Mars affliction may trigger early-week slide

Stocks surged last week as coordinated efforts from central banks around the world unleashed a tsunami of cheap US cash to foster more lending in the euro zone.

While I thought we could see some gains in the first half of the week on the Mercury-Jupiter aspect, the strength of this rally was surprising. It seems that the bearish influence of Saturn on Jupiter has been temporarily interrupted in this volatile eclipse period.
In addition, we should note the potential influence of Jupiter’s aspect with Uranus. Whenever Jupiter (optimism, expansion) and Uranus (risk, change) form significant angles, the market is more likely to rally higher. Indeed, the unusually long-lasting Jupiter-Uranus aspect throughout 2009 and 2010 was a key source of bullishness during that massive rebound rally.  

The Jupiter-Uranus aspect will stay within close range until January, although that may not translate into a rising market.
The complicating factor here is that nasty old Saturn will also be in close range of these two bullish planets until January.

These three slow-moving planets will therefore form a complex alignment, which will last into early 2012.  While Jupiter and Uranus may tend to lift stocks, Saturn’s close proximity suggests that rallies may be untrustworthy and short-lived. Moreover, the presence of Saturn here also increases the risk of more downside. 

It is worth noting that we had a similar alignment of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in mid-2010 around the time of a significant global correction.  History does not exactly repeat itself, but it may well rhyme.

The highlight this week is the ongoing Mars affliction to the Sun, Mercury and Rahu.  Thus far, the negative effects of this combination have been nullified by Jupiter’s positive influence through its aspect with Uranus.

It is possible that this negativity will continue to be offset, although I suspect we are more likely to see some downside manifest at some point, probably earlier in the week.

The late week features a Sun-Venus aspect, which could help the bulls. Caution is warranted, however, as Friday’s crucial EU summit occurs just one day prior to the lunar eclipse on December 10. Eclipses are destabilising influences that can produce surprising outcomes and increase the possibility of reversals. 

Crude oil pushed higher taking it back over $100 once again last week. This week looks more mixed as the Sun’s conjunction with Rahu early in the week is more likely to push prices lower. The second half of the week could see a rebound as the Sun finds better company with Venus.

Gold also benefited from the injection of central bank largesse last week as prices rose 4% closing near $1750. Despite the bearish Mars-Sun affliction, gold appeared to gain strength from Jupiter’s revival through its aspect with Uranus.

That Jupiter influence still looks strong this week but gold may still suffer early in the week from Rahu’s influence on Sun. Further upside is possible after that, although it is unclear if it can break above current resistance.

The writer is a neo-Vedic astro-loger specialising in predictive astrology. He runs the website www.modernvedicastrology.com