News Watch

2008 US Presidential Election

Obama's birth certificate released

(posted June 24, 2008) Christmas came early to astrologers this year as the Barack Obama campaign responded to questions about his citizenship and released his birth certificate. He was born at 7.24 pm on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu. This is fairly close to the previously popular time of 7.11 pm, and while the basics of the chart do not change, there are some potentially significant differences in the varga or Hindu harmonic charts. So what does this new and apparently definitive birth chart reveal about Obama's future and the 2008 Presidential election?

In terms of his political aspirations, the 7.24 pm chart improves his chances in November. Moon becomes the current bhukti period and this will run until February. The Moon is well-positioned in the natal chart by virtue of being in Taurus, its sign of exaltation, and placed in the favourable 5th house, which also happens to be the house most associated with politics. read more...

Weekly Stock Market Forecast

(Updated July 20, 2008) New York is coming off an up week that may have temporarily stilled investor anxiety. After Tuesday's intraday low of 10,730, it seems that a growing number of participants are thinking that we have formed a bottom here. Our bullish forecast was confirmed with the 4% gain, although the strength of the optimism was somewhat unexpected. The Dow opens trading at 11,496 while the S&P sits at 1260.  I think the week upcoming is likely to see further gains with the approach of transiting Mars in aspect to Jupiter. Monday may see a drop, however, as transiting Sun falls under the square aspect of the natal Saturn in the 1792 chart.  read more weekly forecast...


Long Term Financial Outlook

(posted June 26, 2008)  This recent decline in global markets has all the earmarks of a new bear market. If the market is heading lower here, then one has to wonder how long this pessimism will last. While I have been bearish for over a year now, I have never really given the length of bear market much thought. Certainly, there are good theoretical reasons for thinking that this is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill bear market. The bull market that preceded it was unprecedented in terms of its length (18 years) and the increase in stock values (over 1500%). While there is no law that bear markets are always proportional to the bull markets that precede them, it is not unreasonable to assume that there is some correlation there. The bear market of the 1930s followed the extended bull run of the 1920s, while the decline of the 1970s was part of a longer sequence that began with the bull market in the 1950s and early 1960s.  read more...

Hillary for VP?2008 Democratic Nomination

Hillary bows out

(Updated June 7, 2008) Hillary Clinton ended the race for the Democratic nomination today and forcefully threw her support behind the candidacy of Barack Obama for president. After one of the closest and most intense nomination races in history, Obama has emerged as the presumptive nominee for the Democrats and is due to be formally nominated at the convention at the end of August in Denver.

While I had known that the current period would be difficult for Hillary, I did not foresee her defeat at this time. I underestimated the manifestations of the negative influences that were operating in her chart and believed instead that she would take the race all the way to the convention. read more election update...

Olympic protests

(Updated April 7, 2008) China's problems are not getting any better as pro-Tibetan protests caused the Olympic flame do go out at least five times today in the relay through Paris. The rest of the relay through France has been cancelled.

This is more or less in keeping with my prediction that China's international reputation would be sullied as transiting Mars squared all of its 9th house planets in early April. I can see this tarnishing of China's image continuing for the rest of the week at least, as tr Mars at 21 Gemini will activate the natal Neptune-Ketu conjunction. April 12-15 looks especially damaging to China as the Ketu aspect is more exact. This maybe a outbreak of significant violence in the relay which may intensify calls for a boycott, at least of the opening ceremonies. read more...

Iraq War

The execution of Saddam Hussein marks a turning point in the history of Iraq. And yet it is unlikely to change the downward spiral of sectarian violence and civil war in the foreseeable future. The new horoscope of Iraq (June 28 2004 10.26 am) is a nightmare of affliction. There's no way any sane astrologer had a hand in picking the time for the signing on the new constitution. So that pretty much limits the improvements one can expect in this war-ravaged country. read more...

Gold's Bull Run

January 23 2008 Update Yesterday's surprise rate cut by the Federal Reserve pushed the US dollar down sharply which made gold more attractive. It broke the recent losing streak that had seen it fall from a peak of $913 to $865. The decline can be partially attributed to the transit of Rahu (North Node) over the Ascendant of the Gold Futures chart. The sentiment on gold reversed as transiting Venus joined Pluto near the 11th equal house cusp. Yesterday it came exact to that cusp in the 10.00 am futures chart.
read more...

Oil hits $100Oil Market Forecast

January 25 2008 UPDATE Oil futures have fallen from their $100 USD highs in the Fall. Current prices around $88-90 appear to be a relatively solid price support. I believe oil and other commodities will go a bit of a run here as confidence in the world economy is restored following the Fed rate cut. Next week looks strong, so expect price rises from Jan 29-31. The market will maintain a bullish bias until at least Feb 18. But my predictive model is not looking good in the medium term. Saturn is moving retrograde towards the IC which will cast its 3rd house (60 degree) aspect to the Moon-Saturn aspect in the Oil futures chart. This is a depressing effect on prices. read more...

ENTERTAINMENT

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Movie fans around the world have reacted with shock and sadness with the untimely death of Australian actor Heath Ledger in New York. While the cause of death is not yet known, Ledger's depression and mental difficulties is widely believed to have been a factor. The Brokeback Mountain star was recently separated from his girlfriend Michelle Williams and had a long history of abusing illegal and prescription drugs. As is often the case with situations of stress and hopelessness, Saturn played a crucial role in reflecting Ledger's final moments of despair. read more...