Venus retrograde ended last week June 30, and like a gong being struck across the world, almost all the major indices made a top within one day. This is significant because most of those indices also made a 50-week cycle trough within a day that the retrograde began, last May 17. Sometimes, when astrology works this precisely, you just have to wonder at the beauty and orderliness of the cosmos. And then you have to wonder just how much free will there really is, especially when you are doing with the entire collective of humanity. I don’t think anyone can say that the entire Venus retrograde period, coinciding with an important low right at the beginning, and then a significant crest right at the end – was “purely a coincidence!” To have forecasted that the entire Venus retrograde period would be bullish before it happened… well, who would have thought it, except someone who studied astrology J. And you read it all hear for the past two months, long before it happened, and all during its transit.

But there were some unexpected quirks with this retrograde period too. For one thing, the U.S. turnover of Iraq back to its people was originally scheduled to take place right on the favorable date of June 30 as Venus turned stationary direct. But in a surprise move, the transition to sovereignty was handed over by the United States to the new interim Iraqi government on Monday, June 28, 10.26 AM Iraqi time. The reason given was to avoid possible planned disruptions. Astrologically, this presents a very different chart than the one for the originally scheduled date. Instead of Venus being stationary direct, as would have been the case on June 30, Venus was still retrograde on June 28. What does this mean? Well, Venus stationary direct is a symbol of peace and equality, which are the cornerstone principles of a democracy. But Venus direct means there are still issues not resolved about these principles. In the study of astrology, we use a technique known as progressions, at the rate of “one-day-per-year.” That is, every day after the birth of an event is equal to one year of time in the life of that event or organism. In this case, Iraq was re-born on June 28, two days before Venus turned direct. That suggests that it will be another two years before the goals of peace and equality, and maybe even free elections and independence, are attained in Iraq.

We also note that this is a holiday week in the United States, known as “Independence Day.” Just as Iraq has a new chart, born June 28, 2004, so too does the United States have a birth chart, born July 4, 1776, or July 2, 1776, depending on whether you consider the birth as the day the vote for Independence started (July 2) or ended (July 4). I consider July 2 the actual date of birth for the U.S.A., based on letters written at the time by John Adams to his wife Abigail.

The difference is important, I think, in terms of what we might expect to unfold in the United States in the next year, and even the rest of this decade. If the July 2 chart is correct, then the United States has a natal Moon-Pluto conjunction at 27 and 28 degrees of Capricorn respectively. In the July 4 chart, the Moon is in late Aquarius. The significance of this is that Saturn will turn stationary retrograde this year, on November 8, within one week of the U.S.A. Presidential election, at 27 degrees and 20 minutes of Cancer, in exact opposition to the Moon-Pluto conjunction in the July 2, 1776 chart. Saturn is in Cancer, which rules the Moon. The natal Moon is in Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn.

What might Saturn, in opposition to Moon-Pluto conjunction, mean? When thinking about this, keep in mind that Saturn will be transiting just inside the U.S.A. chart base don this time. Saturn, in mundane astrology, pertains to controls of the government. The 8th house, and Pluto, signifies coercion, things that may be forced upon the people, and that may not be very popular. Pluto and the 8th house are rarely something that people jump up and down in excitement about. To the contrary, they usually represent conditions that are very unpopular, and done only out of dire need – or out of a need for control and more power.

So what are the things that could be forced upon the American people, by the government, out of a dire need, or desire for control and more power? Well, Pluto and the 8th house is the domain of taxes. No one would consider a tax hike to be something to jump up and down in excitement about. Tax hikes are always very unpopular. Another thing could be the reinstatement of a military draft. The threat of terrorism could escalate again near the election, and of course no candidate wants to talk about reinstating the draft before the election. But these are things the media and the public need to ask both John Kerry and George Bush: “Are you going to raise taxes, and are you going to re-institute a military draft?” Because their answers to these questions will strike a very sensitive chord in the American psyche (Moon-Pluto conjunction) and it will greatly influence just how many Americans will end up voting.

And once again I remind readers that the direction of the U.S. stock market will be largely dictated by the polls from now through November. And of course, the direction of the U.S. equity markets will be in tandem, to a great extent, with the stock markets of the other leading nations of the world. If Bush is going to win, as I am on record still for thinking he will, then the stock market will not drop substantially prior to election, and will probably even improve more. If Kerry is to win the election, then the stock market will likely take a dive into and beyond this election. If either Bush or Kerry stand up and acknowledge that they may raise taxes or bring back the draft, that candidate would almost surely lose the election.

Last week I stated, “As far as it how it (Venus stationary) affects markets, we can only say that geocosmics indicate that a large reversal of the trend of the past few weeks may be in order. It doesn’t make sense that the markets should pull back now, as this historical transfer of government is about to take place that the world has long anticipated. But markets do not always move in a sensible fashion. And, as we look further at the U.S.A. chart, we note that transiting Uranus makes a favorable trine to its Jupiter for the balance of this year, indicating that America’s standing with the other countries of the world could soon be appreciating. After so many months and even years of harsh criticism and unpopularity, the United States appears ready to bounce back into the good graces of those allies who were recently so critical. So why, with all of this good news, would U.S. and other world equity markets start a decline in the next few days?” The question remains unanswered, but there can be no denial that this is exactly what happened last week. World stock indices topped out on Wednesday or early Thursday as Venus turned direct, and they were down somewhat sharply into Friday’s close, despite all the “good news.”

In Europe, the Netherlands AEX made a new cycle high on Thursday at 348.70, it highest price since the 50-week cycle low of 319.10 on May 17. The German DAX made a secondary high also on Thursday at 4101.50, well off its yearly high made January 27 at 4175.50. Still, that was its highest price since the 3710 low of May 17. It closed the week well off those highs too, at 3998. The sell of this week was even more dramatic in the London FTSE, which got up to 4535 last Monday, but then fell back sharply to close the week at 4407. The Swiss market didn’t fare much better, with a weekly high of 5719 last Monday, and a close at 5606.

In the Far East, the Nikkei followed much the same pattern, making a new cycle at 11,988 on Thursday, its highest level since the May 17 low of 10,490. However, the Hang Seng of Hong Kong rallied only moderately, to a secondary high of 12,329 on June 30. It closed not far off that level at 12,220. In Australian, the all ordinaries failed to make a new record high. But it did make a secondary high on Thursday at 3537, just 12 points off its all-time high of June 21.

In South America, the Argentina Merval index made a new post-May 17 high at 970.33 on Friday, July 2. This is still up sharply from the May 18 low of 828.34, and this market still looks positive. But in the USA, we observed intermarket bearish divergence as the NASDAQ Composite made a new cycle high at 2055.70 on June 30, the day Venus turned direct. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 16 points shy of its high the prior week, reaching only 10,471 on Wednesday for a secondary high, and then falling to close the week at 10,282.80. Both of these indices are pointing to lower prices ahead, according to our technical readings.

So, Venus retrograde is over. It was a strange and erratic period, when indecision and endless discussions with no resolutions seemed to be the order of the day. And now our attention will fast forward to August 6-18, a period in which the 13-year waning square between Jupiter an Pluto will unfold, followed close behind by Mars in opposition to Uranus. Those are once again potentially violent aspects, portending danger to either man or nature. They are also midway between the Democratic and Republican conventions, in which each party’s candidates will be formally selected. You can expect the rhetoric to be turned up very high then, and if you believe what you will hear at that time, neither candidate has any business running for the top slot of leadership in the U.S.A. But we must remember that nothing is ever as bad as it sounds. Unfortunately, it may not be as good as we wish either. The markets are apt to respond with great concern to the exaggeration of negativity prevalent then. But you, the reader, need to remember to see things more objectively, for the stars suggest that indeed, complaints and credits are both exaggerated then.

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.

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