(29 March 2023) US stocks have bounced in recent days as the
banking crisis has faded from the headlines after a series of
carefully-orchestrated bailouts and buyouts. The major indexes have
been slowly pushing their way back up towards their early February
highs. While the rebound has temporarily put on hold all the doom and
gloom talk about the economy, we should note that stocks have basically
moved sideways since November.
Following on my previous examination of the use of progressed cycles
in natal charts, I thought we would explore how this timing technique
can be used in the horoscope of the S&P 500 index. This is arguably
the most important stock index in the world as it covers the 500
largest publicly-traded companies in the US. Founded in 1957, the
S&P 500 provides an indispensable window on the fluctuations in
collective sentiment that influence stock prices.
By way of example, we are focusing solely on the minor progressed
chart. This progression is based on the lunar month such that the
length of lunar month (29 days) is equivalent to one year of calendar
time. The minor progressed chart cast for today (March 29, 2023) is
derived from the planetary positions for February 11, 1962. The
resulting 1:13 time compression provides a useful bridge between the
often fast-moving transits and much slower progressions such as the
day-for-a-year secondary progressions.
Looking at today’s progressed chart, we can see two potentially
significant groupings of planets. At the top of the chart, is a
conjunction of Venus, Sun and Jupiter. This is clearly a bullish
arrangement which may partially explain the recent rebound in stocks.
However, we should note that the faster-moving Sun (29 Capricorn) and
Venus (2 Aquarius) are now clearly separating from Jupiter (26
Capricorn). This suggests that whatever the bullish influence of this
triple conjunction, it is now likely on the wane. It is possible that
the close 90-degree alignment with the Moon has recently activated
another pulse of this bullish Venus-Sun-Jupiter energy, however. Since
the minor progressed Moon moves about one degree per day, this influence
is likely to diminish fairly soon also.
But the other obvious pattern is the conjunction of retrograde
Mercury (16 Capricorn) with Mars (14 Capricorn) and Saturn (11
Capricorn). Mars is well past Saturn now so that is likely no longer a
major influence. But since Mercury is moving backwards it will form an
exact conjunction with Mars in the coming weeks. In fact, the exact
conjunction is due to occur on April 16. Since Mercury-Mars alignments
are generally bearish for stocks, it is quite possible that markets
could come under pressure once again around the time of this
conjunction. The fact that both planets will also align with Pluto may
serve to amplify its negative effects.
While the Mercury-Mars conjunction still has yet to reach its
theoretical maximum impact, we should note that the progressed Ascendant
(11 Aries) is square progressed Saturn (11 Capricorn). That is a
negative influence that argues for some weakness in the very near term.
The bottom line here is that the minor progressed chart looks
increasingly difficult as we head into April. So when will the market
drop? The Mercury-Mars conjunction is within close enough range that
prices could begin to decline at any time. That said, the probability
for a decline rises the closer we get to the April 16 conjunction date.
Even in that case, it is possible that some of the associated decline
may actually occur after April 16. In that sense, the date of conjunction should be seen in probabilistic terms.
Of course, the usual caveats apply. This minor progressed chart is
only one of many such derived progressed cycles and thus form only a
single slice of the overall forecast picture.
For more details, check out my weekly subscriber newsletter
which is published every Sunday. In addition to reviewing the key
planetary and technical influences on US and Indian stocks for the short
and medium term, I also provide an astrological analysis of potential
upcoming moves in currencies, gold and oil.
These updates are usually posted midweek. You can be notified of new posts by following me on Twitter.
