(8 February 2023) The Fed giveth, and the Fed taketh away. 
After rallying on Fed Chair Powell’s speech yesterday, shares fell again
right down to earth right this moment as feedback from different Fed governors took a extra
hawkish tone.  Indexes fell by greater than 1% on Wednesday after Fed
Governor Christopher Waller warned of a “lengthy struggle” towards inflation
that may require charges being larger for longer than many buyers
anticipate.

All these Fed audio system are creating a substantial quantity of
confusion as market members attempt to anticipate when the Fed might
lastly finish its tightening cycle and start to chop rates of interest.  Whereas
inflation might effectively have peaked final summer time, the latest jobs report
was stronger than anticipated and confirmed no indicators of slack within the labor
market in gentle of report low unemployment.  So long as the labor market
is strong, wages will preserve trending larger and proceed to place upward
stress on shopper costs.

As I famous in final week’s replace,
the close to time period planetary scenario appears to be like unsure at greatest.  The
horoscope of the Federal Reserve is coming beneath elevated stress as
transiting Mars approaches its conjunction with natal Saturn (20 Taurus)
over the following week or so.   This Mars affliction might manifest as
better criticism of the way in which the Fed communicates its insurance policies as effectively
as better scrutiny of the insurance policies themselves.

The confusion surrounding the Fed’s strategy might also harm investor
sentiment and produce extra skittishness within the markets.  Primarily based on this
week’s transits, Saturn is assuming a better prominence within the coming
days.   The truth is, Wednesday’s decline coincided carefully with the
30-degree alignment of Mercury (2 Capricorn) with Saturn (2 Aquarius). 
And but, this two-factor sample might be not the entire cause for
right this moment’s promoting.

If we glance beneath the floor, we are able to see that Saturn is concerned with
bigger configurations involving slower transferring and extra highly effective
planets.  The transit chart forged for Friday, February 10 illustrates
this extra clearly.  Thus, the angular separation of Saturn and Pluto
(=28°03) nearly precisely matches that of Mars and Uranus (=27°39).  When
the angular separations of two pairs of planets are equal, their
energies are likely to resonate extra strongly.  Since there are two pure
malefics planets right here — Mars and Saturn — the impact of this
configuration is extra prone to be bearish on the markets.

A number of further factors might be made.  First, the conjunction of
Mercury with Pluto at 4 Capricorn ought to serve to amplify the bearish
impact of this sample, though it might additionally manifest a day earlier than or
after given a normal margin of error.  We must also notice that the
Mars-Uranus/Saturn-Pluto alignment gained’t be actual till the weekend. 
Whereas it’s shut sufficient to extend the bearish affect later this
week, it’s additionally doable its results could possibly be delayed or manifest extra
totally exterior common buying and selling hours.  Additionally, we are able to see a doable
offsetting bullish affect on Friday (late) because the angular separation
of Venus-Neptune nearly matches that of Jupiter-Chiron round 5
levels.  Nonetheless, since this four-planet alignment solely turns into actual
on Saturday, it’s unsure if its bullish affect will probably be felt
throughout Friday’s US buying and selling hours.

For extra particulars, take a look at my weekly subscriber publication
which is printed each Sunday.   Along with reviewing the important thing
planetary and technical influences on US and Indian shares for the brief
and medium time period, I additionally present an astrological evaluation of potential
upcoming strikes in currencies, gold and oil.

These updates are often posted midweek.  You might be notified of recent posts by following me on Twitter.

Picture Credit score: M.V. Jantzen