Much ado about everything -April May 2010 Euro US update


Once again, it has been a long time between posts. Although I admit to a continued element of procrastination, the main reason has been lack of anything to say.

‘What?’ I hear you explain. Haven’t we had a host of unprecedented events? Volcanic ash, leaking oil, Goldman Sachs legal cases, UK coalitions, a Euro crisis, a flash crash in the US market, Thai protests, the Koreas getting angsty, supersonic jets breaking the speed record, and man creating life. A typical six weeks then, really.

True, it has been busy, but remember; I have been focussing on longer term trends, not the talk of the week. I would need to clone myself 1000 times to achieve such a broad spread across countries together with, for instance, the detail needed to predict a market crash that lasted all of 20 minutes. On the other hand, it could be argued that we’ve got the effects of the cardinal cross over early and it is all plain sailing from here. I am not entirely convinced of this, but when I read of the fact that the US considers the BP spill to be its worst ever environmental disaster, I have to admit that this does fit the symbolism sufficiently.

I’m going to have a quick look at this disaster in my next post but here, nevertheless, with Uranus arriving in Aries, I do think it is time for an update on the cardinal cross of this summer. And I am starting with the USA, UK and Europe

What amazed me as I read through my earlier forecasts in parallel with another look at the relevant charts, was how little I felt I wanted to change.

In the UK, the expectation of public disruption over this summer is perfectly in line with the proposed government budget cuts. There is still a focus on the Bank of England chart with its Mars at 0 Libra, so Sterling must still be vulnerable. Despite the flash crashes and market uncertainty I still see no clear direction for the stock market over the summer ( though the FTSE 100 looks more problematic than the wider market with progressed Venus Jupiter and Neptune at 1 degree Capricorn).

So what about the poor unloved Euro and its countries? Well, Greece’s debt problems certainly confirmed my suspicions by resurging like killer zombies in a horror movie. I was certainly very wrong in April 2008 when I thought that dollar problems would beta Euro ones, even if my 2009 reassessment overturned that. The Euro has now fallen from 1.50 dollars at the end of the year to around 1.23. As I said in the relevant posts the Euro chart angles are right on the cardinal cross. These issues aren’t going away for a few months. I expect the lunar eclipse around 26 June (at 4 degrees with Pluto) and the period of July and August to continue to be disruptive.

Looking at the individual countries , I again can’t see a reason to change my expectations.


France is on schedule and in character, threatening to leave EU and with its usual strikes but really its been relatively stable throughout– The country has an MC at 1 Aries and Sun at 29 Virgo. But it also has a conjunction between Jupiter and Neptune around 0 Scorpio opposite Saturn. In the end, it will calm down again.

Germany, however, has Saturn at 2 Capricorn and Mars at 0 Libra. Unlike France’s demonstrations, German dissent is likely to be less visible but more powerful. Perhaps the aspect is already operating in the enforced austerity of the Mediterranean countries, but I still wonder about its internal effects.

As I expected, Spain despite its construction industry problems and unemployment,has beeen benefiting from its South American connection. And only in May did it get its first bit of excitement, voting for austerity measures (just), and having to help some banks. With only Pluto at 1 Libra affected by the cross, it is still somehow culturally able to deal with obstacles. Perhaps the key is having is Pluto at the same degree as the German and Bank of England Mars’. Ouch, yes, but not for Spain, which is blithely continuing with the help of its Neptune/Uranus conjunction and progressed Mars at 0 Sag.

Italy, with its MC at 29 Virgo has also gone down the austerity route this week with public sector wage freezes and retirement date increases- amid the obligatory complaints. Although the
government seems to be surviving ok. Sadly with Neptune at 1 Aries, on its IC one never really knows what is happening in Italy. I still have my biggest doubts about it, especially in the longer term.

Ireland, who bit the bullet with cuts before anyone, however, has some of the hardest aspects of all of them to come this summer. Uranus at 0 Cancer, Moon at 1 Cap, and an MC at 4 Libra. There are a lot of supporting trines etc, though, including its Jupiter at 0 Aquarius, so expect survival but not after protests. None of these countries need a summer of hot evenings with people loitering on the streets, trust me.!!

So going back to the Euro, what do I think about its survival? That depends not just on Europe but on the US.

So I wrote 2 years ago about this time “ I am not sure the US is ready for all out civil disruption, but it is likely that there will be pockets of it at this time- strikes, trade restrictions, shortages, and in some cases riots may ensue. Unless, there is some natural disaster which unites the nation – presumably with these planets in place earthquakes can’t be ruled out, or perhaps a hurricane hitting the major cities. Note that these are not a prediction – merely possible manifestations of the transits. Considerably more work would be required to identify what creates the disruption and whether it is internal or external. ……..With Saturn on the US Midheaven military intervention is possible- either to keep order or for clear-up”

Turns out we have an oil spill disaster to unite the US against BP and we certainly have the need for clear up (the military announced it was joining it on 28th April, but there are numerous other agencies involved too). Let’s hope that, however bad the spill is, it is the end of the transits to the US chart. But that can’t be guaranteed. Indeed, arguably, the culprit of this episode isn’t the cardinal cross but Neptune opposing the progressed MC. Either way, the US (Sibly) MC is at 1 Libra ( busy degree, huh?!), and the US Venus and Jupiter are at 3 degree and 5 of Cancer respectively. Things may only be getting started. The Federal reserve has its MC at 0 Aries and its sun at 1 Cancer opposite its Pluto at 0 Capricorn. Clearly Pluto has already been busy activating this, however one can’t help think that there are more debt issues out there to be dealt with in the coming few months.

Looking at the dollar chart, the same degrees contain the progressed Mars and angles. Although ‘printing’ with the helpful Jupiter/Neptune conjunction around 0 Scorpio has deferred much of the problems, its ability to assist is weakening and this summer might be the last gasp of bailing before the US too has to take proper austerity medicine.

So, on balance, my original view that this little crisis was not confined to one currency does not change. The Euro remains challenged but with only its angles hit and no planets; the talk of its demise may be a lot of hot volcanic ash cloud. The US$ appears to have reached the end of its monetary elastic too, despite the spin. The Fed has had one too many challenges .Only global cooperation is going to solve this one. I think the Euro is more vulnerable to speculators, due to the situation of individual countries, but that the US is more vulnerable to a problem with its total debt burden.

It is also worth revisiting the US stock market charts. I expected lots of trade but less clear direction and with the Dow at Feb levels that seems about right. The Nasdaq I expected equivalent uncertainty and I noted that in February the progressed Moon would oppose the progressed MC/Saturn conjunction. Sure enough, this led to a low. The subsequent May lows are not quite as bad and although the cardinal cross will transit the Nasdaq Venus and progressed Mars, there is a supporting trine from Uranus to another of those natal Jupiter/Neptune conjunctions – this time at 2-3 Sag. On balance I can’t change my view that despite some fluctuations and the continued international debt issues that index is not going to collapse.

Its always been my view that the impact on the stock markets would not be as depressive as many thought, and almost all the individual market charts have supported this. The fact that I have been right till now, doesn’t alter the fact that I keep doubting the astrology and continue to be very nervous about the whole financial edifice.

Finally, a brief round up of other European periphery countries:
Iceland
of course continues to be an international source of entertainment. With its Saturn return at 29 Virgo, and the cardinal cross on its Neptune and Asc at 1-2 Libra, and its MC at 3 Cancer, it isn’t finished yet. Maybe those who are waiting for Katla to follow Eyjafjallajökull won’t be disappointed……Those coming eclipses maybe just what it needs to get going.

All I said about Switzerland was that it would upset others and sure enough it has been the focus of complaints about its intervention in the Swiss Franc/Euro market. I hope it upset a lot of traders.

Russia
is interesting. With Neptune, Uranus and the Moon all around 26 degrees, it is almost done with its big transits. With Pluto trine its Pluto it is on a different track for change. But Pluto does square its Saturn at 4 Aries, so while the summer’s cross only touches it, the eclipse in June is more serious, possibly indicating more violence like that of this week, but less economic events.

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