The US stock market’s meteoric rise stands in sharp contrast to sagging investor confidence in the face of a worsening economic outlook. “There is a disconnect between where the market is going and where the economy is heading,” one analyst said, with the China-USA trade tiff harming US consumers and farmers more than Chinese. A majority of the wealthiest investors are expecting a major sell-off next year with the global economy resting on a knife-edge, according to a recent survey. More than other U.S. presidents, Trump has hitched his success to gains in the stock market and to the health of the U.S. economy.

Stock Market charts aren’t always rock solid indicators but for what they are worth:-

The Dow Jones, 26 May 1896 9.11 am New York, is looking upbeat at the moment with tr Uranus square the Jupiter which repeats in early 2020. There looks to be more cheer in 2021 with Solar Arc Jupiter opposition the Sun and Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Jupiter. Though there are foot-dragging transits to midpoints from early 2020 to 2023.

The New York Stock Exchange, 17 May 1792 New York, is also looking chipper with tr Pluto in a confident square to Jupiter in 2019/2020. Where it starts to look really sticky is in 2021/22/23 with tr Pluto square Saturn and then Neptune. Though there could be hints of that in 2020 from Pluto hard aspects to midpoints.

The FTSE First Trade 3 January 1984 10am London is also indicating 2021/2022 as frustratingly blocked and aggravating years; with some uncertainties through 2020.

The Nasdaq, 8 February 1971 9am New York, has hints of over-confidence from its super-optimistic Jupiter Neptune being triggered by Solar Arcs, with some challenges in 2020. But there’s nothing as catastrophic as the influences around the DotCom bust in 2000 when tr Uranus was conjunct the Nasdaq Sun with tr Saturn in Taurus moving to square the Sun; and much worse tr Pluto conjunct the Mars. There will be ripples of the same effect in 2022/23 when tr Saturn in Aquarius square tr Uranus in Taurus bounce off the Nasdaq Sun square Saturn – but the tr Pluto on the Nasdaq Mars won’t be repeated. So rocky but not as disastrous.

The S & P Index, 4 March 1957, New York, is moving into headwinds through 2020, but the main difficulties seem to be 2021 with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Neptune and a bubble-bursting tr Neptune square the Sun/Jupiter midpoint. Though there are also confidence boosting influences at the same time. And it is no where near as shattering as when the Lehman collapse and wider crash in 2008 happened. Then tr Saturn in Pisces was conjunct the S&P Sun, tr Neptune was square the Mars, and an overly-confident tr Pluto was square the Jupiter.

1987 Black Monday: A previous market cataclysm on 19 October 1987 – on the NASDAQ the Jupiter Neptune was again being targeted by Solar Arc Saturn opposition the Jupiter Neptune; and tr Saturn Uranus was conjunct the Solar Arc Jupiter Neptune. So again some slight similarities to what is coming up though not as punishing.

On the S&P 500 in 1987 tr Saturn Uranus was opposition the Solar Arc Mars; and moving to square the Jupiter.

A frisson of a Royal sex scandal (or two) is a welcome relief from the tedium of politics on a roid-rage rampage. Season 3 of The Crown dramatizes Princess Anne’s fling with Andrew Parker Bowles in the early 1970s, who was the about-to-be husband of Camilla, with Camilla simultaneously dallying with Princess Charles. The aristos at play. Parker Bowles was known as ‘the best lover in London’ but was also Roman Catholic which in those days was enough to knock him off the list of marital possibles. He married Camilla and a few months later Princess Anne was hitched to horseman Mark Phillips.

Despite her ‘duty before beauty’, severely unfussy fashion sense and obsessive work ethic, Princess Anne has always had a reputation for having an eye for the gentlemen before and throughout two marriages.

Born 15 August 1950 11.50am London, she has a 10^th house Sun Pluto in Leo which will give her ambition, a need for control and growing influence through her life. It suggests a dominating father to whom she is close. Her Virgo Moon is conjunct Mercury Saturn for a hard-working and emotionally defensive mother who was not able, temperamentally or through circumstances, to give her the nurturing she needed, but to whom she is bound by chains of duty.

She also significantly has a private Water Grand Trine of Mars in uber-secretive Scorpio trine Jupiter in Pisces in the 5^th trine Uranus in the 9^th. Her relationship with her children – Jupiter in the 5^th – has always been good and ditto her grandchildren. She travels extensively for Save the Children, Commonwealth visits and the Olympics – Uranus in 9^th.

Her Venus in Cancer on her Midheaven gives her PR ability and charm; and squaring her Mars, a hint of passion. Her Venus also sits on her Uranus/Pluto midpoint pointing to ‘a constant longing for the new’ in her love life. And with her Jupiter opposing her Sun/Moon midpoint she has the good luck to attract enthusiastic and laid-back partners.

Andrew Parker Bowles, 27 December 1939, a Capricorn Sun with a Cancer Moon has his Pluto conjunct Anne’s Venus MC and his Venus in Aquarius is opposition so there definitely would be a strong attraction. But his Saturn squares her Venus MC – Saturn usually turns up when there are insuperable difficulties to making a long-term commitment. Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun opposition Venus.

Her first husband Mark Philips, 22 September 1948, is a Sun and Saturn in Virgo so he would chime with her Virgo Moon Saturn; and his Taurus Moon falls in her 7^th which is positive. He also has a passionate Venus Pluto in Leo square Mars in Scorpio so there definitely would be a sizzle initially though it didn’t last.

Her second husband Tim Laurence, 1 March 1955, has his Pisces Sun in her sporting 5^th conjunct her Jupiter – and they do share sailing as an interest. His Venus in Capricorn opposes her Venus with his adventurous and lucky Jupiter Uranus conjunct her Venus – so there will be fun. Though the composite Venus in their relationship chart is in a confused and chilly conjunction to Neptune Saturn with the composite Moon square – and by all accounts they are not ‘close.’

She’s always been adept at flying under the radar as far as the media are concerned so won’t be overly delighted with this exposure though none of this was much of a secret. Tr Uranus will square her midheaven and oppose her Mars from mid this month till early March 2020 so she will be upset, if not about this, then because of other circumstances which blow up suddenly. Tr Neptune is also been opposing her Moon/Saturn midpoint exactly now and moving to oppose her Saturn Mercury in 2020 possibly indicating her concern for her ageing parents. Her Solar Arc Uranus has also been bouncing over her Moon last year and is aiming to conjunct her Mercury Saturn in three years – so not an easy phase of her life.

The Crown evidently also hints – shock horror – at the possibility of the Queen having an affair with her racing manager Lord Porchester, of which more anon another day.

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The asinine Jacob Rees Mogg has hit the campaign trial again flanked by his wife and five of his six children to dispel notions that he had been sidelined after causing outrage with comments on the Grenfell fire in which 72 people died. He suggested the victims lacked common sense for following fire officials’ instructions to stay put. And this follows on from his lordly and smirking slump across the House of Commons front benches during a vital Brexit debate.

He’s an MP on the far-right of the Tory Party, educated at Eton where he was known as a dogmatic Thatcherite, then Oxford University, where he was a keen debater and pronounced pushy; thence into investment banking and ultimately his own hedge fund (he and wife were deemed worth £100 million in 2016). A Roman Catholic he’s against abortion even in cases of rape, incest and foetal abnormality.

Born 24 May 1969, son of William Rees Mogg, editor of The Times, he is another dratted Gemini Sun which is opposition Neptune in late Scorpio and opposition Mars in Sagittarius – perhaps forming a T Square onto a late Leo/Virgo Moon. And another Mutable scattergun like Boris and Dominic Cummings. He also significantly has a powerhouse Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus in Virgo which will give him confidence aplenty and his sense of arrogant entitlement.

He regrettably looks upbeat and successful in 2021/22 as tr Pluto trines his Jupiter; with faint traces of that from March 2020 onwards as tr Pluto is trine his Jupiter/Pluto. But he’s got a disaster or two to overcome before then. Late December through till early February he’ll be facing catastrophes, jolts and jangles with tr Uranus opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint and conjunct his Saturn. He’ll also be facing a major setback as his Solar Arc Mars squares his Saturn in 2021 or 2022.

His relationship with Boris is sagging badly from mid this month for four weeks and continuing on a downhill slide in 2020.

He’s everything that is wrong with our supposed ruling ‘elite’ – it’s almost enough to turn you communist. Brattish boys who never quite left the University debating society mindset.

‘Catastrophic’ is the highest ever fire risk warning put out by Australian authorities as bushfires, some life-threatening are endangering 100,000 homes in Sydney. This is weeks before the traditional bushfire season and to date 99 fires are burning out of control simultaneously across New South Wales. Already this year more than 850,000 hectares have been burnt which is three times as much as was destroyed all of last fire season. An extreme and persistent drought has left much of the region tinder-dry. That combined with temperatures in the high 30s and strong winds make it especially dangerous.

The Australia chart did have the July Cancer Solar Eclipse opposition the AU Sun Saturn in Capricorn which does suggest critical challenges in the following months; and that eclipse located to Sydney does have an amplifying Jupiter on the Descendant. Plus tr Neptune is in a debilitating square to the AU Pluto till late January 2020.

But on several charts this is by no manner of means the most difficult year for Australia – which may not mean more devastating fires ahead, just that this year won’t, in retrospect, be the worst. The AU country chart looks accident-prone and aggravated from mid 2020, on and off till 2023 with first tr Uranus and then tr Pluto hitting on Mars midpoints.

The Sydney incorporation chart of 20 July 1842 also suggests several years ahead of high stress with tr Pluto square the Pluto this year and then grinding across the opposition to the Sun/Mars midpoint and finally opposing the Cancer Sun in 2021/22 – for a pulling down of old structures and a need to rebuild on the far side.

The Bank of Australia 14 January 1960 chart indicates major pressure through 2020 with tr Pluto conjunct the Sun, high hopes not working out in 2021; and devastating confusion by 2022 with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Neptune.

It may not be a repeat of fire risk in future years. Often before a period of forced transition for a country there is a disaster at the start which symbolises the changes to come. First the ashes then the phoenix.

The UK has long been a thorn in the EU’s flesh, deemed a reluctant participant in the drive for more political integration. So however much upheaval Brexit causes short and long-term there will be a sigh of relief in certain quarters. Yet in the EU group dynamic, Britain’s presence did provide an element of balance for the Franco-German dyad as well as contributing a substantial chunk of money for the kitty. If and when the deed is ever done, it may throw more of a spanner in the works than is obvious at the moment. Germany is politely declining tighter banking and economic ties, knowing full well it would have to foot the bill of poorer countries’ debts; though there are no more safeguards available against another economic recession and the likelihood in that event is the euro itself would collapse.

Where the strain between the two big beasts of the EU really comes to a head is in 2022/23. At that point tr Pluto is square the France/Germany composite Mars; and in 2023 tr Uranus is opposing the composite Sun. The composite Mars is a peculiarly sensitive spot on this relationship chart having been under severe challenges in the run up to World War 11 with tr Pluto in Cancer also square the Mars; and undermined for the start of World War 1 when tr Neptune was square the Mars. Not that a war is likely but it’s when relations will be at their most fraught and loyalties stretched to the limit. Tr Uranus was also opposition the composite France/Germany Sun for the start of WW11.

French relations with the EU will be in a state of turmoil from 2022 for several years with tr Uranus square the composite France/EU Uranus, opposition the composite Sun, square Saturn, opposition Pluto and then Mars right through till 2026. During this time the France chart itself has its Fixed T Square of Pluto opposition Uranus square Mars Midheaven under assault in 2023/24 from tr Uranus hard aspects and will be in a state of complete upheaval from that.

Germany’s angst about the EU looks marginally less acute than France’s though some strain has already come last and this year, continuing into next, with confusion stretching through till the mid 2020s. The Germany chart itself does have the total turnaround tr Pluto opposition the 10^th house Uranus in 2021/22 with continuing financial hitches and glitches through till 2027 with a peak of economic instability 2022/23.

Getting rid of perfidious Albion isn’t going to sort out the internal problems of the EU. If anything it may open up major cracks and fissures.

The indomitable, ever cheerful Julie Andrews is still firing on all cylinders at 84 appearing in a Netflix Regency costume drama and just publishing the second volume of her autobiography, Home Work, co-written with her daughter, with the third in preparation. She was a child star on stage and then hit the big time in movies with Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music and hasn’t stopped for seven decades.

What’s all the more extraordinary is what else she packed into her life from a difficult childhood onwards. She came from a split family, helped her vaudeville mother cope with her stepfather’s alcoholism, travelled miles alone for her own theatrical engagements, looked after her younger half-brothers when her mother started drinking heavily and became the main breadwinner by her mid-teens. In adult life she continued to support her extended family. And in her second marriage to Blake Edwards she had to cope with his moody depression and prescription pill addiction, cope with his unstable ex-wife and his children as well as raise two adopted children and her daughter. All in the midst of a punishingly busy career. A throat operation in the late 1990s went tragically wrong and thereafter she couldn’t sing so now confines herself to speaking roles.

Born 1 October 1935 6am Walton-on-Thames, England, she has a bouncy first house Libra Sun giving her that cool, crisp and forceful persona, backed up by a lively Mars in Sagittarius in the 3^rd. Her intense but never-letting-on-she’s-hurt Scorpio Moon is conjunct a lucky Jupiter, with Jupiter in a confident trine Pluto. And what gives her discipline and reflects the harsh conditions of her childhood is Saturn in Pisces opposition Venus in Virgo in the 12^th (conjunct Neptune) and square Mars. She would feel unloved and lose herself in her creativity and helping others as well as staying exceptionally busy. A focal point Mutable Mars can be disorganised and scattered but a constantly changing career would soak up much of that.

Her Mercury in Scorpio opposes Uranus and squares onto Pluto – so there’s an intensity to the way in which she communicates and to a certain extent a fair amount of mental stress.

She’s not in her easiest times at the moment with a panicky Solar Arc Neptune conjunct her Mars and an accident-prone Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Saturn. But tr Pluto sextile her Jupiter for another year will help to keep her enthusiasm high.

Petite, mischievous and renowned for her eccentric fashion style when off set, actress Helena Bonham Carter, has been grabbing audiences and awards for an astonishing three decades. Born 28 May 1966 in London, her latest jaunt is playing Princess Margaret in Netflix’s The Crown, seasons 3 and 4.

She comes from an illustrious family with high-level British politicians on her father’s side including former PM Asquith; and Spanish and Jewish diplomats and bankers on the other. Her father was a merchant banker and her mother is a psychotherapist. She was involved with actor Kenneth Branagh at one point and then moved into a long relationship with director Tim Burton with whom she had two children. She’s now moved onto a ‘bit of magic’ with a writer 21 years younger than she is.

She has a Sun Mercury in Gemini so will have communication abilities; with a determined and showbizzy Mars in Taurus opposition Neptune square an entertaining Leo Moon. She definitely needs an audience with a focal point Moon. She also has the chaotic, unpredictable Uranus Pluto in Virgo and Saturn in Pisces. So quite a mix of fun loving and sombre, fixed and scattered.

Princess Margaret whom she evidently plays exceptionally well, 21 August 1930 9.22pm Glamis, Scotland, had her own complicated and mischievous mix. She was a Sun Leo conjunct Neptune with an attention-demanding Moon Pluto in Cancer in the performing 5^th house; and a revolving-crises Cardinal Grand Cross of Saturn opposition Jupiter square Venus opposition Uranus. Their charts aren’t alike apart from the Leo emphasis and Jupiter in Cancer – but the overall pattern of constant change and stubbornness is relatively similar.

Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former three-times mayor of New York City, is contemplating a possible 2020 presidential campaign, reversing his decision earlier in the year, though he hasn’t firmly decided yet. His concern is that the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates are not up to defeating Trump. Bloomberg is a divisive figure not least because of his conspicuous wealth and he would be a disruptive influence on the already overcrowded field, being a centrist and former Republican. His concern is almost certainly that Joe Biden’s candidacy has been damaged by the financial connections of his son Hunter. Although no corruption has been proved, the optics are bad.

Mike Bloomberg, 14 February 1942 3.40 pm Brighton, Massachusetts, is a stubborn, stalwart and enduring 8^th house Sun and Moon in Aquarius square Mars Saturn Uranus in Taurus; with Mercury and Venus also in Aquarius and Venus opposition Pluto in Leo which makes eight planets in Fixed signs so not much flexibility but endless stamina.

He does have tr Uranus square his Pluto now suggesting a turnaround or upheaval and that repeats into early 2020. But what will almost certainly put paid to his chances is the tr Pluto Saturn conjunction opposition his Mars/Neptune midpoint which will bring a sense of plans dissolving and that runs on and off through the year, especially February, July/August and late November/December. It’s never a winner that aspect at elections.

Shakespeare’s Prince Hal rose to the challenge of transitioning into a stalwart King Henry. Which was the faint hope in Thailand two years back when Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn moved closer to replacing his revered, steady-hand-on-the-tiller father who had reigned for seven decades. Maha, 28 July 1952 5.45pm Bangkok, Thailand, was a playboy prince, with a rackety reputation, three failed marriages and an explosive temper who made his pet poodle an Air Chief Marshal in the Thai air force and gave him a four-day Buddhist funeral when he died.

Since being crowned on 4 May this year he has done nothing to dispel doubts about his suitability for the role – firing aide after aide as well as his much publicized consort for scheming against his fourth wife; as well as putting himself in charge of the multi-billion pound Crown Property Bureau, and assigning military troops to his Royal corps. All the hallmarks of an absolutist monarchy.

His chart is certainly grossly indulgent, acquisitive and control-freaky with Jupiter in Taurus opposition an ambitious and vengeful 10^th house Mars in Scorpio squaring onto Pluto Venus in Leo; with the Sun and Mercury also in Leo. Plus a can-be-fanatical and autocratic Uranus square Neptune Moon Saturn in Libra. After his third divorce, he had his ex-wife’s parents thrown in jail for criticising him. Lese-majeste is a crime in Thailand, which pushes public discontent underground.

His Coronation chart timed at 10.09 am has the repressive, restrictive Saturn Pluto in the 7^th inconjunct Mars and square Venus Mercury, so was never going to be a light-hearted affair. With an opportunistic Mars opposition Jupiter in an evasive square to Neptune.

By the end of 2021 the Saturn Pluto conjunction will have moved by Solar Arc to exact and Pluto will be squaring the Mercury at the same time, followed by Solar Arc Saturn – so the sombre mood will intensify over the next few years. There’ll be panicky failure at the top from 2021 to 2023 with tr Neptune square the Mars and Jupiter which could indicate financial problems as well.

His own chart is on a jolting, jangling, explosive few years as tr Uranus squares his Sun this year and next, and then proceeds to square his focal point Venus Pluto 2021 to 2023/4 which will turn his life upside down. Tr Pluto square his midheaven in 2023/24 can bring a ruined reputation or a fall from high position so he won’t get away with his bad behaviour unscathed.