It is quite possible we could be entering a very positive environment in terms of international relations in the next two weeks. We may see more surprisingly constructive efforts towards peace and international cooperation than we have seen all year.

All of this is predicated on principles inherent in the new moon lunation cycle that begins Friday, September 26. The new moon takes place in Libra, the sign of sharing, partnering, relating, and effort towards peaceful and cooperative relations. Venus, the ruler of Libra and dispositor of this new moon, is also home in Libra, providing a strong support to these positive principles. At the beginning of the lunation cycle, Venus will T-square the Chiron-Saturn opposition (thank you Beatrice from ISAR for pointing that out). So the cycle (month) may begin with feelings of hurt and frustration still carried over about differences from the past. This was evident in the United Nations meeting last week as President George Bush asked for international support to help in his efforts to restore Iraq. But again, he was unwilling to give the world body a bigger political role in this reconstruction or peacekeeping effort. This, of course, elicited further criticism against his initial assault on Iraq from the international community.

But astrologically speaking, all is not lost. As the lunation cycle proceeds towards the full moon of October 10, Venus – the ruler of the peace-oriented sign of Libra – will form a harmonious trine to Uranus and Mars. And Mars, the planet of war, ends its retrograde motion at 0 Pisces on Saturday, September 27. With Pisces being the other sign of peace, the aggressive and combative nature of Mars will likely be sublimated into the direction of suddenly trying to attain peace. Hence many inventive solutions to previously tense situations may be proposed now, and constructive progress in the rebuilding effort already in motion might be evident in the next 2 weeks. On a personal, the next two weeks will be an exceptional time for people to come together and form mutually stimulating relationships.

The world stock indices could use some good news after last week. Most of these indices started falling hard as the week progressed, finally confirming the important cyclical top we have been forecasting as due August 21-September 17. Most world stock indices did indeed top out during that period, and a few others – such as in America, Japan, and Switzerland – topped out two days later, on September 19. This was, after all, consistent with the historical pattern of stock markets within 12 trading days of Jupiter in opposition to Uranus, the most potent signature of the year 2004. That aspect unfolded on August 29, and has an 82% correlation to the completion primary or greater cycles in U.S. stocks. In this case, the U.S. orb extended to 14 trading days.

In Europe, the German DAX index peaked out on September 5 at 3676.90. By Friday of this past week they had plummeted as low as 3275, before bouncing up a little to close the week at 3325. The Netherlands AEX index posted its yearly high in a double top formation on September 4 and 9 as prices hit 344.20. Friday’s close of 314 was slightly off the weekly low of 312.40. The London FTSE’s yearly high occurred on September 17 at 4329.60. But by Friday of this past week it had sold off sharply down to 4146, with the close just slightly higher. The Swiss stock market followed suit. After recording its yearly high on Friday, September 19, at 5445.20, it dropped back to 5068 on Friday. In all of these markets, prices finally caught up to the underlying weak technical condition this past week, right after Mercury went direct. This, of course, is right in line with what we always say about Mercury retrograde: technical signals are unreliable during this period. They return to more consistency after Mercury turns direct. As states last week, the day before the retrograde ended, “Most of these markets looked technically weak by Friday’s close, with various sorts of oscillator divergences. The markets continued to rally in spite of the internals showing signs of weakness.”

In the Far East, the Japanese Nikkei index fell sharply to 10,213 on Friday, after soaring to a new yearly high of 11,160 just one week before. The Australian All Ordinaries index made a double top to its yearly high on last Friday, reaching 3249.40, less than one point off the high of 3249.80 on September 9. But then the sell off commenced and prices ended this week at 3175, near their lows. The exception to the bearishness of other world markets occurred in the Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong, which made a new yearly just this past Thursday at 11,445. It still closed at a relatively strong 11,216 too, so we could easily see new highs still in the index in the next few days.

The United States stock indexes were also hit fairly hard this past week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to 9686 a week ago Friday. But this Friday (September 26), they closed over 350 points lower at 9313. And after finally exceeding 1900 for the first time in several month on a week ago, the NASDAQ Composite closed on its lows of the week at 1792. A move below 1650 soon is not out of the question at all.

For this coming week, we will be paying close attention to Tuesday and Wednesday, when the Moon enters Sagittarius (thus, the “Sagittarius Factor” is in play). Typically Silver will make a high or low and reverse sharply on one of those days, while T-Bonds and Notes can post reversals of 1.5 – 3 points from a low or high within one trading day of that lunar signature.

Longer-term, investors ans traders need to keep in mind that the Presidential election season is now in effect. The direction of the stock market will usually mirror the popularity of the President in office. As his popularity begins dropping, so will the stock market. Last week we witnessed Mr. Bush falling sharply, to 50%, his lowest level since taking office. This is in sharp contrast to his 90+% approval rating right after September 11, 2001. And Saturn still hasn’t caught up to his natal Sun or the Sun of the United States yet. That will be in force from October 2003-June 2004. As stated before, this is a period of increasing criticism for his past decisions and judgements, making it difficult for him to escape the specter (good and bad) of Iraq for this entire period. His campaign will likely be spent defending his past actions more than outlining his vision for the future. And thus I anticipate the “Pre-presidential election year cycle trough” will unfold on time, which means between October 2003-March 2004. Any new lows after that does not bode well for Mr. Bush’s re-election chances.

Pre-publication orders for the Forecasts for 2004 are now being taken. For discounts on this book ordered prior to October 1, please go to www.mmacycles.com.

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.