We are now beginning the most intense geocosmic time window of the year, according to the studies I reported in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles. From August 21 through September 10, there are twelve major geocosmic signatures in effect that attained a ranking of Level 1, 2, or 3 in this work, in which Level 1 is considered the strongest type of correlation to the culmination of primary or greater cycles. Five of these 12 signatures are a Level 1 type, including the strongest single geocosmic signature of the year, which is the Jupiter-Uranus opposition of this Friday, August 29. It so happens that this 14-year planetary cycle falls right near the middle of this cluster, on Sunday, August 31. And as we enter this powerful zone of geocosmic activity, all of the stock indices covered in this weekly report continued upwards. Each made new highs for the year last week, and most closed near those highs, except in the United States. This is not surprising, for as suggested for several weeks, and stated in last week’s report, “Everything continues on track according to our prior forecasts of a possible 50-week crest to be achieved within 12 trading days of the Jupiter-Uranus opposition, which takes place August 29.”

In Europe, the German Dax, Netherlands AEX, and the Swiss stock indices, all attained new highs for the year on Friday at 3588.50, 336, and 5262.90. Since their multi-year lows of March 12, 2003, just 5 months ago, these indices have now gained 64%, 54%, and 45% respectively. The London FTSE index also made a new high last week, on Tuesday, but unlike the other European markets, it could not continue its rally to new highs by Friday, thus creating a case of intermarket bearish divergence. Not only that, but the FTSE also displayed momentum divergence too on the Tuesday highs of 4286.90. It settled the week at 4225.90.

In the Far East, the Australian All Ordinaries, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and the Nikkei all raced to new highs for the year on Friday, and closed near those highs as well. The All Ordinaries topped out at 3180.70. The Hang Seng soared to 10,769 on Friday, and closed the week at 10,761, which is up remarkably from its multi-year low of 8333 realized back on April 28. But even more impressive was the Japanese Nikkei Index. After making a possible 9-year cycle trough on April 28 at 7604, it has climbed all the way back to 10,378 as of Friday. The 14-year bear market in the Nikkei may be over, as a new long-term bull market appears to be in force.

In the United States, however, the market activity looked much more troubling by the close on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Averages made a new high for the year early Friday morning, as prices soared to 9500. But by the close, the index sold off more than 150 points, to end the day at 9348.90. This is a concern because the 9500 high represents a nearly 50% correction of the whole move down from the all-time high of 11,750 in January 2000, to the 7197 4-year cycle trough of October 10, 2002. Additionally, as the DJIA made a new high for the year early Friday, it was unconfirmed by the S&P futures. And then both sold off sharply to close near the lows of the day. The NASDAQ Composite displayed a similar behavior, making a new high early Friday at 1812.50, but then closing near its low of the day at 1765.30.

The highs of Friday fell on the day of the Sun-Jupiter conjunction, and followed by one day the Venus-Jupiter conjunction. This is significant, for as stated last week, “We now begin a very intense geocosmic time band containing several aspects to Jupiter. As stated earlier the Jupiter-Uranus opposition of August 29 is the most important. But leading up to that, we find both the Sun and Venus in conjunction to Jupiter this week, on Thursday and Friday. Since the principle of Jupiter is to expand or increase, and since the market has been rising, it would appear that these indices could continue higher into these dates.” They did. And right after the aspect ended, the markets began falling, especially in the United States, which is the last world market to close each day.

The intensity of these signatures will increase this week, with a heavy emphasis upon Uranus and Mars. On Sunday, August 24, the Sun will be in opposition to Uranus. Venus already opposed Uranus on Friday, August 22. On Tuesday, August 26, Venus will be in opposition to Mars. On Thursday, Mercury will begin its three-week retrograde motion, and Pluto will turn from retrograde to stationary. On the same day, the Sun will be in opposition to Mars. And then Friday, the grandfather of them all – Jupiter in opposition to Uranus – unfolds. What does it all mean? Well, with Uranus, you never know. It is the principle of disruption, surprises, the unexpected, and instability. It does rule computers, and with Mercury (communications) going retrograde, and Pluto (worms, bugs, and other things can be deeply embedded), it is no surprise that one of the most vicious attacks of computer viruses and worms are destabilizing communications throughout the world right now (including yours truly). But that is only part of the multitude of problems confronting the world at this time, and new ones that could erupt in the next two weeks. With Mars involved with Uranus, both man-made and natural disasters are possible. But so too are totally new and brilliant solutions to these problems. It is a climate in which great danger and great ideas can both arise simultaneously. Likewise the forces of chaos, war, and terrorism may be offset by equally strong forces for peace. With Mars retrograde in Pisces through the end of September, more and more people may be ready to “fight for peace.” In fact, with Uranus and Neptune in mutual reception through the end of this decade, the collective urge for world peace will likely continue to grow and grow. At the same time, we also in the downside of the Saturn-Pluto cycle for the rest of this decade, which means the forces bent on destruction and violence are also unfortunately growing.

With the peace process in the Middle East now in jeopardy, and with the technical condition of the world stock markets showing more and more signs of bearish divergence, we may see more and more investors deciding to take recent profits and pulling back from the market. But sudden surprises, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein, could still produce quick bursts up even during this period. However, in the absence of such unexpected “good news,” it seems the technical and cyclical picture are pointing to an important crest during this time band, and a substantial correction to commence, perhaps lasting into October-November.

In the next reports, we will probably start mentioning ideas about the U.S. political scene. The U.S. has a presidential election coming up in 2004, and an important recall for the governorship of California coming up October 7. On the day, Jupiter will be at 9 Virgo. Interestingly enough, in last Tuesday’s edition of USA Today newspaper, there was an article on candidate Peter Ueberroth. It gave his birth date as September 2, 1937. His natal Sun is within a degree of 9 degrees of Virgo. This might be one dark horse to watch, as Jupiter will be in conjunction to his over his Sun in October, and then again (due to retrograde) April-June 2004. Just as George Bush experienced great popularity with the same signature in his first years as President, so might Mr. Ueberroth enjoy an increase in polarity. Jupiter over one’s Sun is considered a very fortunate period in one’s life. Of course, losing that election might be more fortunate than winning it, according to people I just talked with in that state.

Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to predict the future movement of various financial markets. However, that is the purpose of the MMA (Merriman Market Analyst) subscription services. This column is not a subscription service. It is a free service, except in those cases where a fee may be assessed to cover the cost of translating this column from English into a non-English language. This weekly report is written with the intent to educate the reader on the relationship between astrological factors and collective human activities as they are happening. In this regard, this report will oftentimes report what happened in various stock and financial markets throughout the world in the past week, and discuss that movement in light of the geocosmic signatures that were in effect. It will then identify the geocosmic factors that will be in effect in the next week, or even month, or even years, and the author’s understanding of how these signatures will likely affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from a perspective of a cycle’s analyst looking at the military, political, economic, and even financial markets of the world. It is possible that some forecasts will be made based on these factors. However, the primary goal is to both educate and alert the reader as to the psychological climate we are in, from an astrological perspective. The hope is that it will help the reader understand these psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and hence financial markets of the day.

No guarantee as to the accuracy of this report is being made here. Any decisions in financial markets are solely the responsibility of the reader, and neither the author nor the publishers assume any responsibility at all for those individual decisions. Reader should understand that futures and options trading are considered high risk.