Weekly Finstrology Update for January 9: Picking Up Speed

This week’s big astrological news is that Mars turns direct in motion at 3:56 pm on Thursday after having been retrograde since the end of October. The time to review what actions to take is over. Still, Mars is moving quite slowly and doesn’t change degrees for another two weeks. So, easing into moving forward is on tap for both us and the markets. 

Indeed, although there might be a spurt of activity into Thursday’s close at 4:00 pm, the stock market could hit snags during Friday’s trade as it comes up against a strengthening square between Venus and Uranus that is exact on Saturday. Venus, ruler of money, is in Aquarius so wants to fund new ideas. Uranus rules Aquarius and is in Taurus, ruled by Venus, so completely understands where Venus is coming from, but is holding out for a review of previous ideas as it is retrograde. 

Also contributing to a slow startup for Mars is the following Monday’s trading holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, which could mean lightly staffed trading desks on Friday. The New York Stock Exchange is closed on Monday; CME group stock index futures will open at their normal time on Sunday for Tuesday’s trade date, halting for five hours on Monday at 1 pm. 

In contrast, the week of January 9 begins easily, with Mercury trine Uranus sending exciting news in overnight trading on Sunday and Venus trine Mars getting spending plans teed up for review on Monday.

Markets on the Move

LUV Southwest Airlines

Meltdown is the word being used to describe the holiday travel snafus at Southwest Airlines that resulted in more than 15,000 canceled flights across the United States over nine days, centered on Christmas Day. The problems that started with winter weather quickly turned into a technology nightmare.

Mercury is the ruler of transportation and computers, and is the planet to pay attention to as it transits the LUV first-trade horoscope of June 27, 1977. Interestingly, the stock appears particularly sensitive to Mercury retrograde periods as well as conjunctions and oppositions from Mercury to first-trade Venus at 20 Taurus and to first-trade Jupiter at 19 Gemini. 

In two of the three Mercury retrograde periods in 2022, LUV prices made highs as Mercury turned retrograde, then bottomed as it turned direct in motion. In the third, prices went sideways during the retrograde. 
When Mercury turned retrograde on December 29, 2022, LUV dropped through support at $36. Watch for a potential low as Mercury turns direct on January 18. In between, prices could get a boost on January 10 when the sun trines natal Venus.

Here’s some examples of 2022 price action when Mercury transited LUV’s Jupiter and Venus:

• Prices peaked on March 3 at $43.37 after the March 2 Mercury trine Jupiter, falling to $36,75 within four days.
• Prices peaked on April 21 at $50.10, one day before Mercury was conjunct Venus; prices fell into the Mercury retrograde period, bottoming at $41.43 when the sun conjoined first-trade Venus.
• Prices bottomed on June 30 at $34.88, one day after Mercury cojoined natal Jupiter. 
• Prices peaked on August 15 at $40.39, two days before Mercury trined natal Venus. 
• Prices peaked on November 11 at $39.26, the same day as Mercury opposed natal Venus. 

Watch for a potential low on February 28 as Mars makes the final of three conjunctions to natal Jupiter. A week later, on March 7, the stock could be volatile and trade in a wide range when Uranus makes the final of three conjunctions to natal Venus.

Weekly Highlights

• Euro FX High on Tuesday, January 10—A grand square from transiting Mars and moon could send prices to high. Watch for a rebound in March futures toward 1.0720.
• Gold High on Wednesday, January 11—Half of the planets in the sky are connected to gold’s first-trade planets, in particular, the sun conjunct natal Venus. In February futures, prices could rebound toward $1868 per oz.
• Bitcoin High on Friday, January 13—This is bitcoin’s first-trade solar return, a time of exuberance. In addition, transiting Mercury and Mars are connected to those same first-trade planets. Watch for a rally into the mid-$17,000 region.
• Soybeans Low on Friday, January 13—The moon and Jupiter are transiting first-trade Mercury from opposite sides, while Venus and Mars form a grand trine with the first-trade sun. March futures could find support at $14.27 per bu.
• 10-yr. T-note High on Friday, January 13—The moon/Jupiter opposition is on the market’s Venus/Mars axis, while Venus and Mercury connect with the first-trade sun by square and trine, respectively. March futures could hit resistance at 114-20.

All times Eastern

All information in this post is merely the personal opinion of the author and not that of Astrology.com or any other person, company or entity. This information is not to be construed as financial advice, nor relied upon as such. Please contact your broker or financial advisor for trading and investment advice, and use astrological indicators in combination with other trading-decision inputs. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future market behavior.