RETROGRADE MOTION, MUSINGS AND TRIVIA

It Moves Backward, you say?!?!
Of course, Mercury doesn't actually reverse it's path around the sun! Everyone knows this!

Retrograde motion is the apparent motion of a planet to move in a direction opposite to earth. It's all an illusion!

The Earth completes its orbit in 365 days (+ a few hours), which is a slower trip around the Sun than the planet Mercury has; thus, Earth will periodically overtake its orbit, resulting in the illusion of Mercury's backward motion. This happens 3 to 4 times a given year.

The outer planets don't move as fast in their orbits as Earth, but even still, when planet Earth passes their orbits it results in the same phenomenon.

The outer planets retrograde period begin and end when the planet is approximately past 120 degrees (or Trine) from the Sun. The center of their retrograde motion occurs when the planet is exactly opposite the Sun.

The inner planets, Venus and Mercury, can never be trine or in opposition to the Sun. Their retrograde cycles are tied to their conjunctions with the Sun.
When Venus and Mercury are conjunct the Sun they transition from morning star to evening star.

Retrograde Sun? You're kidding, right?
The Sun and Moon never appear retrograde from planet Earth. However, the Sun does appear to move backward from the surface of Mercury!

Interestingly, Mercury has a most eccentric orbit. (view image above)

If we were able to view the Sun from Mercury's surface, we would observe the Sun rising part way, then reverse and set before rising again, all within the same Mercurian day. Thus, to the hypothetical observer on Mercury, the Sun appears to move in a retrograde direction!

This apparent retrograde motion of the Sun from Mercury's surface occurs four Earth days before the conjunction of Mercury and the Sun; the Sun's "normal" motion resumes four days after the conjunction.

Intense Mischievousness of Mercury during Stations
The apparent motion of Mercury stopping to change direction – the station - is felt by us Earthlings more intensely than during retrograde motion. I can't help but wonder, is the retrograde Sun viewed from Mercury's surface the reason stations of Mercury are felt by us Earthlings more intensely?  Who knows?


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RETROGRADE, JANUARY 21ST - February 11
On the 21st of January, Mercury STOPPED its forward moving direction and began to move in the opposite direction - it will do this until it will reach 01.18 degrees of Aquarius (where it was on January 5th).

The Mischievous Maker Mercury will stop again on February 11th, change direction, and begin to move forward once again. 

WHAT IS MERCURY'S SHADOW PERIOD?
The time it takes for Mercury to move between 01.18 degrees of Aquarius to 17.05 degrees of Aquarius - where it was on January 5 and return back to where it was on January 21 - moving first forward, then backward, and then forward again - is approximately 59 days. This is what astrologer's call Mercury's Shadow Period.

Astrologer's say this entire shadow period is subject to difficulties related to anything the planet rules astrologically, and we all need to proceed cautiously during this time. However, what gets everyone's attention is when it is considered actually retrograde for approximately 21 days!

It is NOT a good time to sign contracts, or purchase big ticket items if it is not something you normally do during daily activities during Mercury retrograde.  One should go about their normal course of business and daily activities of course!  But it is a time to be cautious. New, out of the ordinary, important decisions made during Mercury retrograde often come back and regrettably haunt you - and often they are reversed.

Basically, it is a good time to do things that start with “re”. Example: read, research, recycle, repair, restore, review. Now is the best time to clean up and finish up with those old projects we have been procrastinating doing, and wait to begin new projects.

Oh, and if you haven't, CAREFULLY back up your computer! Computers tend to be buggy, and crash during Mercury Rx.

MERCURY AND THE MARKET
During Mercury Rx the markets are unpredictable and volatile. Especially a few days before and after the stationing periods (when Mercury stops to change direction).

Mishaps and misinterpreted communications can happen.  And during Mercury's retrograde chances are greater that they can happen.  So be very, very careful when pressing the buy/sell button if you decide to be in the market!

Kaye Shinker used to remind us that usually about half way through the retrograde cycle you will see a change in the direction of the market only to return to where they started 90% of the time.



Read Randall Ashbourne's FREE report January 2015 Overview of the Markets, by Randall Ashbourne, author of The Idiot and the Moon

Moon phases
New moon January 19, 2015 - 1st quarter, January 26, 2015- Full moon, February 2, 2015 -
Last quarter, February 11, 2015 - next New moon, February 18, 2015 (Read Randall Ashbourne's' article, The Moods of the Moon - Trading the Mood Swings of the Monthly Lunar Cycle)

Read Randall Ashbourne's'The Idiot and The Moon, eBook regarding trading New Moon and Full Moons. (calendars are no longer available on the Astrological Investing Blog)

Astrological Calendars for 2015 are available in our Amazon Book Shop.

On your 2015 calendar, mark the New Moon and Full Moon days, and when there is long a period of time when the Moon is Void of Course.  Students at Astrological Investing have researched days when the Moon was Void of Course during trading hours, and found that 90% of the time Long Void of Course Moons indicate a volatile market with dramatic ups in the indices.

Trines!
Marley

Bounceback potential in stocks and gold

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 June 24, 2013

World stock indices and the price of gold are hitting, or are very close to hitting, prices which have the potential to produce a bounceback.

However, the situation overall remains dangerous and complex as both technical conditions and the astrological weather deteriorate.

We have a lot to consider this weekend; most especially whether we are now in the early stages of a developing Bear market in stocks.

But we will begin by reviewing where we are in terms of the correction which started, for most indices, late in May. I indicated then that: "There's a strong chance stock markets have gone into correction mode likely to last for several weeks."

For the past few weekends, as we tracked the decline in European and Asian indices, I've also indicated: "At a glance, the correction on Wall Street still seems to be too shallow, in terms of both Price and Time, to be realistic - especially considering the rapid, steep declines in most other major indices."

And I said last weekend: "Jupiter energy takes centre stage this week, when the fires of optimism will be stoked again ... or the fear will be."

We got the fear mode, which finally produced a Wall Street decline which is much more realistic in terms of an intermediate correction.

It now may be nearing bounceback levels. I would prefer to see a low form in the SP500 in the price range from 1570 to 1540, since the decline still seems a little short of the mark.

However, some of the other world indices are starting to display positive divergence sufficient enough to produce at least a bounce.

But the astrological weather ahead in the next few weeks is full of turmoil ... and we have reached a major Bradley Model turn date. I will leave discussion of The Spooky Stuff until later in this edition.

Since it's the easiest to deal with, we'll begin with a quick look at gold. Long-range, it has hit an important Fibonacci Retracement level.

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Purely from a technical perspective, this is a normal retracement which, if it holds, keeps the long-term uptrend in a strong position. And it should hold, at least for a relatively strong bounce. The danger is that the long-range oscillator continues its deep dive.

From a planetary perspective, gold has lost the primary Pluto line at 1360 and a primary Sun line - with last week's drop taking price down to a secondary Pluto level. The potential good news is that not only has it now hit a long-range FiboRx price, but it has dipped into Pluto prices with a third instance of positive divergence in the oscillator, though it is mild divergence rather than strident.

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There is one other factor which could help to produce a bounce ... Heliocentric Mercury goes into Sagittarius this weekend for a brief visit into early July. It's a position which frequently causes a gold rally. It's not a certainty, but as we can see from the weekly gold price chart below, it does tend to have an impact.

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Now let's turn our attention to Pollyanna, the SP500. Well, Polly actually ran screaming from the stage last week for a Chicken Little revival. As usual, Wall Street was more than a day late and a lot more than a dollar short in doing what everyone else was sure of weeks ago.

There is a reason I call the SP500 Pollyanna ... or The Vacuous Troll. However, reality finally dawned that Benign Ben isn't going to drop money from helicopters in QE4ever.

The index finally dropped out of the uptrend channel which has defined the rally since it launched late last year. The drop has taken it down into a potential Full Moon low, which is a statistical tendency. The only thing that concerns me is I'd have preferred to see it hit price levels from 1570 to 1540.

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Now let's look at the index in terms of the wider rally channel in play since the bottom of the Bear crash in 2009. While it has lost the intermediate-term rally angle, it came to rest at the end of the week with a little bounce from one of the long-term channel markers.

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The bad news is that the long-range Canary, the Big Bird, has dipped below the upper red line in the oscillator panel, which is a clear warning the inner technical strength of the Bull run is starting to fade again.

Now I have been indicating since late May that I thought this was going to be an intermediate-length correction, lasting probably 5 to 8 weeks. There is a chance it is something much worse. However, there are no major warning signs on the monthly charts, so I'm still leaning towards the optimistic outcome ... which is that this is the last major correction before the final, the last, rally of this Bull run.

But ... two things. Firstly, the combined impact of Neptune going Retrograde and last week's Sun-Jupiter conjunction. They're marked on Pollyanna's long-range monthly chart below with blue bars for Sun-Jupiter conjunctions and red bars for Neptune Rx.

And they have a nasty habit of showing up at important turning points!

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And we also have the Bradley Model suggesting a major trend change. I dealt with the Bradley Model at some length in the June 3 Eye of Ra (click here), or you can access via the Archives button on my web site. (http://www.theidiotandthemoon.com/index.html)

I repeat the warning: It is the dates which are important, not the direction nor the amplititude of the swing.

The next trend change dates for this year don't occur until early September and early October.

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Okay, now let's discuss The Spooky Stuff - because the astrological weather is full of change in the next few weeks.

Jupiter changes signs into Cancer this week ... Venus goes into Leo, where she throws off the dowdy house frock, gets a new "do" and piles on the bling ... and Mercury the brat mischief maker goes Retrograde.

We have discussed Mercury Rx many, many times. And here we go again. DOUBLE-check EVERYTHING you do for the next few weeks to make sure you are actually doing what you intended to do!

Before you hit the Buy or Sell button, pause ... consciously think ... double-check that you WANT to Buy or Sell. You have a stronger than usual chance of hitting the wrong button. But ... ONLY if you're being inattentive! This is not the world out to "get" you. It's you!

Now, it is true that data feeds go awry for a couple of days around the Rx and Direct dates; it is true that emails go missing; it is true that computers do the damndest things.

And it is also true ... more often than not ... that markets will start a trend around the Rx date which reverses course halfway through the Rx phase ... and then arrive at the Direct date a few weeks later with prices pretty much within a per cent or so of where the whole silly phase started.

So, Mercury is Rx from June 26 to July 20. Just pay attention!

Jupiter's shift into Cancer should accelerate sector rotation ... that is, money will flow out of stock sectors which have been popular over the past year or so and into different sectors. I discussed this in the May 13 edition.

It also puts the planet of expansion on track to make a Grand Trine, which is the most benevolent of all astrological aspects, with Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Scorpio. Neptune rules Pisces, so is in a good mood; Jupiter is exalted in Cancer, so he is reasonably benign; and Saturn in Scorpio is associated historically with strong stock market rallies.

The aspect becomes exact in mid-July. We will need to watch the performance of stock indices very closely then, because a Grand Trine is a very powerful aspect likely to produce an important high or low.

Okay then ... let's recap. Most of the world stock indices behaved themselves ... launching into a strong, intermediate correction in late May. The Vacuous Troll kept dancing to the old Benny and the Feds soundtrack, but also finally faced reality. Apart from Polly, most indices have already hit - and in some cases re-tested - potential bounce levels.

We have a Murky Wrecks period fast approaching, which have a tendency to start a short-term trend change which reverses course halfway through. Helio Merc is going into Sadge and Geo Venus is going into Leo, both of which have a reasonably strong tendency to be good for a gold rally ... as the metal hits a long-range Fibo Rx level, with some intermediate-term positive divergence.


So, I think we have the potential for a good bounce in both gold and stocks getting underway this week. It's probably not going to be long-lasting for either of them ... and over the longer-term, warning sirens are starting to wind-up for stock markets.

Safe trading - RA

Astrological Investing's associate, Randall Ashbourne, author of the eBook, The Idiot and The Moon, and The Idiot and the Moon, Forecast 2013, 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 The Idiot and The Moon, Forecast 2013 , 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 - 2011-2013

The Idiot and the Moon, Forecast 2013

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