Price points for a Pollyanna bounceback

Randall Ashbourne, an associate of Astrological Investing, posts a weekly market report on his web site, theidiotandthemoon.com The following is this weekend's Eye of RA report: Week beginning October 15, 2012

Goldman Sachs has issued a "buy, buy, buy" alert and Citigroup's chief stock strategist is tipping "a raging Bull" market into 2013 with an SP500 target of 1615.

And Gloom Boom & Doom guy, Marc Faber, spent last week reiterating his prediction of a 20% plunge in the same index.

For the moment, either scenario is possible - but there doesn't yet seem to be sufficient evidence to determine which one is probable.

In predicting a strong rally, Goldmans is relying on the statistical norm of what tends to happen in US Presidential election years ... 87% of the time Wall Street spurts during the 4th Quarter, with an average gain of 3.5%.

Last weekend, we went through both weekly and long-range charts for a number of world indices in an effort to set probable upside and downside targets for the current month. We looked at a couple of planetary charts for the SP500 which indicated prices were likely to decline - and a couple for the Shanghai index, indicating it was likely to recover.

Monday brings a New Moon ... which tends to be a statistical high ... as well as a Mars trine from Sagittarius to Uranus in Aries; and on Tuesday Venus will square Jupiter. We'll have a look in a little while at exactly what Miss Pollyanna needs to do to get a boost from either of those astrological aspects

But before we do that, lets have another look at the Shanghai composite index. I indicated last weekend the main Chinese index may be bottoming at a primary Saturn line which played an important role as both Resistance and Support in the past. Those charts can be reviewed in the Archives (available from www.theidiotandthemoon.com ).

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As we anticipated, Shanghai is attempting to recover above the primary Saturn boundary, shown on the chart above with the thick cyan line ... and there is technical support for continued higher prices from the relatively mild positive divergence in the oscillator.

However, our main focus this weekend will be the state of Pollyanna, the SP500. Once again, my apologies to Canadian readers. Yahoo Finance stopped providing historical data for a number of indices back in June, including the TSX and DJI, and I'm having trouble finding a replacement data source.

I showed two charts last weekend which indicated the likely immediate path for Pollyanna was downwards ... because the index had topped out the previous week backing away from an exact price crossing point involving Mercury and Saturn.

I said at the time: "What normally happens with these points is that if price breaks through and Closes above the exact level, it sets the stage for a rally boost.

On the other hand, if price rises into the exact level and then backs away, the odds increase that an important target peak has been hit - and the immediate path ahead is downwards.

Friday's price action suggests this is what has happened ... and the negativity is strengthened because the block shows up in both directions."

Well, "what normally happens" did happen, in spite of the generally positive mood which prevails from 3Q to New Moon.

Statistically, markets tend to peak around the New Moon. But, there is the potential for either Mars trine Uranus, or Venus square Jupiter, to provide a boost.

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And the key to direction will be how price performs on both Monday and Tuesday. On the chart to the right, note the intersection of the falling red Mars line with the thick yellow Uranus line.

It's at 1434. Pollyanna must close decisively above this level on Monday to re-enter rally mode. She gets a second chance at an astro energy boost on Tuesday, if she fails the 1434 Monday test.

In the chart above, the Venus square Jupiter price crossing point (rising green intersection with horizontal blue) is 1426.

So there are two things to watch for ... a Monday close above 1434, or a Tuesday low at 1426, from which price bounces.

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Mars is now in Sagittarius and it'll be joined by the Moon later in the week. Sagittarius has a tendency to exaggerate either the optimism ... or the fear. And wide-range days are the norm when the Moon is in Sadge.

The first hint to which outcome is more likely will be provided by price performance on Monday and Tuesday and how the index reacts at the 1434, or 1426, price crossing points.

In terms of the big picture, the index is still riding the central tyne of a Bullish pitchfork anchored at key long-range highs and lows. The rally angles within the pitchfork are extremely sharp - a result of all the money borrowed by central governments to boost the banks.

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We still have no croaking of the long-range Canary which would lend support to Marc Faber's view of an imminent plunge - though Faber has set a timeline of up to 6 months and we could get an instance of negative divergence by then.

Sticking with the big picture, let's review the weekly charts for the 500.

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The last two peaks on the long-range Canary have come in lower than its peaks during the first stages of the recovery rally. That's a warning sign ... but, it's an early warning sign. There's another one from Pollyanna's apparent inability to rise above the highest level of the channel lines.

I published the long-range planetary chart and its prices last weekend, so you can check that if you need to. The chart above concentrates purely on three levels of technical horizontal support/resistance. We'll zoom-in now and have a closer look at that chart.

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So, if Miss Polly fails the astro energy boost price crossings on Monday/Tuesday, the weekly chart above shows key levels of horizontal and diagonal Support likely to stall the fall.

And, really, there's not much else to look at. The charts in last weekend's edition remain valid for setting the likely range for the month in individual indices - and most of those indices will be influenced over the course of the next week by how the SP500 reacts. If that index can climb above the price crossing points, the Sagittarian effect is likely to exagerrate the optimistic outlook. If it fails the two tests, we're more likely to see fear rising and markets continue to fall.
Safe trading - RA

Astrological Investing's associate, Randall Ashbourne, author of the eBook, The Idiot and The Moon, writes a free weekly column titled, The Eye of Ra on his web site in  which he explains the potential impact of astrological aspects and the current state of technical conditions. Ashbourne's charts are revealing illustrations of exactly what has occurred in the market and the probability of what to expect.
Important reading:  Randall Ashbourne's article, Jupiter's cycle and its effects on Wall Street and a posting of the weekly Eye of Ra report in this blog, titled A look at the Venus Retrograde effect
(Disclaimer: This article is not advice or a recommendation to trade stocks; it is merely educational material.)
Copyright: Randall Ashbourne - 2011-2012

What's stopping Pollyanna from rising

Randall Ashbourne, an associate of Astrological Investing, posts a weekly market report on his web site, theidiotandthemoon.com The following is this weekend's Eye of RA report: Week beginning October 8, 2012

 Gloom Boom & Doom guy, Marc Faber, says he has moved to cash in anticipation of a looming 20% plunge in Wall Street stocks.

When? Sometime in the next 6 months. That's a long time to spend nursing an ulcer and gnawing on fingernails.

So, we'll spend a little time in the first part of this weekend's edition having a close look at the planetary price barriers blocking Miss Pollyanna's efforts to break above the 1460s.

We're in the lunar phase period now between the 3rd Quarter Moon and the New Moon and early in the coming week the Sun will trine Jupiter and Venus will trine Pluto; all together, three astrological signatures with the potential positive energy to allow an upside breakout.

But first, the broad-based SP500 has to overcome strong Neptune resistance at the 1468 level. We'll have a look in a moment at why Miss Polly has been having trouble at that level ... and some hints from Friday's price action that she could continue to have trouble, in spite of the positive astro energy.

Faber believes the American markets - and many individual stocks within those markets - have peaked. He may be right and I confess I expected markets to top out much earlier in the year.

However, markets continue to defy Bearish expectations - which is why we continue to take it step-by-step, considering the upside potential, as well as the downside; and, most importantly, watching closely for any warning signs from croaking Canaries.

Now that we have some October price action to display, let's begin with another look at my long-range Old Gods chart for the SP500.

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We've anticipated that the dotted Neptune line at 1468 would provide strong resistance to further gains in Miss Pollyanna, because of the role it played, along with the Pluto line now priced at 1522, in the topping process of the 2007 Bull peak.

But, we've also been discussing the lack of negative divergence in certain technical oscillators, expecting that a breakout above 1468 could well be a "probable", rather than merely a "possible".

So, let's take a closer look at what's happening with the 500 in relation to the planetary portents.

It's obvious from the long-range Old Gods chart above that the index is having another go at challenging Neptune's power. And since that chart is a monthly, it gives us a pretty good idea of the likely price range for October - whether it's breakout or breakdown.

We all know from the Weekly Planets charts for various indices that meetings with the cyan Saturn lines are always a reliable stopper and frequently turn out to be a weekly High or Low.

On Friday, Mercury had a meeting with Saturn, forming a "price crossing point". What normally happens with these points is that if price breaks through and Closes above the exact level, it sets the stage for a rally boost.

On the other hand, if price rises into the exact level and then backs away, the odds increase that an important target peak has been hit - and the immediate path ahead is downwards.

Friday's price action suggests this is what has happened ... and the negativity is strengthened because the block shows up in both directions.

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The Chart above shows the index running into trouble and back off from a rising Mercury/Saturn price Crossing.

The chart below shows that the price crossing point is doubly significant because it also shows up as a falling Mercury/Saturn level.

And, we can see that the grey Neptune barrier marked on the long-range Old Gods chart is integrated into the configuration.

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So, it's going to take a big boost very early in the coming week to break that triple barrier. Otherwise, Miss Polly may have to vacate the stage for one of Chicken Little's appearances.

In normal circumstances, the omens from these three charts would convince me to Short the 500 big time ... for at least a short time.

Central Bank interference, the generally positive lunar phase, and the fact the Americans are on election countdown might throw a spanner in the works and distort what is normal.

However, there is a fairly obvious Stop Loss level.

The FTSE Weekly Planets chart is below and even though it's a weekly, shows what will probably turn out to be the Highs and Lows for October.

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And the chart below is the DAX Weekly Planets.

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Okay, I think there's enough information in those charts for Americans and Europeans to make a decision about what they do for October, so we'll change hemispheres.

Last weekend, I republished a very simple chart for Auntie, the ASX200, and said:

"I display this chart once again as an example of just how simple - and informative - a chart can be without having to rely on expensive software. It actually flies in the face of the omens from the NDX. The downtrend angle has been broken and the long-range Canary is suggesting further upside ..."

Well, it did fly in the face of the alarm bells going off in the NDX chart and not only met its target, but exceeded it.

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And the bad news for the Bears is ... the long-range Canary loves it, loves it, loves it! Despite the low level of last week's High, the oscillator is putting in its best performance since the 2009 Bear bottom. Of course, it might not actually end October looking that way!

The 4758 target seems both difficult and unlikely, in spite of the oscillator ... so let's look at some less-daunting targets.

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There is an obvious double-Fibonacci barrier not far north of the current price action. While the oscillator is not quite as gleeful on the weekly as it currently displays on the monthly, it's certainly strong enough to suggest those Fibonacci levels are likely to be challenged.

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And the Fibonacci targets are endorsed, too, by Auntie's Weekly Planets chart. I mentioned earlier the importance of the cyan Saturns on the Weekly Planets charts for various indices - and we can see they were in play last week on the ASX200. The more important key to Auntie's likely range for the month is the two Uranus levels, currently at 4560 and 4437.

Now, I really want to take a look at Shanghai, even though China has been on holiday, because there's a chance the main index there may be bottoming - and that might explain the optimism evident in the ASX200.

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We've already discussed the importance of Saturn lines. In astrological mythology and symbolism, Saturn sets boundaries. What is significant, well potentially significant, on the chart of the Shanghai index is the thick Saturn line. Over on the far left, we can see this capped prices until it was broken and the index launched into a massive blow-off.

Then, it became important again - acting as the bottom stop on the plunge which followed the blow-off. Now, it's reacting again to that same primary Saturn boundary.

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The chart above is a weekly, zooming-in on the price action from the Bear plunge to now. The main Old Gods players for Shanghai are Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. We have some mild positive divergence in the current state of the oscillator, suggesting the main Chinese index is going to make a solid attempt at regaining the territory above the primary Saturn line.

If it can do it, it opens the potential for a fast and significant rally. The current blockage is priced between 2092 and 2106. Breaking through the restriction, opens a probable target of 2406 before further major consolidation.

The Hang Seng is in a similar position.

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The MACD is not displaying a lot of internal oomph; but if price can get on top of the Saturn/Neptune barriers it does open up 24,000 as a likely target.

Singapore, the Straits Times Index, is below ... and it appears to have already started the move; though it's MACD signals are also giving signs of wanting to croak.

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Our final chart for this weekend is India's Nifty. The index spent a couple of weeks gathering strength at the 5690s level, listed as a target in the Eye a few weeks ago ... and now has a potential target of 6000 in sight, given the apparent strength of its MACD signal.

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My apologies for not returning to the Canadian indices this week; I'll try next week.

Okay, we've been through a fair bit of territory this weekend. We have a number of indices perking up and finally starting to put on a spurt - with some charts suggesting Wall Street won't be one of them without some form of Benzedrine boost to get Pollyanna above 1468.

However, I've tried to include as many charts as I can indicating the probable range that will be traded in various indices over the remainder of the month.

Safe trading - RA

Astrological Investing's associate, Randall Ashbourne, author of the eBook, The Idiot and The Moon, writes a free weekly column titled, The Eye of Ra on his web site in  which he explains the potential impact of astrological aspects and the current state of technical conditions. Ashbourne's charts are revealing illustrations of exactly what has occurred in the market and the probability of what to expect.
Important reading:  Randall Ashbourne's article, Jupiter's cycle and its effects on Wall Street and a posting of the weekly Eye of Ra report in this blog, titled A look at the Venus Retrograde effect
(Disclaimer: This article is not advice or a recommendation to trade stocks; it is merely educational material.)
Copyright: Randall Ashbourne - 2011-2012

FTSE warns of planetary downdraft

Randall Ashbourne, an associate of Astrological Investing, posts a weekly market report on his web site, theidiotandthemoon.com The following is this weekend's Eye of RA report: Week beginning August 20, 2012 

For the past couple of weekends, we've been mindful of the potential for markets to challenge previous Highs and, perhaps even breakout higher - especially going into last week's Venus and Mars aspects and the statistical high period of a New Moon.

Wall Street ended last week with the VIX, the so-called fear index, at its lowest level since 2007 ... while the SP500 rose further within the bubble territory which culminated in the onset of major Bear attacks.
We will review the charts this weekend for the 500, the Nasdaq 100, Germany's DAX and India's Nifty ... as well as analysing the potential for an important, sudden downdraft planetary signal now showing up on London's FTSE index.

The FTSE signal is the reverse of one which showed up in early June when I pointed out that index had a history of attaching itself to rising Sun lines as it entered rally mode.

In astrological terms over the next week, there is little to get excited about. The Sun will move from Leo to Virgo, suggesting a change in thinking. Leo, as one of the Fire signs, is optimistic to the point of being heroic. It's also the sign that rules gold, gambling and stock speculation.

Virgo is symbolic of a more reticent and more critical energy. It's one of the "thinking" signs, where almost nothing is taken at face value, but is closely analysed and dissected in detail. Virgo is the sign that rules accountants and knows how to check the books for any signs of flawed thinking and rubbery figures.

We will begin this week by looking at the potential warning signal from the FTSE.

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Please ignore the vertical pink and green lines - some sort of software glitch. What we're interested in are the two sets of downtrending diagonals. These are primary Sun, Mercury and Venus lines ... and are what sent the FTSE into a dive when the index bumped into them just over a year ago.

Below is the FTSE Planets chart we've constantly revisited since early June, when the rising green diagonal of a Sun line first alerted us to the potential for a rally in Western stock indices.

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I indicated recently the index was trying to reattach itself to that rising Sun line, but that I thought the attempt would fail. For the most part, the index has simply gone sideways since then ... and is now within a Sun/Mercury downtrend zone, in a very similar position to where it was going into mid 2011.

The oscillators are stacked negatively. Green is the short-term, red the medium, and the yellow line is the long-range. There is no confirmed danger to the rally until that yellow line breaks down below the top red horizontal in the indicator panel. However, the other two are warning internal weakness is developing.

In spite of those warning signs, we cannot rule out more upside in the FTSE

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The chart above is a FTSE monthly and perhaps the most significant thing on the chart is not the index's containment within a triangle, but the fact that the long-range Canary is showing a sign of positive divergence. It is not confirmed, because the month is only half over.

The oscillator is currently hitting a higher peak, while price is actually lower than the two previous peaks. So, from a technical reading, the monthly is suggesting higher prices are probable. Balanced against that is a planetary price warning with some historical validity.

As a more general comment ... unlike some of the American indices, the FTSE has backed away from "the bubble zone" delineated by the black horizontal and has yet to take out either its highs from early 2011 or early 2012.

Germany's DAX is in a similar position.

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As we've discussed recently for the 500, the FTSE and the ASX 200, there have been no warning signals emanating from the fast MACD on weekly charts - and the same is true for the DAX, where the rally is endorsed not just by the rising, positive signal lines, but also by the continued climbing of the histogram peaks.

Above is the DAX Weekly Planet chart - and it would appear as though the index is trying to reach Uranus targets, the orange lines which provided both Support and Resistance as the index was topping in early 2011. The price levels associated with those lines are 7117 and 7279.

Let's look next at India's Nifty 50 index. I draw your attention firstly to the fact it's largely a Pluto dominated index. As is easy to see from its history, the Nifty tends to find either long-range Support or Resistance at price levels determined by the position of Pluto in the zodiac.

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That gives us a guide to where the Nifty might be aiming before the current rally starts to fail. We can use the Nifty Weekly Planets chart, below, to see what's happening.

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The index ended the past week sitting on top of the Pluto line it backed down from six weeks ago. If you trace that line backwards across the chart, you can judge its past significance. Obviously, if the Nifty can hold the 5322 level, the weekly target is 5473 before it faces rejection by the overhead Pluto.

Okay, so let's head over to Wall Street. We'll begin with a long-range look at the NDX so we can see the big picture.

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Firstly, the dark green price bars show the time Jupiter was in Taurus - historically, the Bull peak before a Bear decline which lasts until Jupiter in Leo. The tech bubble-become-wreck peaked with Jupiter in Taurus. It, so far, appears to be doing a repeat performance ... a minor case of the wobbles as Jupiter first goes green ... followed by a sudden rally and fast drop ... then a retest of the Taurean Jupiter high.

In this case, the retest is also an important Fibonacci level. So, while the performance of Nasdaq stocks, like Apple, has been of real importance in lifting Wall Street, there are reasons to be concerned about the potential for much higher gains.

Now that we have some idea of what other major markets are doing, let's try to read the omens, portents and entrails for Pollyanna, the SP500.

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Let's begin with another look at the long-range. I'm still at a loss to explain why anyone would be expecting further Fed intervention with the major Wall Street indices at these price levels. The horizontal technical Resistance is obvious at this level. Pollyanna is well inside the bubble zone - and there are warning klaxons going off in both the short-term and medium oscillators.

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The warnings don't rule out the possibility - even the probability - of a new high before markets roll over, since the pattern appears to be that of an ending diagonal, which would allow for a marginal new high in the post-2009 recovery rally before a decline begins.

Again I point out that these oscillator signals do not become confirmed until the month is over. It is possible we could get a new high here, but that by the end of the month the long-range Canary will display negative divergence, just as the short-term and medium lines are currently showing.

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Last weekend, we discussed the potential for a breakout heading into the Venus/Mars aspects to Saturn and Uranus/Pluto and the New Moon ... and we got the highest, strongest weekly close in the index since the start of the Bear market in 2007.

IF the rally is to continue, there are two different target levels. The 1467 has been marked on the long-range and weekly planets charts for Pollyanna for some time. The interim level is marked by the crosshair cursor on the chart above - 1439.

Also over the past couple of weeks, I've been using Bi-BB charts for various indices as an example of how useful a tool it can be, for those of you who've absorbed that chapter from The Technical Section. It's a valuable technical tool which can be set up in almost any market software and gives slightly different alternative targets to the planetary charts.

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The index behaved as it's "supposed" to do after breaking into the top tier of the Bi-BB layers at the end of the previous week; retesting downside support and then bouncing higher. There is still no warning signal from the fast MACD, with the signal lines and the height of the histogram peaks endorsing the legitimacy of the rally.

There is a chance the breakout on Pollyanna is a "false break", which would bring on a collapse. But there are no really major warning signs of that danger.

The only danger signal is coming from the FTSE. Months ago, we used the appearance of a rising Sun line to alert us to the potential for a rebound in Western markets. Now, those charts are sending an alert that a sudden and unexpected downdraft may be nearby.

Safe trading - RA

Astrological Investing's associate, Randall Ashbourne, author of the eBook, The Idiot and The Moon, writes a free weekly column titled, The Eye of Ra on his web site in  which he explains the potential impact of astrological aspects and the current state of technical conditions. Ashbourne's charts are revealing illustrations of exactly what has occurred in the market and the probability of what to expect.
Important reading:  Randall Ashbourne's article, Jupiter's cycle and its effects on Wall Street and a posting of the weekly Eye of Ra report in this blog, titled A look at the Venus Retrograde effect
(Disclaimer: This article is not advice or a recommendation to trade stocks; it is merely educational material.)
Copyright: Randall Ashbourne - 2011-2012

High-energy aspects will hit mid-week

Randall Ashbourne, an associate of Astrological Investing, posts a weekly market report on his web site, theidiotandthemoon.com The following is this weekend's Eye of RA report: Week beginning August 13, 2012 


Stock markets are due for a date with destiny this coming week with a high chance of breakout ... or breakdown.

Mercury's return to Direct motion last weekend did bring a stop to the spurt-and-reverse cycle.

However, markets did not follow the pattern of ending the Mercury Retrograde period with prices near to where they were when the Rx cycle started.

Instead, they continued a slower grind higher. It was an outcome we anticipated last weekend - largely because of the state of the oscillators on weekly charts for the SP500, the FTSE and the ASX200. I remarked: "So, we have a situation where the normal Mercury Rx mode should bring prices down again by midweek, but the technical picture across three indices points towards further intermediate gains and the potential for a retest of last year's Highs."

In the coming week, there are high-energy aspects involving Venus, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto likely to provoke a sudden and significant shift.

And there's a New Moon, which leans towards a statistical high.

More significant, though, is a Mars conjunction with Saturn.

In astrological symbolism, Mars is energy and drive. If you want a feeling for how Mars works ... it's a bunch of NASA boys pumping the air with their fists as they parachute a 1 ton dune buggy onto the surface of a distant planet so they can go hooning around in a hot rod on the pretext of discovering the meaning of life.

Saturn is the brick wall. A very solid, very reinforced brick wall. Symbolically, on Wednesday, the "drive" is about to hit a brick wall. At the same time, Venus will oppose Pluto and square Uranus.

Venus, as the ruler of both Taurus and Libra, symbolises the "value" of things. In Taurean mode, the value relates to material things; while in Libra, the value relates to the "worth" one puts on close "others" - a partner, good friends ... even enemies.

So, the value of material things - money in the form of currency and stock values - goes into open conflict (the opposition) with big debt and government intervention (Pluto in Capricorn) and challenges the status quo (Uranus in Aries).

In a nutshell, we have energy now in play which can force a breakout to unexpected highs ... or a complete breakdown. One would expect the latter course.

However, I continually stress the need to make a clear distinction between astrological expectations and technical conditions. It's why last weekend we spent some time looking at intermediate and long-range charts for potential upside barriers, even though the Bradley Model and my own Forecast predictions pointed strongly towards Bear mode.

This weekend, we will go through the exercise again, especially since the Venus and Mars transits are likely to provoke a strong move in one direction or the other.

We'll begin by revisiting a chart which has been used quite a few times in the past few months.

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For quite a long time, I maintained only two black horizontal lines on this chart - with the upper line at the 1370 level. Firstly, a statement of the obvious ... the SP500 is still in a multi-year uptrend, riding the diagonal blue channels. It has broken above the 1370 level, which was the large spike down which provided the last low before the high and collapse in late 2007.

I've now added a third black horizontal and quick reference to past prices, indicates it's a very important marker. I also draw your attention to the state of the long-range Canary. Its current peak is lagging behind the price action. It means if we get a higher high, or even a double-top, and that negative divergence display continues in the oscillator, markets are finally set up - technically - to go into freefall. The technical set-up is what has been missing all year ... what I've described a number of times as the elephant in the room, trumpeting the real potential for higher prices than the astrological predictions expected.

Our next chart is Pollyanna's weekly Bi-BB. When I used this chart last weekend, I said: "On a technical basis, the chart suggests a new High is probable, rather than merely possible. The fast MACD looks healthy enough ... and the candlesticks are leaving long tails, indicating Bullish buyers step in just as the Bearish crowd threatens to take command." 

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Last week's end of the spurt-and-reverse cycle did push price higher - back into the highest tier of the Bi-BB layers, and with no faltering of the fast MACD signals.

The bad news for the Bearish expectations can also be found in a monthly version.

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The primary difference between the weekly and monthly Bi-BBs for the 500 is the relative state of the fast MACD. On the monthly, each price peak has brought a significantly lower peak in the height of the histograms and continuing weakness in the state of the signal lines.

However, the recovery of the upper tier on both charts certainly points to the potential for a breakout above last year's highs before markets roll over for another Bear phase.

I used weekly and long-range planet price charts for the three indices last weekend and you can consult the price levels in the Archives if you need to, since we'll concentrate on technical charts this weekend.

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I should, though, show you what happened with the Mercury Rx cycle. The last two of them are marked with the black verticals. We know from Pollyanna's long-range planetary price chart that there's a strong barrier around 1413 ... I pointed out a couple of weeks ago the index has a habit of travelling within Mercurial corridors (the pink lines on the chart above) and last week's prices were contained by a Mercury line.

And price is also knocking its head against an overhead trend channel line.

So, breakout to higher prices does seem unlikely. It's not something we'd expect. However, the technical conditions of the two Bi-BB charts highlight the potential for the unexpected and unlikely to actually occur - and give price targets if it does occur.

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That potential is also endorsed by another version of a 500 daily chart. I've been chatting recently about the tendency of this index to run in 30 calendar day cycles once a trend enters cyclical mode. Allowing just a little leniency, we had - starting from the left - a 30 day high-to-high; a 60-day high-to-low; and then two highs coming in on the next 30 and 60 day markers, leaving the possibility that this rally from the early June low could run out to a total of 90 days.

We also discussed the importance of the 1391 level and how it would be rejected strongly on the first hit of that "last low before the high" price.

However, just as with the long-range chart earlier and the breaking of the 1370 August 2007 spike down price, a decisive second penetration of the barrier opens up a stronger chance of challenging the old highs.

There's not much point in going over the same ground with other indices this weekend. Breakout seems illogical; more central bank goosing of the stock markets at these levels seems mad beyond belief. These price levels were deemed to be irrational when times were good. At a time of massive and still-growing debt, unemployment levels at critical highs, and banks facing the risk of collapse, it's a party that should end badly. Very badly.

The reality check could arrive this week with the Venus and Mars aspects.

Safe trading - RA

Astrological Investing's associate, Randall Ashbourne, author of the eBook, The Idiot and The Moon, writes a free weekly column titled, The Eye of Ra on his web site in  which he explains the potential impact of astrological aspects and the current state of technical conditions. Ashbourne's charts are revealing illustrations of exactly what has occurred in the market and the probability of what to expect.
Important reading:  Randall Ashbourne's article, Jupiter's cycle and its effects on Wall Street and a posting of the weekly Eye of Ra report in this blog, titled A look at the Venus Retrograde effect
(Disclaimer: This article is not advice or a recommendation to trade stocks; it is merely educational material.)
Copyright: Randall Ashbourne - 2011-2012