Christopher Kevill: Aspects hint at outsize swings

Stocks slumped further last week as the latest stimulus plan from the US Federal Reserve underwhelmed market expectations around the globe.

This bearish outcome was very much in keeping with expectations as the nasty Saturn-Ketu aspect delivered a knockout punch to bulls everywhere.     

As expected, Saturn’s austere and constraining influence prevailed over Ben Bernanke and the Fed last week as he did not offer up any fresh injections of liquidity to prop up the stock market.

Since expansionary Jupiter was weak and Saturn was so strong, no QE3 was forthcoming. Since I have been repeating warning about the probable bearish impact of this Saturn-Ketu aspect for many weeks, last week’s worldwide decline was a reminder of the power of planetary cycles on human sentiment.

While not a science in the conventional sense, financial astrology is nonetheless a useful source of information about current trends in the market when applied together with technical and fundamental analysis.  Now that Saturn and Ketu are separating and the bearish energy is presumably dissipating, does this mean the market is now in a better position to form a bottom?

While it is true that separating aspects are generally weaker, I still think the market is in a danger zone here. That’s because we will see the aspect energised through the conjunctions of Venus, the Sun and Mercury in the near future. These faster moving transits to Saturn have a way of intensifying the bearish energy of the ringed planet.  For this reason, caution should be the watchword for a while longer. This week features a high number of close aspects which could increase the size of the moves in both directions.

On Monday, there is an exact opposition aspect between the Sun and Uranus which could boost risk-taking and thereby lift prices.  Tuesday’s New Moon may also be bullish given the approaching conjunction between Sun and Mercury.  But by Wednesday, the Sun-Mercury pairing will be agitated by the aspect with Mars which could serve to undermine confidence for the second half of the week.  Friday’s Venus-Saturn conjunction could symbolise a loss (Saturn) of joy (Venus) among investors.  While there is some possible upside here early, the late week aspects may exact a heavier toll.

Crude oil was caught in the Operation Twist crossfire last week as it lost more than 8% closing near $80.  This bearish outcome was expected as I thought that the Saturn-Ketu aspect would make commodities less attractive.

Given that crude had been used as an inflation hedge, last week’s deflation event slaughtered commodity bulls across the board. Crude may rebound early in the week here with Monday’s Sun-Uranus aspect, but sentiment may again turn south by the time of Thursday’s Venus-Saturn conjunction.

Gold was another victim of the Fed’s limited intervention plan last week as it plunged more than 8% closing near $1,660.  We could see gold bounce a bit early this week as the Sun gets a boost from Uranus and then Mercury.  But Thursday’s Venus-Saturn conjunction looks very negative and could erase previous gains.

— The writer is a neo-Vedicastrologer specialising in predictive astrology
He runs the website
www.modernvedicastrology.com