The aspect will be present during America ’s birthday (solar return), so it is a condition that will remain present for the entire next year.” So we may get a preview of what to expect later on this year.

            Looking ahead, we see a much more serious looking T-square developing later this year, between Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter. Mars will be transiting Taurus July 28, 2005 - February 17, 2006. During that time, it will turn retrograde, and square Saturn in early Leo, and Jupiter in early Scorpio. Mars in Taurus is one of the most consistent correlations to sharp price swings in Crude Oil, and is usually associated with combative military tensions in the Middle East . Lest one think that there are always tensions over there, this signature coincides with the more dramatic and explosive types. And Saturn in Leo, which will be in effect July 2005 through September 2007, is also a time when world leaders tend to come under more intense criticism. The fact that this Saturn, in square to Mars, will be transiting over the Ascendant-Mercury-Pluto stellium in George W. Bush’s chart suggests a potentially very demanding time for him. On the one hand, there is the matter of “The War,” and its (lack of) progress. More accountability of his decisions will likely be demanded at that time, and it is not likely that he will be so calm and deliberate in his replies. On the other hand is the matter of the economy and the escalating debt that his staff has promised would be reduced in half over the next couple of years. With the down side of the Saturn-Pluto cycle just in its early stages (2001-2020), that is not likely to happen, and people will begun to ask why. The downside of Saturn and Pluto’s cycle is a period when both personal and national debts tend to increase, not decrease, and this is followed by increases in both interest rates and taxes, and new struggles with the economy.

And later this year, Jupiter will enter Scorpio. As indicated before, Jupiter can represent expansion and optimism, or panic and hysteria. Scorpio, like Taurus, is a money sign. Whereas Taurus is “money saved,” Scorpio is “money spent,” as in debt. So does Jupiter in Scorpio correlate to a period when debt is diminished, or increased? Being that this Jupiter will be at the part of a T-square with Mars retrograde in Taurus, and Saturn in Leo (critical of leadership), I think it could be a time of stress related to increasing debts. And once again, the leadership of the country gets blamed, especially if that leadership finds transiting Saturn conjunct its natal Ascendant, Mercury and Pluto.