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MMA Comments For the Week
Beginning July 13th, 2003

by Ray Merriman

Copyright 2003. All Rights Reserved

Oh, oh. Here we go.

In several of our recent weekly reports, the nature of the new 2-year sojourn of Saturn in Cancer has been discussed (June 2003-July 2005) at length. The importance of personal qualities such as accountability, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and responsibility were highlighted as attributes necessary on the part of government leaders (especially in the United States) in order to assure the support of the people they lead. Contrarily, these same leaders must avoid the pitfalls of denial and projecting blame onto others, lest they open themselves up to a host of severe criticisms that could threaten to unseat their position of power and popularity.

For the United States and its president, George W. Bush, this astrological signature is especially important because both were” born” in the sign of Cancer. In fact, Saturn will transit over the natal Sun position of both the U.S.A. and President Bush later this year, and throughout much of the election year 2004. Saturn on one’s natal Sun is a period of time in which the future course of that entity reaches a critical juncture. It is a potential turning point in one’s life, depending upon the perception of one’s accountability for past actions. Typically one is now “judged by others,” either favorably or unfavorably, according to both the result of their efforts, the intentions behind those efforts, as well as how well (truthfully) they handle the questions concerning those efforts. It is not a time in which can easily move forward with new projects, until the matters connected with those past efforts are completely (and perhaps correctly) finished.

In a sense, one gets the results that one deserves according to the effort that one puts forth. Saturn may be harsh, but he is also just. If one is accountable for past efforts, takes responsibility for his part in them, and is able to behave in manner that others deem as trustworthy, then there is ultimately reward. If instead the individual denies responsibility, or blames others for the problems encountered, then ultimately the individual is discredited as others lose their sense of trust in that leader.

George W. Bush (as well as the United States itself) is entering such a critical astrological juncture that will likely determine his (and its) future over the remainder of this decade. And there are some serious signs that are emerging since Saturn entered Cancer on June 4 that relate to these issues. The major ones have to do directly, and indirectly, with the handling of the War on Iraq, and now the financial (and political) consequences that are unfolding as a result of that war. In the past week, we have seen the following news reports:

1. The previous weekend, on “Meet the Press,” former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson said the Bush Administration manipulated his (Wilson’s) findings disputing that Iraq had bought Uranium from Niger.

2. On Wednesday, July 9, the Wall Street Journal reported that senior lawmakers are pressing for a fuller accounting of Defense Secretary Rumsfield’s staff in shaping U.S Intelligence assessments leading up to the war in Iraq. The Appropriations Committee is now concerned “whether intelligence on the threat posed by Iraq was distorted” to influence the decision on involvement in this war.

3. On Thursday, July 10, Rumsfield told Congress that the Pentagon will now spend $3.9 billion a month to maintain current troop levels in Iraq for the foreseeable future. General Tommie Franks told Congress that U.SW. troops may have to remain in Iraq for up to four years now. Just a week earlier the estimated cost was about $2 billion per month, and the time expectation of troops remaining in Iraq was unknown, but certainly not 4 years.

4. In Friday’s wall Street Journal, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the president (Bush) needn’t apologize for the erroneous assertion of an Iraq bid to buy uranium because “it seemed to be a reasonable statement at the time.”

5. In Saturday headline report by the Detroit Free Press Washington staff, “Bush puts blame on CIA for error,” regarding his pre-war argument that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa to revive a nuclear weapons program.”

6. And finally, again in a Saturday front page story appearing in the Detroit Free Press, a group of civilians in the U.S. Defense Department who dominated planning for postwar Iraq have been criticized for failing to prepare for the setbacks that have erupted over the past two months. This department was at odds with the State department which was at odds with the CIA and White House over how this process was to unfold, and as a result, “Virtually none of the Future of Iraq’s project’s work was used once Hussein fell.”

In essence, the war effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power was a success. But the reconstruction phase of rebuilding Iraq was poorly planned and has been even more poorly executed. And blame for all of this is being passed from one official and one branch of the government to the other. No one is taking responsibility, no one seems accountable, and high-ranking officials are even making suggestions to the president to “not apologize” for anything. These are all in the category of pitfalls related to the “best solutions guide’ required of Saturn. The results are almost predictable. Just as in 1972-74, when Saturn last passed through Cancer and then President Richard Nixon was forced to resign amidst increasing public criticism for not being truthful and accountable to the country, current U.S. president George W. Bush risks facing the same fate in the next 15 months. And if this behavior of blame and denial doesn’t reverse rather quickly, the U.S. stock market and economy will likely follow the same path it did then. From high of 1067 in January 1973, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a low of 573 in December 1974, as the country suffered its worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

Our focus as market analysts over the next 6-8 weeks will be upon the Jupiter-Uranus opposition coming up August 29. As reported in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing, Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles, this is one of the most powerful of all geocosmic correlations to primary or greater cycles. Within an orb of 12 trading days, it has a historical correlation of 82% to primary or greater cycles. For now, we look for the U.S. (and world stock indices) to make its 50-week cycle crest or trough during that period. As long as prices remain above the low of the past two weeks, our bias is that it will be a crest. If so, the dollar will also rise against other currencies into that period.

Some readers have asked us to comment about what to do with their investment monies given my outlook that another large decline in the economy and stock market are due by the end of this decade. As stated back in December 2002, I believe investors should seriously consider moving a portion of these funds into money markets denominated in non U.S. dollar currencies, lime the Euro, Swiss Franc, Australian and Canadian Dollar, for protection. Why? Europe because I believe that currency will become stronger and stronger since the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction has passed in mid 2000 and the EU will become a more and more dominant force in world and local trade. The Swiss Franc because it has historically been a “safe haven” in times of world turmoil. And the Australian and Canadian Dollar because their economies are more commodities-based, and we are now in the 16-18 year downside of the Saturn-Pluto cycle (2001-2020). During this time equities will tend to be more stagnant as we move from a collective conscious (and economy) of abundance and prosperity, to a time of scarcity and increasing national debts.

On another personal matter, readers may be interested in reading new “Rave Reviews” regarding this author’s latest book, titled “The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 4: Solar-Lunar Correlations to Short-Term Trading Reversals,” which appear on our web site at http://www.mmacycles.com/vol4.htm. Or you may read another excellent review that appears in the August edition of Dell Horoscope magazine.

If you are interested in learning more about financial astrology, you might check out the ISAR Financial Astrology pre-seminar, taking place October 8, 2003, in Los Angeles. The main seminar itself will take place October 8-13. For further information, go to www.isarastrology.com, and click the ISAR 2003 seminar icon top see the schedule of activities and many of the well-known market timers who will be speaking. A great pre-registration discount is in effect until July 1. Sign up now and save!

On another personal matter, readers may be interested in reading new “Rave Reviews” regarding this author’s latest book, titled “The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 4: Solar-Lunar Correlations to Short-Term Trading Reversals,” which appear on our web site at http://www.mmacycles.com/vol4.htm. Or you may read another excellent review that appears in the August edition of Dell Horoscope magazine.

Disclaimer: 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.

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