Almost all world stock indices were down last week, despite the continued economic reports that world economies are improving. As pointed out before, growth in many countries, especially the United States, has been a case of too much too fast. The effect of such rapidly improving economic conditions creates an environment for rising inflation, and then rising interest rates, which is entirely consistent with the second half of the Saturn-Pluto cycle (2002-2020), as observed throughout much of the last 200 years.

But the heaviness overlaying the world stock markets was not only related to fears of the return of inflation and higher interest rates. The world is again concerned about the almost daily reports of terrorist activity, and the fact that we are witnessing more and more loss of human lives. According to astrology, these concerns are real right now. The threat of violence and death through terrorist and/or military actions is indicated in the forthcoming Mars-Pluto square, which takes place on November 26. Even before then, there is a solar eclipse this Sunday, and it forms a T-square with Uranus, another significator of matters getting out of control. The influence of these signatures can be felt a good week prior to their actual occurrence in the heavens, and indeed that is what the world has already witnessed this past week. Most notable was the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul on Thursday.

At the same time, over 70,000 activists protested against President George Bush’s visit to Great Britain. What is perhaps most disturbing about this protest are the reports as to who are the organizers of these events. It appears these are the same types of groups that ruined the credibility of the original peace movement back in the late 1960’s. They themselves are akin to terrorists whose primary purpose is to cause chaos and anti-government hysteria, and not really the pursuit of wold peace at all.

I would to briefly review thoughts expressed in prior columns. Uranus and Neptune are in a strong configuration known as “mutual reception” from 2003-2010. Uranus rules the masses of people, and brilliant new ideas that can benefit the world. Neptune is the urge for peace and beauty. These two forces suggest that greater and greater numbers of people come together for the purpose of creating a more beautiful peaceful world. I refer to these as the New Peace Generation or Movement. They want an end to war, an end to violence, and a greater consciousness leading to the care and protection of the planet and her inhabitants. It is, in a symbolic sense, the rebirth of the values that led the baby boomer generation to their consciousness movements of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. It may in fact be the time of that generation’s real destiny coming to light, for those baby boomers now hold the power of the planet, both economically and politically. Their “peace movement” failed in the 1960’s because of the infiltration of various parties who had a more sinister purpose, which was to create chaos and overthrow of various governments. And hence the peace movement turned towards anti-government, became violent, and lost its focus. If we are to believe these radio reports of the people behind the anti-war protests in London this past week, it appears the new peace movement is in danger of falling into the same trap as before.

At the same time Uranus and Neptune are in mutual reception, Saturn and Pluto are moving from an opposition to a waning square (2002-2010). This phase of Saturn and Pluto can be particularly dangerous, both in terms of economic set backs (rising inflation, rising interest rates, rising budget deficits, rising debt, and struggling economies and stock markets) and in terms of rising acts of violence by “hate groups.” By the end of the decade, Uranus joins Saturn and Pluto in a T-square. To me, this indicates the time when terrorists might actually gain control of weapons of mass destruction, unless the urge for peace and the end of violence is successful at deterring this possibility first. So if the peace movement (Uranus-Neptune) is to be successful, it has to focus on peace and the elimination of these very weapons which terrorists could gain control of by that time. It is more important for governments who are in the fight against terrorism, to join forces with those who really want world peace. I think it is important for governments to open up very visible and public dialogue with those groups that truly want world peace, and not close them out to appear as simply “anti-war,” or worse – “anti-government.” Both groups are truly against terrorism, but one side that could be an ally in this drive is being forced by the other to appear in favor of terrorism. It would be a mistake of governments to allow a “missed opportunity” for both sides to come together in a common purpose. But for this to happen, you need an open leadership that welcomes these minds and these ideas, in open and public dialogue, and not one that turns these brilliant minds and visionaries against it by a “closed door” policy, which is symbolic of Saturn in Cancer (2003-2005).

But back to the markets. In Europe, the German DAX topped out at 3814 back on November 7, and fell to a low of 3576 this past Thursday, before closing the week at 3642. The London FTSE’s high of 4412 on November 14 still stands, with its lowest price since then occurring also last Thursday at 4270. The AEX of Netherlands was down to 320.80 on Thursday, with its high of the year still being that triple top between 344-345 on September 4, 9, and November 6. And the Swiss stock index is still well below its high for the year of 5445 back on September 19. Last week it fell to 5127, before closing out the week at 5206. The weekly chart on all of these indices still looks weak from a technical point of view.

In the Far East, the Australian All Ordinaries continued to fall from its yearly high of 3317 recorded on October 22. It closed the week at 3175, slightly above its low for the week at 3170. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong posted its yearly high of 12,537 on November 4, but closed this last week down to 11,840. The low of the week was also on Friday at 11,662. Japan suffered even worse, following its yearly high of 11,239 back on October 21. Last week was a “gap down,” creating a pattern known as a “bearish island reversal.” It dropped as low as 9615 on Wednesday, before closing the week at 9853. It has to close back above 10,120 area before it begins to look good again.

The outlook was not much better in the United States. From its yearly high back on November 7 at 9903, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to an intraday low of 9585 on Friday. It closed at 9628, but the weekly chart is still looking troublesome from a technical point of view. The NASDAQ Composite fell to an intraday low of 1878 on Friday and closed the week at 1894, not too far off from its yearly high of 1977.80 back on November 14. The lows of last week were about a 50% correction of the move up from the lows of September 30. If these lows hold, then the U.S. could experience a decent rally this week. But if they break, then I would think these markets are about halfway down to where they are going as the 50-week cycle bottom still unfolds prior to December 19.

Monday and Tuesday will find the Moon in Sagittarius, usually a volatile time for stocks and precious metals, as well as currencies. Already we saw the Euro soar to another new all-time high last week. It may be Thanksgiving in the United States this Thursday, and there may be lots to be thankful for (there really is). But it does not appear that this will be a quiet week in the financial markets, nor in the geopolitical world. With Mars square Pluto on Wednesday, it may be best if people can hold off their desire for confrontation, and try to truly be thankful, instead of giving in to the urge to act on resentment.

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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