STOCK
FORECAST
The
stock market forecast for 2007 was right on
the money. The market rose but a sharp correction
occurred late in the year. Prospects for 2008
are grim. Only one out of five planetary indicators
points to an up market, and this for only
the first half of the year! The Saturn-Uranus
aspect of late 2008-2010 warns of a financial
crisis. The Jupiter-Neptune cycle is primarily
an inflation indicator but 4 out of the last
5 conjunctions led to a financial crisis.
The next conjunction will take place in 2009.
The major market indicator of Mars-Jupiter-Saturn
aspects (see my book EARTH CHANGES)
indicated the correction near August 2007
and another low period centering around December
2007. The expected sharp run-up in values
due a month before December 17, 2007 and lasting
a couple of weeks later has been partially
fulfilled, although the Mars-Jupiter-Saturn
aspect dulled its full impact.
Although
2008 shows signs of a recession, I expect
the market to make modest gains until sunspots
first rise above 50 per month. This is expected
to take place in 2008 but the NOAA data on
sunspots only shows that a low in sunspot
numbers was being reached by the end of October
2007. Sunspots will probably rise above 50
later in 2008. The
next Mars-Jupiter-Saturn aspect is in January
2009. We are, therefore, very near to or
just beginning the next recession. I suggest
being ultra-conservative this year in terms
of investing and spending habits. Be mindful
that a sharp drop or a series of declines
in stock value is extremely likely. Dry weather
is also an indication of a bear market. 2007
was the third year of drier weather (see Data
link). 2007, in fact, turned out to be drier
than the average precipitation - a dire warning
of recession.
You
can read more about the near and far-term
economic forecast under Articles:
"Inflation Warning and the War in
Iraq."
Footnote:
The U.S.
economy has been in a "superboom"
since 1982. The stock market has suffered
only two recessions, in 1990-91 and in 2001,
with the total months for these downturns
being 16 months. In the previous 25 years,
the economy experienced six downturns for
a painful total of 67 months. The key for
continued economic growth is (1) keep competition
high, (2) keep taxes low, and (3) deep inflation
under control. At a mere 2.5% yearly growth
rate, the U.S. economy would reach $23 trillion
over the next twenty-five years. The 12% inflation
of 1980 has fallen to 2.2% today. Recessions
put the bite on inflation but the government
also has a role in keeping inflation tamed.
Inflation, however, poses a real threat as
I have detailed in the article mentioned above.
The economy will likely grow for several more
years in spite of painful recessions. It will
greatly surpass the high of 2007. Inflation
in the next five to ten years will put increased
pressure on the economy though. A growing
demand for scarce resources driven by the
rise of emerging nations will surely raise
prices. The inflationary pressure on products
caused by oil price hikes is just one example.
Commodities of all kinds - like wheat, rice,
and corn - rocketed in 2007.
The
cheap labor in emerging Asia and China will
not last forever. In the next five to ten
years it may stabilize. Globalization is keeping
economic engines going. A growing middle class
in emerging nations like China, India, Russia,
and South America is gobbling up raw commodities
and foodstuffs helping to stoke the pressures
for world-wide inflation. The growth of relatively
backward industrial nations like Russia, and
the new emerging ones like China, guarantee
further economic expansion. But troubles will
eventually develop like the banking crisis
that paralyzed Japan and sent the world financial
markets reeling. Or it may be corporate greed
similar to the U.S. mortgage credit crisis,
or a severe 1970s-style oil shock, a major
war, or a terrible terrorist nuclear blast,
a series of natural disasters as never before,
or poor weather conditions and degraded crop
yields, or some other economic blunder the
worldover that sets-off the great sell-off.
So the world economic boom will last a bit
longer after the current recession ends. When
the current crisis is over the world markets
will climb to unprecidented heights - then
the "Baby-boom" generation will
retire en masse and the labor pool in Asia
will dry up and the expansion bubble will
burst - inflation will soar. How soon? Sooner
than you may want to think. I will keep you
informed of major cycles indicating the coming
downfall.
WEATHER
FORECAST FOR THE U.S.
The
Winter of 2007-2008
Extreme
weather is to be expected ranging from mild
to large, windy and destructive storms with
very cold to freezing air. Several fierce
storms will form early in the season.
Spring
Strong
spring storms are predicted. Cold and windy
conditions will give way to cool and moist,
then mild and moist conditions. There will
be warm and dry extremes in parts of the country.
There is a supermoon on June 3 that will bring
heavy rains and flooding to the news.
Summer
More
extremes! It will be warm, cold, dry, wet
- nasty to nice throughout most of the country.
The August 1 solar eclipse indicates disasterous
weather to hit China, East Asia, and Russia.
Fall
Cold
and dry windy storms are expected. These will
form early and linger in areas of their development.
Extreme weather is predicted again but punctuated
with plenty of moderate conditions. Winds
will prevail mostly. There is a supermoon
December 12 that will bring heavy snow storms
to cold regions and flooding to warmer areas.
The
Winter of 2008-2009
Temperate
weather forms early; very cold freezes follow.
Strong, freaky storms that are rare for the
region strike unexpectedly. There will be
rain, then snow and ice storms, and sudden,
unusual thaws. Very extreme conditions overall.
THE
YEAR 2008
We
are rapidly approaching a critical stage in
U.S. history that will escalate in 2009. Please
read "Decline: The Fall of America?"
and "Inflation Warning and the War in
Iraq." under articles
for more information regarding the economy,
the war in Iraq and elsewhere, the coming
oil peak, and the consequences of the war
on terrorism. This is a must read for those
who want to be in-the-know for the real reasons
for the U.S. led war on terrorism. The future
of our nation for the next two decades is
outlined in this important article.
The
most difficult time in terms of world events
will begin near July 10 when Mars is in conjunction
with Saturn in the heavens. Planets in aspect
(an angular relationship) in the heavens are
often referred to as ambient or zodiacal aspects.
They in turn transit individual horoscopes
and the charts of nations. This conjunction
and the Mars opposition Uranus of August 6
will trigger the Saturn opposition Uranus
of November 4. This aspect is the primary
one of the year. It indicates a breakdown
of authority, rebellions, and the need for
new solutions to old problems. Unfortunately,
there will be resistance to change creating
world turmoil. Expect the period right after
this opposition to be very fierce because
ambient Mars will square Uranus on December
12 and square Saturn on December 15. There
will be two additional Saturn opposition Uranus
aspects in 2009 with three Jupiter and Neptune
aspects, and a Saturn and Pluto aspect. 2009
is a crucial year leading up to calamitous
2010.
Saturn-Uranus
aspects have been historically very significant.
The 1917-1920 opposition correlated with the
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the restructuring
of Europe after World War I and the rise of
new countries. The 1941-1943 conjunction witnessed
the Nazi blitzkrieg, unusual worldwide alliances
and, like WWI, a fight for global control.
The opposition in the mid 1960s was a time
of protests, riots, and revolution too. The
Berlin Wall was strengthened, several African
nations gained their independence, Mao's revolution
in China peaked, the counterculture revolution
in the U.S. was in full swing, the civil rights
movement took off, and anti-war riots broke
out in several major cities. The last conjunction
in the late 1980s ended the Soviet Union and
Eastern Bloc, the Berlin Wall was torn down,
and apartheid unexpectedly ended in southern
Africa. The end of the Cold War brought a
sudden shift of power to Europe and America.
Already
we are witnessing a popular rise of discontent
across the world. Opposition groups are demanding
fair elections: Pakistan, Kenya, and Georgia
for instance. The U.S. election will be unusual
with unexpected results. The two front runners
are apt to present radical new political ideas
to resolve our problems, or the country will
turn against the establishment. Radical, progressive
programs must be initiated to address global
warming, the economy, social security, the
regressive tax system, health care, and other
important pending social issues. Social and
political structures the world-over will break
apart. There will be a breakdown of law and
order in many nations. This unsettling atmosphere
will provoke sudden turns in events. New technologies
like space-based weapons, non-lethal crowd
control, and surveillance will increasingly
be used. The winning, stronger, side in a
conflict may suddenly find itself on the losing
end - the U.S. in Iraq? Unusual alliances
will take place in the Middle East further
dividing Muslim and Christian nations. Two
thirds of people recently polled in four Muslim
nations, for instance, say they support the
idea of unifying all Muslim countries in the
old Islamic caliphate, the system of political-religious
leadership that originated with the first
successor to the prophet Muhammad. Divisions
between religions, generations, races, cultural
attitudes, and political ideologies will make
for an uncertain future. A major realignment
of nations will take place due to the peak
of oil, the spreading war on terrorism, and
a conflict over the merging globalization
of the economy. A "peoples revolution"
in much of the world, including the U.S.,
will begin. The old order will give way to
the new. Let us hope that the new directions
taken are not despotic.
|