Dear Fellow Star-Gazers,

Happy First Full Moon of 2017!

In the past, when a planet has been within a few degrees of either the Sun or Moon at the Full Moon, this has coincided with drama on the political and economic world stage. ( A fabulous example was the September 2008 Full Moon and the banking collapse.)

With Pluto aligning with the Sun at this January Full Moon, the driver behind strong reaction will surely be power struggles, accusations of manipulation, toxicity and misinformation. Where business is concerned, this is a ‘survival of the fittest’ configuration.

There’s more: simultaneously Jupiter and Uranus are in opposition – and at right angles to the Full Moon, so creating what is known as a Grand Cross. Many of us (especially those born under the Cardinal signs) feel torn in not just two but four directions. Pity the world leaders born under these signs who may not know which way to turn. That includes Teresa May here in the UK and Angela Merkel in Germany but appears to exclude the President-Elect, a Gemini.

Yet Donald Trump is very much affected: this Full Moon aligns with his Saturn – possibly indicating the burden of responsibility and the need to accept limitations and the challenges of his new role but also the potential for being called to account and forced to ‘live on less’.

You may remember that I thought Hillary Clinton would win the vote but wouldn’t be inaugurated. I had my doubts about Mr Trump’s success. The chart for the inauguration – just a week after this powerful Full Moon – is, to my mind anyway, indicative of a weakened presidency and one that might not even last the year.

An interesting ‘coincidence’ is that Mars aspects this Full Moon within a day or so of the coming solar eclipse (Feb 26^th). Of course, it’s now a statement of the obvious that ‘there will be troubles ahead’. Astrology helps with the timing. As always, we shall, of course, see.

Where most forecasters are agreed is that we are entering a ‘world of unknowns’. Riding the switch-back investment ride will surely be interesting.

Under ‘normal’ circumstances I think I would advocate leaving the care of precious savings to the experts. Yet things aren’t normal and it’s as likely that those with little experience but who are tuned in to economic currents will make gain.

I put forward my thoughts as to what 2017 might have in store for the markets in the webinar given on December 31^st (recording and power-point available via the website).

Poised as US and UK markets seem to be to push ever higher, and with the US dollar set to do well for much of the year, the various planetary pictures of 2017 suggest that we should expect last year’s volatility to continue and, perhaps, be more exaggerated. There will surely be buying opportunities.

I will go through some of the techniques that I use in the seminar in Baltimore next month. More info at www.ncgrconference2017.com.

Some steadying of market conditions is probable this Friday (13^th) but be followed by negativity the day before the inauguration (Thursday 19^th). I will also be watching levels carefully week beginning January 23rd and again on Monday 30^th. If there is even a slight down turn through those dates, that would be valuable information regarding the potential for turbulence in March and April. For now though, broadly I anticipate that levels will be higher at the February Full Moon than they are at this.

This suggests that all might not be well for precious metals and certainly the outlook for gold prices is not good in the coming weeks. Longer term is a very different story. I anticipate strong moves from September with good buying opportunities around the eclipses in August.

Stocks that have risen fast since September 2016 should see growth slowing from February 6^th – though they may well recover again in June.

Here in the UK, sterling has fallen even lower against both the US dollar and the Euro. Apparently the ‘plan’ is to trigger Article 50 before the end of March. The chart for close of polls showed fairly clearly that the process would take a minimum of four years and would prove mighty costly. So far commentary confirms this. It could take all of that time for sterling to recover recent losses.  My plan is to look at the relationship of US dollar to the Euro and to sterling in my talk during the conference  in Baltimore.

Before then there is next week’s events in Dublin to look forward to. Next Friday evening I will be speaking on the Astrology of Wealth which will be followed by a weekend with my colleague Margaret Gray, looking at the Moon and at the eclipses and planetary cycles at work in 2017. We are both very much looking forward to the event.  Full details are given on the events page of the website. www.financialuniverse.co.uk

Longer term, the brochure for the next event in Toronto (July 13^th – 17^th) is in preparation. I am also delighted to be speaking at the United Astrology Conference in Chicago in May 2018.

Finally, barring preparation of the index, the Beginner’s Guide to Financial Astrology should be available by the March Equinox. “Exploring the Financial Universe” has got off to a super start. Feedback is most encouraging and I am delighted that so many people have both read it and found it helpful.

For now,

Wishing you a very Happy and Healthy 2017

Christeen