Summary Of Last Week’s Influences:
Despite the major indices closing lower last week for the first time in three weeks, the Dow and the S&P made the strongest gains in February in 12 years – the last time Jupiter was in Pisces. Jupiter is the traditional planetary ruler of Pisces. Venus in Pisces conjoining Jupiter in mid February combined with the pair’s harmonious alignment to the USA’s natal Venus and Jupiter, helped the Nasdaq make its first monthly gain in February since 2003. Venus operates well in Neptune-ruled Pisces which helped boost the value of crude oil, up 9.3% in February to just under $80.00 despite an abundance (Jupiter) of supply.
Underneath the largely benevolent influence of the Sun, Jupiter, Venus, and Uranus in Pisces remains the bigger influence of Saturn in Libra squaring Pluto in Capricorn. Pisces creates confusion and uncertainty, while Saturn creates pressure and fear in the market over debt (Pluto) concerns. Saturn is creating freezing conditions - from freezing temperatures to proposals to freeze government (Saturn) spending. And Pluto is on a mission to expose the mountain of debt that governments at all levels have amassed. Saturn creates blockages, whether caused by snow and ice covered roads, or politicians blocking legislation to advance own agenda.
Wall St. is blaming the snowstorms for light trading volume, but this is reflected by Mars being retrograde since December 20. This is particularly true as Mars is retrograde in Leo the sign of speculation until March 10. Mars retrograde in Leo can stall action as leaders can let their egos get in the way of moving forward. From now until March 21 Mars is at the beginning of Leo which can bring action related to events from mid-October. On March 21 the Sun in Aries will harmonize with Mars in Leo as Mars starts its march forward and events begin to move at much more dynamic pace.
To quote the title of an article in yesterday’s Financial Times, if nervous investors are waiting for uncertainty to clear, they might want to hibernate for the rest of the year (which will be the primary focus of upcoming posts). The article quotes Stephen Jen, managing director of macroeconomics and currencies at BlueGold Capital, who says “the upshot is a more difficult market for investors who trade on economic fundamentals rather than so-called technicals such as specific market levels.” Jen equates “this to a switch in focus from astronomy to astrology.” :-)
Summary Of This Week’s Influences:
The Sun conjoins Jupiter in Pisces today for the first time since February 23, 1998 on the day of the Full Moon (emotional awareness) in Virgo-ruled Mercury. The Sun represents speculation and Jupiter optimism and expansion. Combined they can represent large market moves, usually to the upside as these planetary energies favor risk-taking.
The Sun/Jupiter alignment describes large scale global events. In Pisces this can relate to credit conditions and aid packages. News relating to drugs, hospitals, R&D, chemical, and the oil and gas industries could be prominent now. Neptune-ruled Pisces is an elusive kind of energy where things are not usually what they might initially appear to be. The Full Moon in Virgo is a time to shine the light through the haze of confusion by analyzing whether the information and numbers presented add up.
This Full Moon is particularly powerful as the Moon is perigee (closest to Earth), exerting a tremendous influence on the tides. Neptune/Pisces rules the oceans, and the Full Moon opposing the Sun and Jupiter greatly increased the tidal force, creating high waves and tsunami warnings for several countries including the U.S. after an 8.8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday morning. The Full Moon in earth element Virgo increases the potential for geophysical events such as earthquakes, especially as Mercury was exactly conjoining Neptune in Aquarius (shockwaves). Mercury rules communications and its conjunction to Neptune describes the extensive use of the tsunami warning system. In the Northeast, these planetary combinations created an excessive amount of moisture that resulted in yet another big blizzard. The Full Moon in Virgo highlights how these events have disrupted schedules and obtaining food and basic necessities.
Mercury will enter Pisces Monday until March 17, bringing the total number of planets in Pisces to five until March 7. Mercury in Pisces together with the Sun conjunct Jupiter could create large market moves on Monday.
The Moon will be in Venus-ruled Libra on Tuesday and Wednesday, emphasizing financial arrangements. The annual conjunction of Venus conjoining Uranus in Pisces midweek could create currency reversals and sudden sector shifts. With the Moon shifting into Scorpio Thursday and Friday and Mercury making a favorable aspect to Scorpio’s planetary ruler Pluto on Thursday, previously undisclosed news (probably related to debt) is revealed. These influences are a good time to do research and investigation.
Looking back one month from now, this week’s influences could seem pretty sedate compared to the rest of March as volatility is likely to rise approaching the March 15 New Moon.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Positive.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Strongest in the morning, then weakens and becomes choppy in the afternoon, closing negative.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Positive early, then becomes choppy/mixed to negative in afternoon.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Market improves as day progresses; ends positive.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Choppy/mixed to positive trend bias.
WallStreetWeather.net Forecast For Week Of February 22, 2010
Summary Of Last Week’s Influences:
As explained in last week’s Forecast, the combination of Venus conjoining Jupiter in Pisces harmonizing with the USA’s natal Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer reflected Wall St’s optimism over indications the U.S. economy is expanding.
Oil had a big move last week, closing just under $80 a barrel. Copper is ruled by Venus which saw its biggest gains since last October thanks to the Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Pisces.
The biggest news last week caught the market off guard when the Fed issued a 4:30 PM press release Thursday announcing the rate charged to banks who borrow from the Fed’s discount window would increase 0.25% to 0.75% as part of the Fed’s “exit strategy” outlined by Chairman Bernanke on February 10. Fed heads were out in force on Friday seeking to assure the market that this was a “technical” move and not the start of Fed tightening. As I’ve been writing since last fall, I think circumstances will arise that will force the Fed to raise interest rates at the June 23 FOMC meeting.
Summary Of This Week’s Influences:
The First Quarter Moon in Gemini today at 7:42 PM EST reflects that Washington is back to business this week. The week between the New and Full Moon is known as the “crisis in action” phase. With the Moon in dualistic Gemini, Washington is holding multiple hearings on two controversial issues.
Gemini and Mercury rule motor vehicles. There will be two hearings this week to investigate Toyota’s problems with unintended acceleration and the NHTSA’s handling of the matter. The House Energy & Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday at 10:00 AM. Wednesday at 10:00 AM Akio Toyoda and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will appear before the House Oversight Committee.
Rather than the usual dog and pony show that these hearings tend to be, it would be helpful if the Committee pushed Congress to revamp the NHTSA and allocate more funding and resources to the agency that has a staff of around 56 people to investigate consumer vehicle safety complaints. Other automakers should not gloat over Toyota’s troubles but view it as a wakeup call to thoroughly scrutinize their own quality control measures and response to consumer problems with their vehicles.
In the USA, the Sun, Jupiter, Venus, and Uranus in Pisces lined up in the sector of the First Quarter Moon chart representing healthcare reflects President Obama finally releasing his vision of healthcare reform on the White House website Monday prior to his healthcare summit with Republicans on Thursday.
On Wednesday at 10:00 AM the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on the decision by Anthem Blue Cross (a subsidiary of WellPoint) to raise premiums on individual health insurance policies by 39% in California. In a letter to Wellpoint (WLP) CEO Angela Braly asking her to testify at the hearing, Committee Chairmen Waxman and Stupak requested that Wellpoint provide information for all premium increases in all states that WellPoint and its subsidiaries do business.
Wellpoint had to postpone their February 23 Investor Day with analysts to prepare for the hearing which will make a good warm up act for President Obama’s healthcare summit with Republicans on Thursday. Wall St. should view what goes on in Washington this week as “investor days” for the health insurance sector whose business model is dying even if Republicans could have their wish granted and get Democrats to “start from scratch.”
Committee members should ask Ms. Braly whether the private sector has failed to provide a health insurance product that the average consumer can afford to buy, and is it the government’s responsibility to do so? The questions need to be carefully targeted so Braly is backed into a corner and forced to admit that the only viable solution is to have a health insurance pool that includes everyone. Now that Saturn is opposing Uranus for the first time since Congress enacted Medicare in 1965, Americans under 65 are in the exact same situation as seniors were then. If the entire nation was covered under Medicare, the risk pool would be spread out which is the most import way to lower healthcare costs.
Democrats need to counter Republican arguments by asking Ms. Braly to break out the dollar and percent amounts of monthly premiums that go towards mandated coverage imposed by each state as well as the amount Wellpoint allocates in premiums toward malpractice litigation so the public understands this is has been greatly exaggerated by Republicans and The Wall Street Journal editorial board. However, Democrats do need to get on board with tort reform so they can do what the Republicans only talk about yet did nothing about when they were the party in power.
While we’re on the subject of accounting, Braly needs to be questioned how Wellpoint allocates expenses between plans. Specifically, corporate overhead allocated to the individual market vs. the large group market. The only way to determine Wellpoint or any other health insurance company’s true medical loss ratio is to account for only payments made to outside medical service providers. I think that what will come out of the hearing is that Wellpoint will need a medical loss ratio far south of 80% (as required in the Senate bill) to cover their bloated administrative costs and profit requirements. It will be hard to justify these inefficiencies to Congress and the public.
Republicans act as if allowing health insurers to sell policies “across state lines” would solve everything. This is a misnomer since health insurers already sell policies across state lines to groups - policies no cheaper than ones issued by insurance companies who are state regulated to offer a policies in that state! What the Republicans really mean is if one state has few regulations, an insurance company should be able to offer that state’s policy in a state that has stricter regulations.
In a previous post I wrote that the Republicans might regret Scott Brown’s win. There are small signs that President Obama and the Democrats are finally starting to view what appeared to be a loss as a liberating opportunity to use reconciliation just like Republicans did when they were the majority. (I also think that something previously undisclosed is going to surface with Brown that will embarrass the GOP.)
Sandwiched between Toyota and healthcare reform is Ben Bernanke who will appear before the House Financial Services Committee at 10:00 AM Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee the following morning as part of the Fed’s semi-annual testimony to Congress postponed from the snowstorm two weeks ago. Other “Fed heads” will be speaking throughout the week and at a U.S. monetary policy forum on Friday.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Choppy/mixed conditions; swings between moderately positive to negative.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Negative.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Negative.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Improving conditions as day progresses to choppy/mixed to moderately positive.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Positive trend could weaken going into the close.
As explained in last week’s Forecast, the combination of Venus conjoining Jupiter in Pisces harmonizing with the USA’s natal Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer reflected Wall St’s optimism over indications the U.S. economy is expanding.
Oil had a big move last week, closing just under $80 a barrel. Copper is ruled by Venus which saw its biggest gains since last October thanks to the Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Pisces.
The biggest news last week caught the market off guard when the Fed issued a 4:30 PM press release Thursday announcing the rate charged to banks who borrow from the Fed’s discount window would increase 0.25% to 0.75% as part of the Fed’s “exit strategy” outlined by Chairman Bernanke on February 10. Fed heads were out in force on Friday seeking to assure the market that this was a “technical” move and not the start of Fed tightening. As I’ve been writing since last fall, I think circumstances will arise that will force the Fed to raise interest rates at the June 23 FOMC meeting.
Summary Of This Week’s Influences:
The First Quarter Moon in Gemini today at 7:42 PM EST reflects that Washington is back to business this week. The week between the New and Full Moon is known as the “crisis in action” phase. With the Moon in dualistic Gemini, Washington is holding multiple hearings on two controversial issues.
Gemini and Mercury rule motor vehicles. There will be two hearings this week to investigate Toyota’s problems with unintended acceleration and the NHTSA’s handling of the matter. The House Energy & Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday at 10:00 AM. Wednesday at 10:00 AM Akio Toyoda and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will appear before the House Oversight Committee.
Rather than the usual dog and pony show that these hearings tend to be, it would be helpful if the Committee pushed Congress to revamp the NHTSA and allocate more funding and resources to the agency that has a staff of around 56 people to investigate consumer vehicle safety complaints. Other automakers should not gloat over Toyota’s troubles but view it as a wakeup call to thoroughly scrutinize their own quality control measures and response to consumer problems with their vehicles.
In the USA, the Sun, Jupiter, Venus, and Uranus in Pisces lined up in the sector of the First Quarter Moon chart representing healthcare reflects President Obama finally releasing his vision of healthcare reform on the White House website Monday prior to his healthcare summit with Republicans on Thursday.
On Wednesday at 10:00 AM the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on the decision by Anthem Blue Cross (a subsidiary of WellPoint) to raise premiums on individual health insurance policies by 39% in California. In a letter to Wellpoint (WLP) CEO Angela Braly asking her to testify at the hearing, Committee Chairmen Waxman and Stupak requested that Wellpoint provide information for all premium increases in all states that WellPoint and its subsidiaries do business.
Wellpoint had to postpone their February 23 Investor Day with analysts to prepare for the hearing which will make a good warm up act for President Obama’s healthcare summit with Republicans on Thursday. Wall St. should view what goes on in Washington this week as “investor days” for the health insurance sector whose business model is dying even if Republicans could have their wish granted and get Democrats to “start from scratch.”
Committee members should ask Ms. Braly whether the private sector has failed to provide a health insurance product that the average consumer can afford to buy, and is it the government’s responsibility to do so? The questions need to be carefully targeted so Braly is backed into a corner and forced to admit that the only viable solution is to have a health insurance pool that includes everyone. Now that Saturn is opposing Uranus for the first time since Congress enacted Medicare in 1965, Americans under 65 are in the exact same situation as seniors were then. If the entire nation was covered under Medicare, the risk pool would be spread out which is the most import way to lower healthcare costs.
Democrats need to counter Republican arguments by asking Ms. Braly to break out the dollar and percent amounts of monthly premiums that go towards mandated coverage imposed by each state as well as the amount Wellpoint allocates in premiums toward malpractice litigation so the public understands this is has been greatly exaggerated by Republicans and The Wall Street Journal editorial board. However, Democrats do need to get on board with tort reform so they can do what the Republicans only talk about yet did nothing about when they were the party in power.
While we’re on the subject of accounting, Braly needs to be questioned how Wellpoint allocates expenses between plans. Specifically, corporate overhead allocated to the individual market vs. the large group market. The only way to determine Wellpoint or any other health insurance company’s true medical loss ratio is to account for only payments made to outside medical service providers. I think that what will come out of the hearing is that Wellpoint will need a medical loss ratio far south of 80% (as required in the Senate bill) to cover their bloated administrative costs and profit requirements. It will be hard to justify these inefficiencies to Congress and the public.
Republicans act as if allowing health insurers to sell policies “across state lines” would solve everything. This is a misnomer since health insurers already sell policies across state lines to groups - policies no cheaper than ones issued by insurance companies who are state regulated to offer a policies in that state! What the Republicans really mean is if one state has few regulations, an insurance company should be able to offer that state’s policy in a state that has stricter regulations.
In a previous post I wrote that the Republicans might regret Scott Brown’s win. There are small signs that President Obama and the Democrats are finally starting to view what appeared to be a loss as a liberating opportunity to use reconciliation just like Republicans did when they were the majority. (I also think that something previously undisclosed is going to surface with Brown that will embarrass the GOP.)
Sandwiched between Toyota and healthcare reform is Ben Bernanke who will appear before the House Financial Services Committee at 10:00 AM Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee the following morning as part of the Fed’s semi-annual testimony to Congress postponed from the snowstorm two weeks ago. Other “Fed heads” will be speaking throughout the week and at a U.S. monetary policy forum on Friday.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Choppy/mixed conditions; swings between moderately positive to negative.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Negative.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Negative.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Improving conditions as day progresses to choppy/mixed to moderately positive.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Positive trend could weaken going into the close.
Demoting Pluto Did Not Prevent the Financial Crisis
Published by WallStreetWeather.net
It is ironic that the world’s first major financial crisis involving sovereign debt is in Greece whose ancient civilization paved the foundation for modern math, science, medicine, architecture, philosophy, and democratic principles.In Greek mythology Plouton was known as “the rich one.” The Greek god of wealth was also called Hades (“the unseen”), as Plouton’s riches derived from wealth that lies beneath the surface.
The Romans called the lord of the underworld Pluto, derived from the Greek ploutos (“wealth”). Wealth accumulated under the surface - from mining Earth’s natural resources, the underground economy, or trading opaque financial instruments, is all part of Pluto’s domain.
Pluto rules debt which if properly used can increase wealth or result in bankruptcy and poverty. A mortgage is French for “dead pledge,” meaning the debt does not die just because the borrower turns in the keys to the lender. Welfare makes the individual or company beholden to the person or group with the wealth and power to control them.
Pluto was discovered 80 years ago today – less than four months after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed it. Pluto was in Cancer, a sign ruling food, real estate, and personal security. People lost their savings from banks going under, their homes, and crops destroyed by draught. Pluto represents catastrophic events of human or natural origins that have an effect on a massive scale as a way of forcing transformation that is long overdue.
By the time NASA launched the New Horizons probe to Pluto in early 2006, the economy was in a real estate bubble fueled by ultra low interest rates and easy credit. Pluto was in Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius, and as real estate and stock prices climbed higher and higher, the leverage expanded.
Pluto represents deep seated issues, things we’d rather keep suppressed because we’re afraid the energy is just too intense to handle (Pluto rules nuclear energy). Maybe that’s why the International Astronomical Union on August 24, 2006 voted to “demote” Pluto to a “dwarf” planet, hoping the action would prevent the bubble based on real estate collateral from bursting. The vote occurred one week before Saturn in Leo made the first of three oppositions to Neptune in Aquarius, indicating credit (Neptune) would begin to contract (Saturn).
When Pluto entered Saturn-ruled Capricorn in January 2008, the credit contraction led to a full blown crisis that began with losses related to adjustable-rate subprime mortgages. As Saturn in Libra began to square Pluto in November 2009, it became evident that Wall St. and Main St. weren’t the only ones who took on too much debt. Capricorn and its planetary ruler Saturn represent government. Saturn squaring Pluto in Capricorn reflects that belt tightening is required to get a grip on sovereign debt.
Pluto forces change by destroying what no longer works so it can be transformed and birthed into something more viable. Pluto in Capricorn until 2024 will not allow governments to postpone making hard choices regarding debt, taxation, retirement, and insurance benefits. On the 80th anniversary of Pluto’s discovery, President Obama signed an executive order establishing a new bipartisan commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform after the Senate failed to approve legislation that would force Congress to vote on these issues. Pluto in Capricorn is not the time to pay lip service to debt problems by keeping the real numbers hidden through accounting treatments or tax tricks. Governments who fail to act to create long term sustainability and instead focus on what they believe to be politically expedient will only prolong the pain and postpone an economic recovery. Pluto in Capricorn requires the courage to relinquish the failed policies of the past.
As astronomer Ken Croswell pointed out in an op-ed piece in today’s Wall Street Journal (“Ninth Rock From the Sun”), a 2009 CNN.com poll found an overwhelming majority of Americans favor returning Pluto to its full planetary status. The Moon represents the public and at the time of Pluto’s discovery, the Moon was in Pluto-ruled Scorpio in a harmonious relationship to Pluto in Moon-ruled Cancer. Americans are most passionate about the issue since the Moon in Scorpio at Pluto’s discovery exactly harmonizes with the USA’s Sun (self-identity) in Cancer.
For a 20 year period every 248 years, Pluto moves inside Neptune’s orbit. Neptune represents communism/socialism and fervent religious/spiritual beliefs. Pluto can turn Neptune’s beliefs into fundamentalism. From January 23, 1979 to February 11, 1999 Pluto was closer to Earth than Neptune. The Shah was overthrown and Iran became an Islamic Republic. Religious fundamentalist groups became far more involved in U.S. politics, seeking to erode individual rights in Pluto-ruled matters of sexuality, life, and death.
Pluto was closest to the Earth on November 4, 1989, just days before the fall of the Berlin Wall which was followed by the collapse of communism in the Pluto-ruled Soviet empire. Saturn was conjoining Neptune in Capricorn at the time, indicating not only that a physical barrier would dissolve that separated communism from capitalism, but the structure of the communist government (Saturn in Capricorn) would disintegrate as well.
The Saturn/Neptune conjunction during 1989-90 marked the start of a new economic cycle that as previously described peaked in mid-2007. The root origin of the financial crisis began with the Tax Reform Act enacted on October 22, 1986. Pluto rules taxes and loans. Interest paid on consumer loans were no longer deductible, while the limits on the home mortgage interest deduction increased.
Neptune exactly opposing the USA’s natal Venus (money, banks) in Cancer (real estate) and Pluto in its “home” sign Scorpio (lending) forming a harmonious aspect to the USA Jupiter in Cancer, sowed the seeds of using real estate to extract cash. The use of home equity loans extended beyond home improvements and began to be used to pay off other debt or take on more debt as the value (Venus) of the home increased.
In 2001 as Saturn in Gemini opposed Pluto in Sagittarius, the Federal Reserve (with its Sun in Capricorn opposing Pluto in Cancer and Moon in Scorpio) had an epiphany that they could restore the economy suffering from the collapse of the tech bubble and the 9/11 terrorist attacks by promoting real estate as a vehicle to generate more equity and subsequently more collateralized lending to consumers. People wouldn’t notice that wages were stagnant to deteriorating and the true cost of living was increasing as long as they could use their home as an ATM machine. As Saturn opposed Neptune and Pluto entered Capricorn, home values and credit began to contract, leaving borrowers with a mountain of debt.
During the housing boom, 70% of the U.S. economy was consumer driven. July and August 2010 mark the start of a new era in the U.S. economy as new technology (Jupiter conjoining Uranus in Aries) opposes Aries ruled Mars which conjoins Saturn in Libra with all of these planets squaring Pluto in Capricorn. Uranus was in Aries when Pluto was discovered and Saturn and Pluto are again in cardinal (action-oriented) signs that reflect the economic challenges that must be dealt with. The Federal Reserve and the government will be forced to wake up to the fact that the consumer driven economy is not a balanced economy and cannot be resurrected. Foreclosures will rapidly rise and consumers will learn the lesson that homes are used for utilitarian purposes rather than as a financial instrument. A new industrial revolution is about to begin that will lead to the rebirth of the U.S. as a technological and industrial leader.
Astronomy is considered to be a science. Yet science is supposed to require evidence in order for a theory to become a fact. The I.A.U. was too impatient to wait until 2015 for data from the New Horizons probe to support or discredit the theory voted on by a minority of astronomers that Pluto is not a planet.
Between 2010 and 2015 Uranus in Aries will square Pluto in Capricorn. These energies will bring about many new discoveries and technological advances as there’s a newfound eagerness to explore the unknown and break through the barriers of what is considered impossible or improbable. Astronomers demoted Pluto yet people are starting to recognize it is time to master Pluto’s energies by tapping the wealth and power inherent within each individual. This is not welcome news to the plutocrats who would prefer to keep the public debt dependent and in the dark.
Notes:
Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona on February 18, 1930 at 4:00 PM MST.
NASA’s New Horizons space probe launched from Cape Canaveral on January 19, 2006 at 2:00 PM EST. New Horizons is scheduled to make a flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015 at 11:47 UTC, and its Moons Charon (the ferryman), Nix (Charon’s mother, the Greek goddess of darkness and light that synthesizes with Pluto’s intense energy), and Hydra (the 9 headed serpent guarding the waters of the underworld).
The I.A.U. voted to demote Pluto on August 24, 2006 at 3:44:29 PM CEDT in Prague.
Saturn opposite Neptune: August 31, 2006, February 28, 2007, and June 25, 2007.
USA: July 4, 1776 5:10 PM Philadelphia, PA
WallStreetWeather.net Forecast For Week Of February 15, 2010
This is an abbreviated forecast to match the abbreviated week on Wall Street.
With the Moon in Pisces and Venus conjoining Jupiter in Pisces Tuesday, the market expects that this week’s reports will show the U.S. economy is expanding. Venus and Jupiter tend to express themselves well in Pisces as there’s a tendency to make generous assumptions and view the glass as half full. There’s an emotional pull to temporarily escape from the global debt debacles of Saturn square Pluto for the moment and focus on what’s right in the world. Reinforcing this sentiment is that the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Pisces is harmonizing with the USA’s conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Moon-ruled Cancer.
Pisces is ruled by Neptune which inflates conditions. Thursday’s Producer Price Index and Friday’s Consumer Price Index could come in slightly higher than expected. Oil and gas are ruled by Pisces/Neptune, which could experience large moves this week.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Markets closed for Presidents Day holiday.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Venus conjoining Jupiter tends to be bullish but can bring large moves that take the market in either or both extremes.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
With the Moon in Aries, the market could begin with a strong start from industrial output gains. Enthusiasm could start to wane and the indices end mixed to moderately positive.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Volatile, choppy moves in either extreme; negative bias.
Friday, February 19, 2010
(Options expiration) Choppy to volatile conditions as sentiment swings between negative and positive intraday, ending mixed to moderately positive.
With the Moon in Pisces and Venus conjoining Jupiter in Pisces Tuesday, the market expects that this week’s reports will show the U.S. economy is expanding. Venus and Jupiter tend to express themselves well in Pisces as there’s a tendency to make generous assumptions and view the glass as half full. There’s an emotional pull to temporarily escape from the global debt debacles of Saturn square Pluto for the moment and focus on what’s right in the world. Reinforcing this sentiment is that the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Pisces is harmonizing with the USA’s conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Moon-ruled Cancer.
Pisces is ruled by Neptune which inflates conditions. Thursday’s Producer Price Index and Friday’s Consumer Price Index could come in slightly higher than expected. Oil and gas are ruled by Pisces/Neptune, which could experience large moves this week.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Markets closed for Presidents Day holiday.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Venus conjoining Jupiter tends to be bullish but can bring large moves that take the market in either or both extremes.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
With the Moon in Aries, the market could begin with a strong start from industrial output gains. Enthusiasm could start to wane and the indices end mixed to moderately positive.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Volatile, choppy moves in either extreme; negative bias.
Friday, February 19, 2010
(Options expiration) Choppy to volatile conditions as sentiment swings between negative and positive intraday, ending mixed to moderately positive.
WallStreetWeather.net Forecast For Week Of February 8, 2010
Summary Of Last Week’s Influences:
Once again the stock market closed lower last week as the influence of Saturn square Pluto caused investors to fear the lack of fiscal discipline (Saturn in Libra) by global governments to reign in their debt mountain (Pluto in Capricorn).
Fears that certain countries sovereign debt could become the new subprime or Act II of the financial crisis caused global markets to tumble Thursday as the P.I.G.S. (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain) in the EU are getting slaughtered over excessive spending during the Pluto in Sagittarius years (1995-2008) that has proven to be unsustainable. Saturn represents the law of cause and effect; what comes around, goes around. Rather than becoming more competitive as EU member nations, P.I.G.S. took advantage of the EU’s cheaper borrowing costs to load up on debt (Pluto), ignoring structural inefficiencies (Saturn) such as high labor costs relative to productivity.
Saturn in Libra squaring Pluto in Capricorn is putting the fiscal imbalances front and center. Ignoring the problem won’t make the energies of Saturn and Pluto any easier to deal with; quite the opposite in fact! Tilting the economic scales too much towards using real estate and its related consumer spending as a way to create a short term economic boom resulted in a global bust. The contracting energies of Saturn squaring Pluto (debt and taxes) in Saturn-ruled Capricorn (2008-2024) indicates that governments need to have the political will to make the hard choices that they would rather not make before even more draconian measures become necessary.
In last week’s Forecast I mentioned that Greece’s chart is (surprise surprise!) being affected by the Saturn/Pluto square. So are the other three countries. With Saturn/Pluto impacting Mars and Saturn in Cancer (real estate) and Pluto in Libra, Portugal is more affected than Ireland or Spain now.
The Euro hit an 8 month low against the U.S. Dollar, still considered to be the world’s reserve currency despite a warning from Moody’s Wednesday that the USA’s AAA credit rating could be downgraded if no actions are taken to address the $1.56 trillion budget deficit and/or economic growth remains weak.
In “Investors dazed by week of turmoil,” the FT’s Jennifer Hughes remarks that “if 2009 was about taking risk, this year has been about shedding it.” This reflects the market’s optimistic euphoria from Jupiter conjoining Neptune from the spring of 2009 thanks to global government stimulus measures and the E-Z money policies of central banks like the Fed and the Bank of England engaging in quantitative easing. (What normal people call printing money.)
The Fed and the BoE have stopped the presses and are gradually unwinding the special lending programs established during the financial crisis but have yet to prove that they’re willing to implement exit strategies to unwind the excess liquidity.
So far global governments are expressing the “lower vibration” of Saturn by trying to preserve the status quo at all cost despite the fact that Pluto is out to destroy what is no longer working as it should be. The longer we delay Saturn’s need to restructure and deny that Pluto is a very powerful planet in our universe, the longer our economic structures will decay into a slow and prolonged death. Only by forcing ourselves as a nation to face our deepest and most difficult issues can we transform our economy to achieve steady and sustainable growth instead of politically expedient quick fix boom and bust cycles.
The frictional (square) relationship between Saturn and Pluto is a call for action, not denial, delay and avoidance. Jupiter in Pisces this year represents that big sacrifices are required by all. Whether by cooperation or by bringing what has been kept in background to the forefront, those people and elements in our economy and society who seek to keep things as they are will be called out.
An example of this is when I wrote that President Obama is working behind the scenes to get healthcare legislation passed in spite of what media headlines would have the public believe. What the President was really telling Democrats last week is that they will pay the price on Election Day if they fail to pass a healthcare bill. The Aquarius New Moon on February 13 opposes Obama’s natal Uranus in Leo in the sector of his chart that represents diplomacy and open enemies. The Republicans are about to get a wakeup call as President Obama is launching a new initiative to force Republicans over the following two weeks to declare issue by issue which components of the House and Senate healthcare bills they support or oppose, no longer allowing them to hide behind the “let’s start over” mantra.
What President Obama will be doing at this time is harnessing the energies of Saturn square Pluto, balancing one side of Libra’s scales by passing legislation right away on what elements of the healthcare bill Democrats and Republicans agree on. The other side of the scales forces the Republicans to specify where they stand on each individual component of the House and Senate bills rather than generalizing.
I had written that if Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat, the Republicans would likely end up wishing that Martha Coakley had won. Losing the 60th vote in the Senate allows President Obama to force the opposition to responsibly govern (Saturn) instead of spewing endless rhetoric. Losing the supermajority in the Senate eliminates the ability of single Democratic Senators such as Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman from holding the party hostage. Instead, either a negotiated deal with Republicans has to be achieved or else the Democrats can do what Republicans loved to do when they were the majority and take the reconciliation route with 50 Democrats.
Friday’s employment report was a mixed bag that resulted in a lot of market volatility. While the employment picture is not improving near as fast as anyone would like, it showed that the job losses are far less than they had been. It is also evidence that more stimulus spending “to create jobs” is unnecessary. What was needed from the start was accelerated depreciation or complete expensing of equipment purchases for businesses for a limited period of time, so that companies would have to act now. This would create jobs building and installing new equipment at a time when businesses would ordinarily be reluctant to spend money on capital purchases.
Summary Of This Week’s Influences:
The week begins with Venus conjoining Neptune in Aquarius. This planetary alignment can be bullish and ignore risk factors by donning a pair of rose colored glasses, or become bearish over financial rumors or deception involving credit issues. This alignment combined with the Moon in Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius on Monday can create large market moves.
Financial fraud is another way to describe Venus conjoining Neptune. This is what New York AG Cuomo has accused Bank of America (BAC), former CFO Joe Price, and former CEO Ken Lewis of by failing to disclose that Merrill’s losses were worse than the bank had disclosed prior to the shareholder vote of the merger. With the Moon in Sagittarius (Courts), Judge Jed S. Rakoff will rule on whether he will accept a revised settlement the bank reached with the SEC on the same day as Cuomo’s lawsuit after the Judge rejected the first one last year. The actual BofA/SEC trial begins March 1 and Ben Bernanke needs to be put on the witness stand.
Mercury the planet of communication and movement leaves its long sojourn in Capricorn since December 5 and moves into Aquarius on Wednesday until March 1. Mercury in Uranus-ruled Aquarius is a time for progressive thinking and inventive ideas. Aquarius rules protests, and public workers in Greece are set to go on a 24 hour strike against the government seeking to raise taxes and rein in government wages. Mercury entering Aquarius can create currency reversals and increased volatility.
Fed Chairman Bernanke testifies at 10:00 AM Wednesday before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on unwinding the Fed’s emergency lending programs. At 2:00 PM the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing on “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?” Since I wrote the post about Toyota’s Saturn/Pluto problems last week, the company will now have to recall the Prius to repair a software glitch in the hybrid vehicle’s braking (Saturn!) system.
Venus (money/banking) moves into Neptune-ruled Pisces Thursday until March 7. Venus here further emphasizes concerns about credit ratings and their effect on interest rates.
The Aquarius New Moon Saturday at 9:51 PM EST conjoins Neptune while Venus conjoins Jupiter in Pisces. This increases the likelihood of large market moves and volatile conditions that take the market from one extreme to the other as the underlying influence of Saturn and Pluto strongly in effect over the next month can cause the market to readily shift from euphoria to panic and back, causing investors to become unnerved.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Choppy/volatile as market swings from negative to improving conditions that take the market mixed to positive.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Positive but begins losing momentum to reverse gains as sentiment turns cautious in the afternoon.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Negative early then begins improving in late morning to become choppy/mixed to moderately positive.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Negative conditions become choppy/mixed to positive as day progresses.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Choppy/volatile conditions that swing from bearish to bullish.
Once again the stock market closed lower last week as the influence of Saturn square Pluto caused investors to fear the lack of fiscal discipline (Saturn in Libra) by global governments to reign in their debt mountain (Pluto in Capricorn).
Fears that certain countries sovereign debt could become the new subprime or Act II of the financial crisis caused global markets to tumble Thursday as the P.I.G.S. (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain) in the EU are getting slaughtered over excessive spending during the Pluto in Sagittarius years (1995-2008) that has proven to be unsustainable. Saturn represents the law of cause and effect; what comes around, goes around. Rather than becoming more competitive as EU member nations, P.I.G.S. took advantage of the EU’s cheaper borrowing costs to load up on debt (Pluto), ignoring structural inefficiencies (Saturn) such as high labor costs relative to productivity.
Saturn in Libra squaring Pluto in Capricorn is putting the fiscal imbalances front and center. Ignoring the problem won’t make the energies of Saturn and Pluto any easier to deal with; quite the opposite in fact! Tilting the economic scales too much towards using real estate and its related consumer spending as a way to create a short term economic boom resulted in a global bust. The contracting energies of Saturn squaring Pluto (debt and taxes) in Saturn-ruled Capricorn (2008-2024) indicates that governments need to have the political will to make the hard choices that they would rather not make before even more draconian measures become necessary.
In last week’s Forecast I mentioned that Greece’s chart is (surprise surprise!) being affected by the Saturn/Pluto square. So are the other three countries. With Saturn/Pluto impacting Mars and Saturn in Cancer (real estate) and Pluto in Libra, Portugal is more affected than Ireland or Spain now.
The Euro hit an 8 month low against the U.S. Dollar, still considered to be the world’s reserve currency despite a warning from Moody’s Wednesday that the USA’s AAA credit rating could be downgraded if no actions are taken to address the $1.56 trillion budget deficit and/or economic growth remains weak.
In “Investors dazed by week of turmoil,” the FT’s Jennifer Hughes remarks that “if 2009 was about taking risk, this year has been about shedding it.” This reflects the market’s optimistic euphoria from Jupiter conjoining Neptune from the spring of 2009 thanks to global government stimulus measures and the E-Z money policies of central banks like the Fed and the Bank of England engaging in quantitative easing. (What normal people call printing money.)
The Fed and the BoE have stopped the presses and are gradually unwinding the special lending programs established during the financial crisis but have yet to prove that they’re willing to implement exit strategies to unwind the excess liquidity.
So far global governments are expressing the “lower vibration” of Saturn by trying to preserve the status quo at all cost despite the fact that Pluto is out to destroy what is no longer working as it should be. The longer we delay Saturn’s need to restructure and deny that Pluto is a very powerful planet in our universe, the longer our economic structures will decay into a slow and prolonged death. Only by forcing ourselves as a nation to face our deepest and most difficult issues can we transform our economy to achieve steady and sustainable growth instead of politically expedient quick fix boom and bust cycles.
The frictional (square) relationship between Saturn and Pluto is a call for action, not denial, delay and avoidance. Jupiter in Pisces this year represents that big sacrifices are required by all. Whether by cooperation or by bringing what has been kept in background to the forefront, those people and elements in our economy and society who seek to keep things as they are will be called out.
An example of this is when I wrote that President Obama is working behind the scenes to get healthcare legislation passed in spite of what media headlines would have the public believe. What the President was really telling Democrats last week is that they will pay the price on Election Day if they fail to pass a healthcare bill. The Aquarius New Moon on February 13 opposes Obama’s natal Uranus in Leo in the sector of his chart that represents diplomacy and open enemies. The Republicans are about to get a wakeup call as President Obama is launching a new initiative to force Republicans over the following two weeks to declare issue by issue which components of the House and Senate healthcare bills they support or oppose, no longer allowing them to hide behind the “let’s start over” mantra.
What President Obama will be doing at this time is harnessing the energies of Saturn square Pluto, balancing one side of Libra’s scales by passing legislation right away on what elements of the healthcare bill Democrats and Republicans agree on. The other side of the scales forces the Republicans to specify where they stand on each individual component of the House and Senate bills rather than generalizing.
I had written that if Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat, the Republicans would likely end up wishing that Martha Coakley had won. Losing the 60th vote in the Senate allows President Obama to force the opposition to responsibly govern (Saturn) instead of spewing endless rhetoric. Losing the supermajority in the Senate eliminates the ability of single Democratic Senators such as Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman from holding the party hostage. Instead, either a negotiated deal with Republicans has to be achieved or else the Democrats can do what Republicans loved to do when they were the majority and take the reconciliation route with 50 Democrats.
Friday’s employment report was a mixed bag that resulted in a lot of market volatility. While the employment picture is not improving near as fast as anyone would like, it showed that the job losses are far less than they had been. It is also evidence that more stimulus spending “to create jobs” is unnecessary. What was needed from the start was accelerated depreciation or complete expensing of equipment purchases for businesses for a limited period of time, so that companies would have to act now. This would create jobs building and installing new equipment at a time when businesses would ordinarily be reluctant to spend money on capital purchases.
Summary Of This Week’s Influences:
The week begins with Venus conjoining Neptune in Aquarius. This planetary alignment can be bullish and ignore risk factors by donning a pair of rose colored glasses, or become bearish over financial rumors or deception involving credit issues. This alignment combined with the Moon in Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius on Monday can create large market moves.
Financial fraud is another way to describe Venus conjoining Neptune. This is what New York AG Cuomo has accused Bank of America (BAC), former CFO Joe Price, and former CEO Ken Lewis of by failing to disclose that Merrill’s losses were worse than the bank had disclosed prior to the shareholder vote of the merger. With the Moon in Sagittarius (Courts), Judge Jed S. Rakoff will rule on whether he will accept a revised settlement the bank reached with the SEC on the same day as Cuomo’s lawsuit after the Judge rejected the first one last year. The actual BofA/SEC trial begins March 1 and Ben Bernanke needs to be put on the witness stand.
Mercury the planet of communication and movement leaves its long sojourn in Capricorn since December 5 and moves into Aquarius on Wednesday until March 1. Mercury in Uranus-ruled Aquarius is a time for progressive thinking and inventive ideas. Aquarius rules protests, and public workers in Greece are set to go on a 24 hour strike against the government seeking to raise taxes and rein in government wages. Mercury entering Aquarius can create currency reversals and increased volatility.
Fed Chairman Bernanke testifies at 10:00 AM Wednesday before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on unwinding the Fed’s emergency lending programs. At 2:00 PM the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing on “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?” Since I wrote the post about Toyota’s Saturn/Pluto problems last week, the company will now have to recall the Prius to repair a software glitch in the hybrid vehicle’s braking (Saturn!) system.
Venus (money/banking) moves into Neptune-ruled Pisces Thursday until March 7. Venus here further emphasizes concerns about credit ratings and their effect on interest rates.
The Aquarius New Moon Saturday at 9:51 PM EST conjoins Neptune while Venus conjoins Jupiter in Pisces. This increases the likelihood of large market moves and volatile conditions that take the market from one extreme to the other as the underlying influence of Saturn and Pluto strongly in effect over the next month can cause the market to readily shift from euphoria to panic and back, causing investors to become unnerved.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Choppy/volatile as market swings from negative to improving conditions that take the market mixed to positive.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Positive but begins losing momentum to reverse gains as sentiment turns cautious in the afternoon.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Negative early then begins improving in late morning to become choppy/mixed to moderately positive.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Negative conditions become choppy/mixed to positive as day progresses.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Choppy/volatile conditions that swing from bearish to bullish.
Toyota’s Accelerator Surge Slams the Brakes on its Global Growth
Published by WallStreetWeather.net
Toyota announced February 1 it has a solution to fix the more than 6 million vehicles affected by a recall caused by “sudden unintended acceleration” (SUA). Toyota will insert a steel bar on the accelerator pedal assembly to eliminate excess friction that could cause the pedal to stick. Vehicle owners will be notified by mail to schedule an appointment with a Toyota dealer which will make the “sticky pedal” fix and take care of the floor mat recall also affecting certain models.While there have been incidents with other auto manufacturers vehicles unexpectedly accelerating on their own, incidents involving Toyota vehicles have been far higher. At least 19 deaths and over 1,000 accidents have been reported since 2001 involving Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles. The NHTSA has largely dismissed most of these incidents, outlining in a March 2004 memo its position that a vehicle’s braking system would always overcome an engine and stop a car.
If this were actually true in the age of drive by wire, the computer software would stop acceleration the minute that the brake is tapped. A vehicle’s braking system was never designed to overpower the engine. In the days when manual transmissions prevailed, the driver could simply press the clutch which would disengage the engine from the transmission and no tragedies would have occurred. Electronic sensors have replaced the mechanical connection between the pedal and the engine to control acceleration.
Just as each part of the human body is ruled by a certain planetary energy, so are the parts of a motor vehicle. Mars rules the accelerator as it represents moving forward. The braking system is ruled by Saturn, a cautious and slow moving energy whose giant rings represents boundaries and constraints. The Sun rules the engine, the heart of the vehicle. Uranus rules the vehicle’s electronics and computer systems. Because computers control and coordinate the engine’s activities, Uranus has usurped the Sun as the center of the vehicle’s “solar system.”
Uranus describes events that occur unexpectedly, giving a strong indication that the source of the problem revolves around the vehicle’s computer systems and software. Jim Lentz, the president of Toyota USA told reporters Monday that “we have done exhaustive testing, and we have found no evidence of problems with the electronics.” The House Committee on Energy & Commerce which will hold a hearing on February 25, sent a letter to Lentz yesterday requesting full documentation to substantiate Toyota’s claims that the problem was not the result of a computer glitch. Reps. Waxman and Stupak’s letter notes that Toyota officials told committee staffers on January 27 that the causes of unintended acceleration are “very, very hard to identify” and sticky accelerator pedals are “unlikely to be responsible” in cases where cars accelerated above 60mph.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that Toyota issued the recalls after transportation officials flew to Japan in December “to remind Toyota about its legal obligations” and in January followed up with Toyota “to insist they address the accelerator issue.” The department is considering seeking a civil penalty from Toyota. So how did Toyota suddenly go from being the world’s most respected carmaker to fueling the public’s suspicions and apprehensions that they’re not being told the whole story?
Toyota’s series of recent recalls related to unexpected acceleration were spurred by the death of a California Highway Patrol officer and three family members in a 2009 Lexus ES350 that suddenly accelerated out of control on August 28, 2009. Toyota attributed the problem to floor mats. Mars (acceleration; accidents) was opposing Pluto then, indicating that the cause of the problem was deeper and more involved than Toyota’s explanation. During the previous Mars/Pluto opposition, Toyota issued a recall on September 26, 2007 for 2007-08 Lexus ES and 2007-08 Camry floor mats for possibly interfering with the accelerator returning to the idle position.
At the time of the 2007 recall Mars and Pluto were squaring Toyota’s founding chart’s Mercury in Virgo (communication and transportation), Saturn in Virgo conjoined Toyota’s Sun, and the Sun opposed Toyota’s Saturn in Mars-ruled Aries. At the time of the Lexus crash on August 28, Mercury, Mars and Pluto (death)were impacting Toyota’s Saturn in Aries. Two weeks later when Mercury was retrograde, the media leaked the family member’s 911 call made just before the fatal crash. These transits to Toyota’s founding chart reflect that normal braking (Saturn) was not able to control the vehicle’s sudden acceleration. Mercury describes a communications deficiency between the brake and the accelerator. Pluto in Saturn-ruled Capricorn was conjoining the progressed Sun* in the chart for the founding of Toyota USA indicating that the US market would be the primary source of Toyota’s troubles.
On September 29, 2009 Mercury stationed direct, conjoining Saturn in Virgo and opposing Uranus in Pisces, once again impacting Toyota’s Mercury while the Sun opposed Toyota’s Saturn. This was a wakeup call for Toyota to come clean what information it knew about potential electronics problems. Toyota announced an advisory affecting 3.8 million vehicles, telling owners to remove the driver’s floor mat until the company found a solution to the problem.
In October 2009 Saturn shifted into Libra and was about to make its first square to Pluto while both planets were affecting the Toyota founding chart’s Mercury/Saturn opposition and the Toyota’s USA chart’s progressed Sun in Capricorn. Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota and the founder’s grandson, told reporters that “the days when you could classify Toyota as one of the winners are over” as Toyota had entered the fourth of the five stages of corporate decline described in Jim Collins’ book “How the Mighty Fall.”
Saturn and Pluto affecting Toyota’s Mercury and Mars and the Toyota USA’s progressed Sun reflects Toyoda’s remark that the company stood on the brink of “capitulation to irrelevance or death.” Saturn is about taking responsibility and being held accountable for actions taken. Pluto describes the decline and death that must occur in order to bring about transformation.
Despite Toyoda’s public admission, Toyota’s natal Mercury/Saturn opposition reflects the company’s rigid denial that the unexpected acceleration problem was caused by anything beyond floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals. Toyota issued a press release addressing “the growing suspicion by some Toyota and Lexus owners, that a glitch of some kind in the electronic engine management system was the cause of reports of unintended acceleration.” Toyota pointed out that this issue had been “one of the most thoroughly and repeatedly investigated issues by Toyota” and the NHTSA who denied a petition to investigate “unintended acceleration not caused by accelerator pedal interference.”
On November 25, Toyota announced it would alter the accelerator pedals on 4.26 million vehicles, provide new floor mats, and install a brake override system for certain Toyota and Lexus models beginning in early 2010.
Eclipses are harbingers of major change, and Saturn’s energies were particularly potent at the time of the January 15 Capricorn Solar Eclipse. As Saturn in Libra stationed retrograde and Mercury in Capricorn turned direct, both planets impacted Toyota’s natal Saturn in Aries. The eclipse squared Toyota’s founding chart Venus in Cancer and progressed Mars in Capricorn as well as Toyota USA’s Mars in Libra, indicating Toyota needed to take additional action to maintain consumer relations despite the cost. Toyota announced it was recalling an additional 2.3 million vehicles as part of its original recall of the sticky accelerator pedals.
Saturn and Capricorn represent freezing conditions and describe Toyota’s January 26 order freezing U.S. sales of eight Toyota models affected by the sticky accelerator pedal recall. Saturn and Pluto were about to exactly align for the second time on January 31 impacting Toyota’s Saturn in Aries and Toyota USA’s progressed Sun, affecting 1200 U.S. dealers. Pluto represents problems on a massive scale, reflecting there are more Toyota and Lexus models with the problem than Toyota is acknowledging in its current recalls.
These planetary energies affecting Toyota’s charts leading up to the second alignment of Saturn square Pluto describe Toyota’s fear of alarming the public if it acknowledged the possibility that the root cause of the unexpected acceleration could be emanating from a software bug that might still remain elusive to Toyota engineers. Saturn represents blockages and delays that tend to backfire as Pluto will dig deep to expose what’s being kept under the surface. It also describes various government investigations of Toyota now underway.
Pluto represents the massive scale of the problem and costly fallout from Toyota’s emphasis on global expansion over Toyota quality that began in 1995 under the leadership of Hiroshi Okuda. This was when Pluto entered the expansive and global sign Sagittarius. Toyota’s goal was to usurp GM’s status as the world’s biggest automaker by building a better Buick. Toyota succeeded in 2008 just as Pluto shifted from expansive Sagittarius to contracting Capricorn. The excesses of those years forced GM into bankruptcy and majority government ownership. And now Toyota is learning a costly lesson for being too dependent on computer simulations and rushing out products during those years without building prototypes.
“Why did we decide to take action now so suddenly? That’s because, to be honest, there was fear that if we continued our study on this any longer (our credibility could be questioned).” – Toyota chief quality officer Shinichi Sasaki to reporters in Japan February 2
Mars acts like a trigger, accelerating and accentuating other planetary energies. With Mars retrograde in Leo opposing the Sun and Venus last week leading up to the January 30 Leo Full Moon with Saturn square Pluto, Toyota’s acceleration problem was accelerating. Mars retrograde in Leo was squaring Toyota’s founding Uranus in Taurus, conjoining Toyota’s USA’s Uranus in Leo, and conjoining the sector of Toyota’s (TM) NYSE ADR chart representing its reputation and opposing Uranus in Aquarius. Beyond reflecting the minor selloff in Toyota’s stock, Mars in Leo to natal Uranus in these charts suggest action needs to be taken to investigate the engine’s (Leo) computer control system (Uranus). Mars and Uranus in fixed signs can make the problem difficult and slow to diagnose.
Saturn and Pluto reflect that Toyota faces a long road ahead under harsh weather conditions during 2010-11. These two planets are impacting Toyota’s stock chart Sun in Libra, keeping the stock under pressure. The stock’s reaction to these events reminds me of how the financials held up for awhile before collapsing into the single digits during the financial crisis. Saturn/Pluto and other planetary influences confirm James B. Stewart’s assessment of the stock in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Jupiter in Pisces opposing Toyota’s founding Sun in Virgo now describes the growing legal cases against the company. There could be a major announcement about the accelerator issue around the time of the February 28 Virgo Full Moon which squares Toyota’s founding Mars. The problems could expand to more countries. (This also coincides with the House Committee’s hearing.)
The Aries New Moon on April 14 squares the January 15 Solar Eclipse, reactivating the issues that led to the late January recalls and sales freeze. Mercury turns retrograde in Taurus on April 18, affecting Uranus in the three charts described above. This could represent a breakthrough in solving the problem or there could be a recurrence of sudden acceleration incidents in vehicles that underwent the recall fix. With Mercury in Taurus, the news will come at great cost to Toyota. Saturn opposes Uranus on April 26; both planets affect Toyota’s founding Mercury. This could represent a new recall to make the software fix that instructs the computer to override the accelerator and cut power to the engine so the brake will work if the vehicle unexpectedly accelerates. Other new developments in this saga could occur around the June 26 Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn.
Saturn square Pluto also reflects the NHTSA’s failure to recognize that computer problems with automobiles are just as serious a problem as mechanical issues. A positive outcome of Jupiter and Uranus conjoining in Aries in June would be for the government to require that all new vehicles have a brake override of acceleration to prevent loss of control in the event of a computer or mechanical malfunction. Another alternative would be to have a device similar to the mechanical clutch in cars with an automatic transmission. Following the lead of the commercial aviation industry, I believe that all new vehicles should have a black box so that investigators could examine the causes of mechanical or electrical failures.
*A mathematical calculation that moves the planets forward in time as a method of prediction.
Toyota Founded: August 28, 1937 time unknown Toyota, Japan
Toyota Motor Sales USA Founded: October 31, 1957 Torrance, CA
Toyota (TM) NYSE ADR: September 29, 1999 9:30 AM New York City
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