US
stocks fell today as Fed Chair Jerome Powell hiked rates by 50 basis
points and reaffirmed his commitment to raise interest rates even higher
in 2023 in order to curb inflation. Even if investors had bid up
stocks after Tuesday’s cooler-than-expected 7.1% CPI print, the Fed’s
target for a higher terminal rate next year was seen as hawkish. While
stocks suffered a modest loss today, bond yields and the dollar held
mostly steady.
As noted in last week’s post, bond yields look vulnerable to another
round of increases, either as a result of strong economic growth or a
more hawkish Fed dedicated to taking rates above 5% next year. The
Saturn-Neptune alignment is pivotal in this respect as forms important
alignments with the US Treasuries horoscope which makes higher bond
yields more likely in the coming weeks. In the current environment,
higher yields are bad news for stocks as they point towards more
expensive credit which will eventually weigh on economic activity.
Stocks are also vulnerable to declines with the approach of the
Saturn-Neptune alignment in the coming weeks. More immediately, there
is a possibility of more selling in the wake of the Fed decision. While
the Saturn-Neptune alignment is only two degrees from exact, the extent
of its current influence is unclear. Usually, alignments between
slow-moving planets need to be closer to exert a stronger influence on
stocks.
Instead, we can look at a fairly bearish set up for the rest of this
week as Mercury aligns with Mars and Rahu (North Lunar Node). More
specifically, we can say that Mercury will be aspected by both Mars and
Rahu on Thursday and Friday. Mars (19 Taurus) casts its full-strength
210-degree, 8th house aspect to Mercury (18 Sagittarius), the planet of
commerce and trading. Mercury is also at the receiving end of another
dose of potentially bearish energy as Rahu (18 Aries) casts its
120-degree aspect within one degree. While Mars-Mercury aspects tend to
be bearish, Rahu-Mercury aspects are a bit more mixed, although with
some downside risk. The fact that these two afflictions to Mercury
occur almost simultaneously is a red flag.
But financial astrology demands we look at the whole picture in order
to weigh the importance of all the relevant influences. There is a
potentially offsetting influence in play this week given the
Sun-Venus/Jupiter-Chiron alignment. This alignment should be seen
having second tier strength, however, since there are no direct aspects
involved. Instead, the alignment is formed through angular separation.
Thus, the angular separation of the Sun and Venus (=13°16) is almost
equal to the angular separation of Jupiter and Chiron (=12°22). Both of
these planetary pairs are somewhat bullish and their resonance through
equal angular separation suggests some optimism. However, we should
note that the faster-moving Sun-Venus pair (13°) has already moved
beyond the 12° Jupiter-Chiron separation. In fact, the angular
separation of these two pairs almost matched exactly earlier in the week
when stocks were bullish. The fact that they are separating now
suggests optimism could be diminishing just as the pessimism and anxiety
of the Mercury-Mars-Rahu alignment is increasing. Thursday morning’s
Mars-Moon square also looks negative.
Right now, I would be fairly skeptical about the prospects for a year-end Santa Claus rally.
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planetary and technical influences on US and Indian stocks for the short
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