Post-holiday markets may provide clean slate, reports Susan Gidel.

Post-holiday trading could feel like problems of the past are gone as the Sun and Jupiter are in a big growth connection that perfects on Wednesday at 12:04 pm EDT. However, the past comes back into view within hours when Mars turns retrograde in motion at 6:22 pm.

Mars is the planet of action, and while appearing to move backward in the sky through Nov. 13, provides time to reconsider actions of the last six weeks. For example, since end-July, the Federal Reserve has announced a shift in focus to be more lenient with inflation, and Congress reached a stalemate on extending pandemic aid. During the retrograde, these issues could come back up for discussion, especially because Mars is traveling in its ruling sign of Aries.

Mars remains retrograde through Nov. 13 but will not be in full-action mode until Jan. 4, 2021 as it retraces the degrees in which it was retrograde. The best use of Mars retrograde energy is to not try and push things forward, but to analyze results of the last two years and strategize your efforts and goals for the next two years, until Mars retrogrades next in October 2022.

  • Euro FX low on Tuesday, Sept. 8: When Venus, the planet that rules money, is opposite any planet in the Euro FX first-trade chart, it could mean a price low. On Tuesday, Venus is exactly opposite first-trade Neptune, with Mercury (ruler of trading) making an easy trine to grease the trading skids. Prices remain in a wide band between two adjacent planetary price conversion levels of 1.1620 and 1.2530.
  • Soybean low on Tuesday, Sept. 8: The transiting Sun is connected to the four planets in the soybean first-trade horoscope’s two major axes—conjunct Neptune, opposite Saturn, and square to both Jupiter and the Moon. In addition, Mercury is aligned with its first-trade position, while transiting Mars is square to first-trade Pluto. In the November contract, look for significant support at the $9.38 per bu. planetary price conversion level.
  • Crude Oil low on Friday, Sept. 11: Newly retrograde Mars is exactly opposite the market’s first-trade Pluto, with transiting Saturn and Pluto throwing in some support as they square first-trade Mars and Pluto. For good measure, transiting Mercury opposes the market’s natal Sun. Look for potential support in the October contract at the following planetary price conversion levels: $39.28 per barrel, $38.63 and $38.50.

Last Week’s Scorecard (through Thursday’s close)

Pretty Darn Good

  • Crude Oil high on Tuesday, Sept. 1: The crude oil market’s first-trade Mars/Pluto opposition felt tremendous pressure from three planets in the sky—Mars, Venus and Saturn—as they form a Grand Square. The October contract peaked at $43.43 per barrel, just 30¢ under a planetary price conversion level; by Sept. 3, prices had fallen to $40.22.
  • Gold high on Wednesday, Sept. 2: The peak of optimism from a Grand Trine with the market’s first-trade Sun came a day early as December prices peaked at $2,001.20 per oz. The close that day at $1,978.90 and the Sept. 2 high of $1,980.40 were below the planetary price conversion level of $1,989.  

For more about the Fed’s horoscope chart and how eclipses affected it in both 2020 and 2001, please see my blog post, “Eclipse Spotlights Fed as Key World Player.
The position of planets in the sky as they relate to their positions when a market first began trading can provide clues to potential trend changes. The energy is strongest on the days noted in this post, but it is not unusual for the effect to be seen a day or two either side. See backgrounder “Market Analysis with Astrology” for further information. Susan Gidel is editor of the Red Letter Trading Days newsletter.