Most of the major world stock indices that we track had significant rallies last week. Of particular interest was the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong which made a new cycle high on October 29, and the German DAX, which came within one point of a new yearly high on Thursday

In Europe, the German Dax rallied to 3675.80 on October 30. The high for the year made back on September 5, was 3676.90. The DAX closed the week at 3656, poised to make a run for higher prices this coming week. If they don’t then this could be a double top, a common pattern seen at important cycle highs. The London FTSE index was well of its high for the year, reaching only 4332.90 on Thursday, then closing the week at 4287.80. The same was true in the rallies in both the Netherlands AEX and Swiss stock index. The former rallied to 331.40 on Friday, and closed near those highs at 330.20. The Swiss market got to 5240 on Thursday before settling back to close the week at 5090. However, the technical condition of both market is now neutral, which means it could go either way this coming week.

In the Far East, the Hang Seng index rebounded sharply from the prior week’s low, soaring to a new yearly high at 12,305 on October 29. It closed the week still strong at 12,190. The Japanese Nikkei index had an inside week (lower high and higher low than previous week). However, it weekly momentum indicator fell sharply, suggesting lower prices possible in the next 1-4 weeks. In Australia, the All Ordinaries fell to a corrective low of 3252 on Tuesday, but recovered somewhat to close the week at 3282. It too is still under a bearish oscillator divergence, suggesting the oath of least resistance may still be down.

In the United States, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ Composite staged a rally, but fell slightly short of their highs of two weeks ago. The DJIA got up to 9839.90 on Friday, just a little below the 9850 high of October 15. The Composite reached 1957.50 on October 30, just a little of its 1966.90 high of October 15. Both closed fairly close to those weekly highs however.

Traders and investors alike need to keep in mind that this is still a very important time band of geocosmic signatures that could indicate a sharp reversal down. The entire time band stretches from October 17-November 26, which the most pronounced area highlighted right now, October 22-November 7. As you can see, some markets are indeed making new highs, or testing previous highs, as of the last week. Will they blast through to make much higher highs in the next few sessions? Transiting Venus entering Sagittarius, November 2-28, suggests this is possible. But heliocentric Mercury entering Sagittarius (November 3-14), and even heliocentric Venus entering Capricorn (November 4-22) suggests the opposite. And of course, the other signatures mentioned previously also suggest a crest of major proportions could be developing anytime prior to November 26, and especially before November 7.

Heliocentric Mercury is Sagittarius is always a time that traders need to be very alert. Usually very sharp moves in precious metals and currencies occur during at least the first four trading days, and they are usually up, while stocks are usually down. But both precious metals and foreign currencies closed the week with bearish technical signals. So it will be interesting to see which is more dominant: the bullish heliocentric Mercury, or the bearish technicals?

The Saturn and Neptune stationary periods of October 22 and 24 were very much in evidence in the news events of the past week. Perhaps the most classical example of this combination occurred in Russia, where oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed on charges of fraud, forgery, and tax evasion. But he denies these allegations, saying “the investigations are a politically motivated attempt to intimate him (due to) his increasingly ambitious political activities,” according to Friday’s Wall Street Journal. Neptune rules oil, Saturn rules big government, and the two combined can create an environment of paranoia and fear of prosecution – real or perceived. The result was a large loss of confidence in the Russian business climate and financial markets. A panic is indeed setting in, as investors and business flee the country. Another example of the accusation of fraud, embezzlement and lying that can be representative of this signature was seen in the trial of Tyco’s former heads Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz. In fact, a huge proportion of the top news stories last week seem to focused on deception in either business or government, including the report by The Center for Public Integrity. This report alleged that the majority of the post war jobs in Iraq went to companies that were big Republican (White House) donors, like Halliburton and Bechtel. The idea that unethical and possibly illegal practices have – or are occurring is consistent with these geocosmic principles.

In this coming week, we find two powerful Level 1 signatures in effect. The first is the Sun square Neptune on November 3, and the second is Uranus turning stationary direct on November 8. The first continues this theme of lying, deception, cover ups, and rumors. It also rules oil and oil companies again, so the situation in Russia is far from over. In fact, more distortions are likely to be reported. Be careful of what you believe next week. In terms of markets, this Sun-Neptune signature can represent the end of disillusionment and fantasy. Reality may hit hard, especially as Uranus turns direct on the weekend. Neptune can be very soft and gentle, and a bit of a dream world. But Uranus can erupt with a sudden abruptness to wake investors and traders alike out of their stupor, as suddenly they see things in ways they had overlooked before. It is like an earthquake, or a sudden hurricane strikes with surprising force. This can result in very volatile markets, and sharp price swings in very short amounts of time. By the time Mars forms a T-square to both Jupiter and Pluto in the final ten days of November, along with Sun square Uranus, the effects of this explosive period may be fully realized.

Fasten your seat belts. Anther roller coaster-like period is about to commence. It will be good for inspirational new ideas. But it will play havoc for those wishing to hold onto the status quo. With Mars still very close to the Earth, and with solar flare activity at a high, it is any wonder that the elements of passion, attraction, as well as anger and extreme restlessness are so much in evidence? Standing relationships are on trial. And it is a trial by fire.

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.