(19 April 2026) Stocks rallied for the third straight week after the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz signaled a possible end to the conflict with Iran. Recent gains have seen the main indexes push to new all-time highs as investors have largely put Middle East geopolitics in the rear-view mirror.
The size and speed of the rally has been somewhat surprising as the Mercury-Jupiter aspect in early April tends to have only a modest bullish influence. Also, I had thought the approaching Mercury-Mars conjunction -- the fifth in the current sequence that began in October -- tends to have a bearish effect on stocks. The key word here is "tends" as backtesting of previous similar conjunctions showed a...
(9 April 2026) Stocks stayed in rally mode on Thursday with a strong follow-through after Wednesday's ceasefire surge. The scale of recent gains since...
(1 March 2026) US stocks finished modestly lower last week on higher-than-expected wholesale inflation data and renewed worries over the negative economic impact of...
(22 February 2026) US stocks ended the week higher as markets rallied after Friday's Supreme Court decision struck down Trump's tariff policy. Even with...
(18 February 2026) Synopsis: Thursday's "hidden" Jupiter-Saturn alignment introduces some downside risk to the market over the next week or two. Evidence from previous...
(15 February 2026) Stocks generally moved lower last week on growing fears that AI disruption could undermine profitability in several economic sectors. While technology...
(8 February 2026) After a very volatile week, US stocks rebounded strongly on Friday although the indexes ended mixed. The tech-heavy NASDAQ was still...
(25 January 2026) US stocks ended the week slightly lower as Greenland-related tariff fears briefly shook market confidence. President Trump calmed the early week...
