When Mercury, the planetary energy of communication and movement turns retrograde* for three weeks usually three times a year, financial markets tend to act unpredictably as choppy and volatile conditions prevail.
Financial people tend to be more open minded to understanding and working with planetary cycles. And during this Mercury retrograde period (September 24 through October 15), CNBC anchors are having periodic discussions about the effect of Mercury retrograde on financial markets.
Watch the first two minutes of this video from 7:30 this morning of CNBC’s Squawk Box show anchors talking to Kevin Ferry of Cronus Futures Management who was speaking from the CME Group:
“I’ve been keeping this to myself for a while. Sep 23 to Oct 15, the biggest Mercury retrograde of the year. You are not supposed to make massive decisions during Mercury retrograde. But the market is already definitely displaying all those types of movements, so expect more wild and untrended movements in the market until this ends. I think from a trading perspective you can pinpoint it right to September 15 when Lehman went down we went into this mode and now the Congress is about to make one of the biggest decisions in our lifetime right in the middle of this volatility.”
Mercury is retrograde in Libra. Libra rules relationships and formal agreements. The saga of the $700B bailout bill is a classic example of the challenges of trying to push new legislation through during Mercury retrograde. When Mercury is retrograde, schedules get disrupted as events are canceled or postponed, and all types of communication devices have a greater tendency to act strangely or malfunction. The message of Mercury retrograde is to do things that work with there prefix in front of them.
The House voted down the bailout bill on the September 29 Libra New Moon. Congressional leaders reviewed and revised the bill which was approved by the Senate last night. The House is scheduled to hold a revote Friday afternoon. If the bill is signed into law, it will face many revisions going forward as Mercury retrograde times are best suited to work on past issues rather than new ones. Major initiatives that happen during Mercury retrograde are usually regretted.
Another classic example of Mercury retrograde is the problem with the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. As noted in my Weekly Forecast, the bell rang one minute before 4:00 PM September 26. CNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan attributed the malfunction to Mercury retrograde. The bell is still having technical difficulties. On September 29 it failed to ring at the open. CNBC reported later that morning that the NYSE had told them the bell “malfunctioned.” NYSE technicians rang Tuesday’s opening bell. Today CNBC is reporting that the NYSE will be testing the bell all morning. Mercury retrograde conjoined the natal Jupiter of the founding of the NYSE; the bell is not sure what to think of all the big moves in both directions that the stock market has made this week!
*Planets do not really move backwards, but appear to from Earth’s vantage point.
NYSE founded May 17, 1792