It’s good to be back after a week of, attending the fabulous ISAR 2003 conference in Anaheim, California t was great to see so many of you there, including Rick Levine, president of StarIQ.com, Linda Black of Linda Black and Associates, Moses Siregar of Astrology for the Soul, and Terumi Kondo of JANet, Inc of Tokyo, Japan. Each of these companies carries our weekly column.

We are now entering probably the second most powerful time band of geocosmics signatures in effect this year. The most powerful was the August 21-September 8 time band, which coincided with the long-term cycle trough in European currencies, U.S. and Japanese Treasury Bonds and Notes, and a primary cycle crest in Corn prices. This new cluster of geocosmic signatures is starts October 17 and lasts through November 26. During this period there are 17 signatures, of which no more than 5 calendar separates any two of them. Five of these signatures are Level 1 types, the strongest correlates to primary or greater cycles, as reported in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles.

Now let’s spend a little time explaining how these signatures can be applied to identifying a potential critical reversal date, which is the key to astrology’s value as a market timing tool. First, we can take the entire time band and determine the midpoint. In this case, the point midway between October 17-November 26 is Thursday, November 6. According to the rules outlined in the aforementioned book, we would day that November 6, +/- 3 trading days, is the ideal time for a major market reversal. But we then need to see if there are any Level 1 signatures within 4 trading days of this date. And indeed there is. On Saturday, November 8, Uranus will change from retrograde to direct motion. This is one of the most powerful of all correlates to primary or greater cycles, with an 83% rate of occurrences within 12 trading days and 70% within 9 trading days. In addition, it has a 61% correlation to 50-week or greater cycles. This is important, because we are in the time band for a 50-week cycle (crest or trough, but in that order). In fact, Uranus turning direct is tied for the strongest of all single signatures correlating with a 50-week cycle.

Which brings us to the next point of analysis. The other signature tied for the strongest correlation to 50-week or greater cycles is the Sun in waning trine to Uranus. And this aspect occurs this coming week on October 22. Within an orb of 11 trading days, this trine has a 74% correlation to primary or greater cycles – and 61% correlation to 50-week or greater cycles. And the 7th strongest correlation is the Sun in waning square to Neptune, which also takes place in this time frame, on November 3. Within an orb of 14 trading days, it has a 52% correlation to 50-week or greater cycles. Now if we overlap the orbs of all three of these signatures, we identify a time frame of October 22-November 7 as the most likely date for a 50-week cycle.

But there are other considerations. For instance, when you have a cluster of geocosmic signatures in effect as long as October 17-November 26, there are apt to be tighter groupings of signatures within it. One of these is in effect right now, from October 17-25. The midpoint of this very tight cluster is October 21, again with an orb of 3 trading days, or October 16-24. Within this grouping, we note two Level 1 signatures. The first is the Sun trine Uranus (referred to above) on October 22, and the second is Saturn turning retrograde on October 25. Now, applying the rule that a primary or greater cycle will usually culminate within 4 trading days of at least one level 1 signature, and measuring 4 trading days either side of the October 22 and October 25 signatures, we create yet another overlap period of October 21-24. If we now overlap all of these time frames together, we get a very precise time frame of October 22-October 24. This, then, becomes the idealized time frame in which a reversal is most highlighted, because it overlaps all these various forms of study. And that happens this week.

In terms of mundane applications of astrology, we note that this coming week brings into lay note only Saturn turning retrograde on October 25, but Neptune turning direct on October 22, while both the Sun and Mer4cury ingress into Scorpio October 23-24. Each of these represents a change of collective (investor) psychology. Saturn and Neptune turning directions combines the principles of fear (Saturn) with uncertainty (Neptune). This leads to a sense of paranoia, that something unseemly is happening beneath the surface that shakes the collective trust in various leaders. Maybe an important leader takes ill, or is the subject of some powerful undermining effort that threatens to strip away his/her power. Think of Saturn as one’s foundation, or the laws. Think of Neptune as a leak, or weakening effect upon that structure or law. Psychologically it is a distrustful dynamic. In terms of natural phenomena, it combines cold temperatures with too much moisture, producing icy conditions, or dangerous conditions on sea, especially if the cargo contains oil (Neptune). Politically, this can be a time of great embarrassment, as statements may be made that are later deemed to be untrue. And such statements may strain the trust that certain people (especially leaders) have placed in one another, The result could be a sense of great betrayal. The fact that this transiting Saturn falls on the charts of both the United States and George Bush should not be overlooked. Perhaps it would be wise for Mr. Bush – and those who speak for him - to fall back to low profile for the next two weeks. With the heavy planetary influence combining principles of oil and government, perhaps there are further exposes revealed about the awarding of huge financial contracts in Iraq to oil-related companies that have past ties to the White House.

These themes are emphasized again as the Sun and Mercury leaves the peaceful, cooperative sign of Libra, and enters the realm of the secretive Scorpio. Scorpio loves nothing more than to reveal something that is hidden. It wants everything out in the open regarding others, yet reveals nothing of itself to balance the equation. It is part of a quest for power, and usually this dynamic has a correlate impact upon financial markets, like currencies and Treasury Bonds (debt instruments).

In the last week, we saw many stock markets of the world reach new yearly highs, including the Untied States, Australia, England (FTSE), and Hong Kong. Japan is now testing its yearly high, while Germany, Switzerland, and Netherlands are still well below the highs posted in the first week of September during the previous big geocosmic time band mentioned earlier. This type of intermarket divergence is a sign that a significant decline could be readying. So too is the technical picture involving weekly stochastics, which are not as high as they were at the September tops, a condition known as bearish oscillator divergence. And Monday, October 20 will begin the 55th week since the 4-year cycle trough of October 10, 2002 in the U.S. stock market. Fibonacci traders will quickly recognize the significance of 55. And subscribers to our financial newsletters will also remember that only 4 of the 75 instances of 50-week cycles since 1928 have seen the crest of this cycle occur later than the 55th week. Interestingly enough, the last cycle to make highs in the 55th week occurred in 1997, just before the currency crisis hit the Pacific Rim and shocked the world monetary system.

Get ready. We are about to enter another very interesting geocosmic time band. Unexpected events are about to unfold in the next 5-6 weeks, and the psychology of the world is about to shift once again. In fact, it has started.

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.