S&P 500 Index vs Mercury – Mars Speed Differential | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 02 (Tue), Apr 13 (Thu), Apr 21 (Fri), Apr 20 (Sun).

S&P 500 Index vs Declination of Mercury and Venus | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 10 (Mon), Apr 28 (Fri).

S&P 500 Index vs Mercury – Venus Cycle | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 07 (Fri), Apr 11 (Tue), Apr 16 (Sun), May 02 (Tue).

S&P 500 Index vs 24th Harmonic of Mercury's Right Ascension | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 05 (Wed), Apr 10 (Mon), Apr 16 (Sun), Apr 23 (Sun), May 03 (Wed).

S&P 500 Index vs AstroMetric Indicator | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 01 (Sat), Apr 07 (Fri), Apr 13 (Thu), Apr 14 (Fri), Apr 16 (Sun), Apr 17 (Mon), Apr 19 (Wed), Apr 21 (Fri), Apr 26 (Fri), May 01 (Mon).

S&P 500 Index vs True Lunar Node Speed | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 03 (Mon), Apr 06 (Thu), Apr 10 (Mon), Apr 13 (Thu), Apr 18 (Tue), Apr 21 (Fri), Apr 24 (Mon), Apr 27 (Thu), May 02 (Tue), May 04 (Thu).

SPX vs Jupiter – Saturn Cycle | April 2017

Upcoming Turn-Days: Apr 03 (Mon), Apr 07 (Fri), Apr 10 (Mon), Apr 20 (Thu), Apr 27 (Thu), May 03 (Wed).

Cosmic Cluster Days | April — May 2017

The basic assumption here is that heliocentric and geocentric angles between planets are related to financial market movements. A signal is triggered when the composite line of all aspects breaks above or below the Average Cosmic Noise Channel. Upcoming Cosmic Cluster Days (CCDs) are: Apr 06 (Thu), Apr 07 (Fri), Apr 08 (Sat), Apr 12 (Wed), Apr 13 (Thu), Apr 19 (Wed), Apr 28 (Fri), Apr 30 (Sun), May 02 (Tue), May 08 (Mon), May 12 (Fri), May 16 (Tue), May 25 (Thu), Jun 01 (Thu). Previous CCDs are HERE

SPX vs Cosmic Cluster Days | March - April 2017 | Review & Preview

SoLunar Map | April — May 2017

These charts depict the SoLunar bias for short-term movements of stock indices two months ahead. The markets are certainly influenced also by other planetary forces - especially longer-term - but a 3-5 day short-term rhythm and pattern is governed by the SoLunar forces (= 4 highs and 4 lows per lunar month). 

The SoLunar forces are a composite of Sun-Moon angles, orbital eccentricities, declinations and some long-term cycles. A Low in the SoLunar Map frequently is a High in the stock market and vice versa. Inversions occur, and if so, they should occur only once every 4 lunar months around a New Moon (max +/- 7 days). 

The SoLunar Rhythm is frequently disturbed by (1.) the FED, and (2.) by sudden solar activity, altering the geomagnetic field, and hence the mass mood. This can result in the skip and/or inversion of pivots in the SoLunar Map. An increasing number of sunspots and flares have usually a negative influence on the stock market some 48 hours later, and vice versa (Ap values > 10 are usually short-term negative). A rising blue line in the SoLunar Map means the bias for the market is side-ways-to-up, and vice versa. Highs and lows in the SoLunar Map also may coincide with the start and termination of complex, side-ways correction patterns like zig-zags, triangles or flags. 
 
Upcoming SoLunar Turn-Days are: Apr 03-04 (Mon-Tue), Apr 07 (Fri), Apr 11 (Tue), Apr 14 (Fri), Apr 18 (Tue), Apr 22 (Sat), May 03 (Wed), May 07 (Sun), May 11 (Thu), May 14 (Sun), May 17 (Wed), May 21 (Sun), May 25 (Thu), May 29 (Mon), Jun 01 (Thu), Jun 05 (Mon). Previous SoLunar Maps HERE

SPX vs SoLunar Map | March 2017 | Review & Preview

SPX vs CBOE Equity Put / Call Ratio | Overbought

The 3-Day Moving Average of the CBOE Equity Put/Call Ratio at 0.57
and turning higher, signals the S&P 500 is overbought.

An insider is any officer, director or owner of 10% or more of a class of a company's securities.
In most cases, an insider must report any trade to the SEC within two business days.
The tables highlight companies that filed with the SEC through last Wednesday. More HERE

CNN's Fear & Greed Index is Neutral.
Source: CNN Fear & Greed Index

SPX vs Declination of Mercury and Venus Parallel | March 26, 2017

SPX vs Solar Activity | 10.7 cm Flux | Sunspots | Ap Index

Russell 2000 Index vs Galactic Cosmic Rays

The Developed World Populism Index │ Ray Dalio

* The latest point includes cases like Trump, UKIP in the UK, AfD in Germany, National Front in France,
Podemos in Spain, and Five Star Movement in Italy. It doesn’t include major emerging country populists,
like Erdogan in Turkey or Duterte in the Philippines.

On March 22, 2017 Ray Dalio published "Populism: The Phenomenon", a paper that analyzes the role of populism in today’s world and in history. Ray Dalio runs the $150 billion dollar hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest. The paper introduces a "Developed World Populism Index", which Dalio says measures the strength of populism over time. It’s a weighted index of the vote share of anti-establishment parties or candidates in national elections for major developed countries since 1900. The index shows that populism is now at its highest level since the early 1930s. Contemporary populism includes supporters of Donald Trump, UKIP in the UK, AfD in Germany, National Front in France, Podemos in Spain and Five Star Movement in Italy. "Populism is not well understood because, over the past several decades, it has been infrequent in emerging countries (e.g., Chávez’s Venezuela, Duterte’s Philippines, etc.) and virtually nonexistent in developed countries. It is one of those phenomena that comes along in a big way about once a lifetime — like pandemics, depressions, or wars. The last time that it existed as a major force in the world was in the 1930s, when most countries became populist. Over the last year, it has again emerged as a major force."
 

A portrait of President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) hangs on the wall behind President Trump in the
Oval Office of the White House. Jackson was a rich, bragging populist, who said: "I was born for a
storm and a calm doesn’t suit me." Also: "Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must
sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting terms." Trump like Jackson is a rich, bragging
businessman, a narcissist and reality TV star, who never held any public office before. Calm doesn’t
suit him either, and millions at the U.S. home front are prepared for storm and blood
(see also HERE + HERE).

"We believe that populism’s role in shaping economic conditions will probably be more powerful than classic monetary and fiscal policies (as well as a big influence on fiscal policies)," writes Dalio and three Bridgewater colleagues. Populism is a political and social phenomenon that arises from the common man, typically not well-educated, being fed up with 1) wealth and opportunity gaps, 2) perceived cultural threats from those with different values in the country and from outsiders, the “establishment elites” in positions of power, and 4) government not working effectively for them, according to Dalio. In other words, populism is a rebellion of the common man against the elites and, to some extend, against the system. In summary, populism is:

• power to the common man.
• through the tactic of attacking the establishment, the elites, and the powerful.
• brought about by wealth and opportunity gaps, xenophobia, and people being fed up with government not working effectively, which leads to the emergence of the strong leader to serve the common man and make the system run more efficiently.
• protectionism.
• nationalism.
• militarism.
• greater conflict, and greater attempts to influence or control the media.

SPX vs 93 Trading Day Cycle

More on the nominal 20 Week Cycle HERE + HERE

SPX vs Mercury 180° Saturn (heliocentric)

Today Mercury opposes Saturn (heliocentric).
March 24, 2017 is also a Sensitive Degree of the Sun (HERE),
a turn-day in the Jupiter-Saturn Cycle (HERE),
and a SoLunar turn-day (HERE).
Martin Armstrong expects a consolidation of US-stock indices into May (HERE).

SPX vs CBOE Equity Put / Call Ratio | Moderate Fear

At 0.79 the CBOE Equity Put/Call Ratio signals moderate fear.
However, this could be a corrective pattern in the SPX, and some sort of a market low close-by.
March 23 (Thu) is a Cosmic Cluster Day (HERE); March 24 (Fri) a SoLunar turn-day (HERE).

CNN's Fear & Greed Index signals moderate Fear.
Source: CNN Fear & Greed Index

SPX vs CBOE SKEW Index (10 DMA) │ All-Time-High

On March 20 the 10 Day Moving Average of the CBOE SKEW Index reached a historical high at 145.49. The CBOE SKEW Index ("SKEW") is an index derived from the price of S&P 500 tail risk. Similar to CBOE VIX, the price of S&P 500 tail risk is calculated from the prices of S&P 500 out-of-the-money options. SKEW typically ranges from 100 to 150. A SKEW value of 100 means that the perceived distribution of S&P 500 log-returns is normal, and the probability of outlier returns is therefore negligible. As SKEW rises above 100, the left tail of the S&P 500 distribution acquires more weight, and the probabilities of outlier returns become more significant. One can estimate these probabilities from the value of SKEW. Since an increase in perceived tail risk increases the relative demand for low strike puts, increases in SKEW also correspond to an overall steepening of the curve of implied volatilities, familiar to option traders as the "skew".

Denmark Free of Foreign-Currency Debt for the First Time in 183 Years

Eshe Nelson (Mar 20, 2017) - Today marks a milestone for Denmark, centuries in the making. The Danish government will repay a $1.5 billion loan (pdf), freeing it from foreign-currency debt for the first time in at least 183 years. This record probably stretches back even further, since Denmark first raised a loan in a foreign currency back in 1757, when it borrowed in Hamburg and Amsterdam, the central bank said. (The records are spotty, so it is unclear whether the country was ever foreign debt-free before 1834, when data collection became more robust.)

The last time Denmark was this close to ridding itself of foreign debt was the late 1890s, when these obligations were worth less than 1% of GDP. But low European interest rates at the time made financing projects like new railways more attractive with foreign debt, so the borrowing restarted. In recent history, issuing external debt has been a means to ensure sufficient foreign-exchange reserves. After Denmark pegged the krone to the deutsche mark, and later the euro, starting in the late 1970s, market interventions have been used to adjust the krone’s value, which require reserves of foreign currencies to buy and sell. 

Joining Norway and Germany in the ranks of
foreign-currency debt free nations.

Now, Denmark joins neighbors Norway and Germany in the ranks of countries with no foreign-currency government debt. Fellow Scandinavian nation Sweden, meanwhile, maintains about 30% of its government debt (pdf) in foreign currencies. It’s not unusual, nor undesirable, for countries to issue some foreign debt to build currency reserves; the US treasury owes about $1 trillion in foreign currency debt. Issuing debt in dollars will become less attractive as US interest rates rise, but many countries—especially in emerging markets—still find it more affordable than borrowing in local currency subject to much higher rates.

For its part, Denmark’s government still has some 465 billion kroner ($67 billion) in debt, which amounted to 23% of GDP at the end of last year, low by international standards. Around 40% of this debt is held by foreigners, who from now on will only get paid back in kroner.

Politics, Climate, and the Economy │ Peter Temple

Peter Temple (Mar 19, 2017) - Above is a chart of the US Presidents from 1913 through 2016. You can see the politicians who were liked and are considered “good leaders” by historians (green circles and check marks). The there are those we dislike (red circles and x’s) and threw out of office because “they destroyed the economy.”

Dr. Wheeler spent his entire life analyzing weather cycles back over 20 centuries to 600 BC. He found that major climate cycles changed every 25, 100, 500, and 1000 years and that they’re fractal, which means there are smaller cycles within larger cycles. During his life, he put together an archive of world events relative to changes in climate that was some 2000 pages in length, and when open, spanned a length of some 7 feet. To the left is the only shot I’ve found of him working on “The Big Book.” Here are the four twenty-five year cycles:

Spring: warm and wet
Summer, warm and dry
Fall: cool and wet
Winter: cold and dry.

The roaring ’20s (yellow) were mostly wet and warm, but in 1929 (red arrow), it got very cold – the mercury plunged. Cold and dry has always led to tough economic times. The stock market crashed. Then the next year, 1930 (green arrow points to temperature drop), was the driest year in over 150 years. It ushered in ten straight years of dry and hot (red)—about the hottest on record over the past couple of hundred years: The Great Depression. Hot and dry weather in history has led to a major war, despotism, dictators, socialism, communism, world wars, and other atrocities.

In the mid 40s (purple), it turned cool and wet … the economy picked up and the war ended. It lasted through to the ’60s—we had the Beatles, love and flowers … great times! Cool climate means energy–humans become much more active. Wet means prosperity in terms of food.

But in the late ’60s (green), we turned cold and dry … and that led to a deep recession that lasted through the late 70s. In fact there were articles in all the major newspapers predicting a mini ice age. Well, you’re likely to see those again.

But then it turned warm again in the ’80s (blue), the stock market turned up, and business started to boom! It was a warm-wet spring cycle once again—that means prosperity … and that lasted through the 90s, when it also started to get dry and cool again (after 1998).

These climate cycles happen so regularly, that in the 1940s Dr. Wheeler predicted the current change in climate with his drought clock. And sure enough, in 1998, the temperature started to cool and we’ve been getting cooler and dyer ever since. He also predicted extreme weather in the early twenty first century because we’re at the end of an even larger five hundred year cycle. Two major climate cycles are transitioning right now. That’s why we have such extreme weather (see also HERE).