10-15-2008, 12:01 PM
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BY GREG SAITZ
Newhouse News Service
Astrologers have one thing to say about the recent market craziness: We told you so.
"A lot of astrologers have been predicting this would be happening with the stock market," said Judith Ryan, an astrologer from Bayonne. "It's going to be sticky. On the plus side, if you have cash when it goes down even more -- which it will -- then that will be the time to buy."
While investors and government leaders have been worrying about mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps and tight-fisted banks freezing credit, those schooled in the ways of the cosmos have been watching the planetary movements. Notwithstanding Monday's Mountain Dew-fueled rally, they said Saturn, Uranus and Pluto aren't ready to let the bulls run free.
"It's not the bottom. It's not the end of the problems," said Henry Weingarten, managing director of the New York-based Astrologers Fund, which uses astrology as its main tool to manage investments and advise institutional investors.
"Astrologically, it remains challenged for years."
Astrology has been around for thousands of years. It was used by ancient Greeks and Romans, and astrologers say the movement of planets and stars affects what happens here on Earth.
While lots of people check their daily horoscopes or visit an astrologer to find out about relationships or jobs, certain practitioners focus on financial astrology. Weingarten, who's been an astrologer for more than three decades, publishes a paid weekly newsletter that offers advice not only about stocks, but also currency and commodities such as oil and gold. Newsletter fees range from $300 up to $5,000 a year.
He said he's been telling clients to keep lots of cash handy and advised them to buy Friday and sell Monday. Weingarten said he's not right all the time, but using astrology along with looking at fundamentals and technical analysis allows him to be right more often.
"It's an influence; it's not the only influence on the market," he said. "It (astrology) is the strongest of the tools we use."
There's plenty of blame to go around for why the nation and the world finds itself in such a financial pickle. Greed. Lack of regulation. Too much easy money.
But some astrologers put much of the blame on that pesky one-time planet Pluto. Rumson astrologer Flo Higgins said Pluto is moving from Sagittarius (laissez-faire attitude, not following rules) to Capricorn (conservative, regulated).
"Things have got to be destroyed and rebuilt and that's what's happening in the world," Higgins said. "We're not doomed to eternity like this. It'll be okay, but we have to go through some life lessons."
The turmoil has been good for business for Raymond Merriman, a financial astrologer in Michigan who runs the Merriman Market Analyst. Merriman has been publishing an annual forecast book ($45) for more than 30 years and said he received 108 orders Monday, easily surpassing the 10 to 20 daily sales he usually gets.
Merriman also has a subscription service for various newsletters that range from $249 to $2,500 annually. He said he advised clients at the end of 2007 to move their investments to cash and thought the latest rally would end yesterday or by the latest, tomorrow.
As for longer-term, Merriman said Saturn and Uranus are in opposition -- which happens every 45 years and is correlated to extreme highs and lows in the markets. He expects continued volatility and a multiyear bear market (with perhaps a several-month rally mixed in).
"You'll see these 500 to 1,000 point moves a week through the election," he said. "I don't think we're going to have the stability and security where the consumer feels confident to come back in the market."
That's not to say every financial adviser is convinced the stars offer answers. Steven Kaye, president of the American Economic Planning Group in Watchung, said he was involved in a mediation between an adviser and retiree who ran out of money.
"On multiple occasions, she (the client) overruled the adviser because the astrologer told her to stay bullish and aggressive," Kaye said. "And this was during the downturn of 2000, 2001. In this particular situation, the astrologer and the client lost."
Still, Kaye didn't totally dismiss the idea.
"I haven't seen any successful studies or back testing or white papers on the subject to sway me," he said. "But who knows? It's probably better than listening to a tip from your brother-in-law's foreman."
http://www.nj.com/business/times/index.ssf?/base/business-5/122404351828930.xml&coll=5
BY GREG SAITZ
Newhouse News Service
Astrologers have one thing to say about the recent market craziness: We told you so.
"A lot of astrologers have been predicting this would be happening with the stock market," said Judith Ryan, an astrologer from Bayonne. "It's going to be sticky. On the plus side, if you have cash when it goes down even more -- which it will -- then that will be the time to buy."
While investors and government leaders have been worrying about mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps and tight-fisted banks freezing credit, those schooled in the ways of the cosmos have been watching the planetary movements. Notwithstanding Monday's Mountain Dew-fueled rally, they said Saturn, Uranus and Pluto aren't ready to let the bulls run free.
"It's not the bottom. It's not the end of the problems," said Henry Weingarten, managing director of the New York-based Astrologers Fund, which uses astrology as its main tool to manage investments and advise institutional investors.
"Astrologically, it remains challenged for years."
Astrology has been around for thousands of years. It was used by ancient Greeks and Romans, and astrologers say the movement of planets and stars affects what happens here on Earth.
While lots of people check their daily horoscopes or visit an astrologer to find out about relationships or jobs, certain practitioners focus on financial astrology. Weingarten, who's been an astrologer for more than three decades, publishes a paid weekly newsletter that offers advice not only about stocks, but also currency and commodities such as oil and gold. Newsletter fees range from $300 up to $5,000 a year.
He said he's been telling clients to keep lots of cash handy and advised them to buy Friday and sell Monday. Weingarten said he's not right all the time, but using astrology along with looking at fundamentals and technical analysis allows him to be right more often.
"It's an influence; it's not the only influence on the market," he said. "It (astrology) is the strongest of the tools we use."
There's plenty of blame to go around for why the nation and the world finds itself in such a financial pickle. Greed. Lack of regulation. Too much easy money.
But some astrologers put much of the blame on that pesky one-time planet Pluto. Rumson astrologer Flo Higgins said Pluto is moving from Sagittarius (laissez-faire attitude, not following rules) to Capricorn (conservative, regulated).
"Things have got to be destroyed and rebuilt and that's what's happening in the world," Higgins said. "We're not doomed to eternity like this. It'll be okay, but we have to go through some life lessons."
The turmoil has been good for business for Raymond Merriman, a financial astrologer in Michigan who runs the Merriman Market Analyst. Merriman has been publishing an annual forecast book ($45) for more than 30 years and said he received 108 orders Monday, easily surpassing the 10 to 20 daily sales he usually gets.
Merriman also has a subscription service for various newsletters that range from $249 to $2,500 annually. He said he advised clients at the end of 2007 to move their investments to cash and thought the latest rally would end yesterday or by the latest, tomorrow.
As for longer-term, Merriman said Saturn and Uranus are in opposition -- which happens every 45 years and is correlated to extreme highs and lows in the markets. He expects continued volatility and a multiyear bear market (with perhaps a several-month rally mixed in).
"You'll see these 500 to 1,000 point moves a week through the election," he said. "I don't think we're going to have the stability and security where the consumer feels confident to come back in the market."
That's not to say every financial adviser is convinced the stars offer answers. Steven Kaye, president of the American Economic Planning Group in Watchung, said he was involved in a mediation between an adviser and retiree who ran out of money.
"On multiple occasions, she (the client) overruled the adviser because the astrologer told her to stay bullish and aggressive," Kaye said. "And this was during the downturn of 2000, 2001. In this particular situation, the astrologer and the client lost."
Still, Kaye didn't totally dismiss the idea.
"I haven't seen any successful studies or back testing or white papers on the subject to sway me," he said. "But who knows? It's probably better than listening to a tip from your brother-in-law's foreman."
http://www.nj.com/business/times/index.ssf?/base/business-5/122404351828930.xml&coll=5
