MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN

FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING APRIL 24, 2023 ©

REVIEW AND PREVIEW

SpaceX on Friday is taking stock after the company’s Starship rocket exploded a few minutes after
lifting off the day before in southern Texas. “If we lift off and clear the pad, we’re calling that a win,”
SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said. – Micah Maidenberg, “After SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Explosion—
Debris, Data and Analysis,” Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2023.

An IRS supervisor has told lawmakers he has information that suggests the Biden administration is
improperly handling the criminal investigation into President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and is seeking
whistleblower protections, according to people familiar with the matter. – Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie
Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber, “Hunter Biden Probe Is Being Mishandled, IRS Supervisor Says,” Wall
Street Journal, April 19, 2023.

It was the week of the big solar eclipse in the last minutes of the last degree of Aries, square Pluto in
the first minutes of the first degree of Aquarius, and the global equity markets.… yawn. The rest of the
world was riveted in a series of rocket explosions, exposes, leaks, and revelations of political cover-ups,
plus renewed anxieties about the possibility of a credit default approaching for the United States, also
typical topics for a Pluto highlighted week. But the stock markets of the world hardly moved at all.
Perhaps the arrival of the “Trickster” – Mercury retrograde – on Friday, April 21, coincided with an
environment of just too many conflicting narratives happening all at once to make a clear judgment
about what it all means for the future. Then again, Pluto is only interested in a future where the
present has been obliterated by revelation (and punishment) for the sins of the past.

The pattern and timing were similar in all regions. That is, most indices made highs in this geocosmic
highlighted period of April 11-21. Most ended or paused their 5-6 week rallies nearby the April 14-17
time period, then declined modestly into the end of last week. In Asia and the Pacific Rim, China and
Japan stood out. China’s Shanghai Composite rallied to 3396 on Tuesday, April 18, its highest level
since July 5, 2022, at 3424. It then tumbled into Friday. Japan’s Nikkei Index rallied to a high of 28,778
on Friday, April 21, its best mark since August 2022, but then it closed down on Friday as well. Hong
Kong, India, and Australia made their cycle highs (so far) on April 17, then pulled back at the end of last
week.

In Europe, the Zurich SMI rallied all week, with Friday producing a new 10-month high. London’s FTSE
was also up into Friday, but not a new high for this year. The German DAX soared to a new high of
15,916 on April 18, which is close to its all-time high of 16,290 made in 2021. The Netherlands AEX was
quiet after recording its cycle high so far on April 12.

The U.S. markets were mixed. The S&P futures made a new cycle high on April 18, but the DJIA and
NASDAQ did not make new cycle highs last week. Their highs remain as of April 14 and April 4,
respectively. Brazil’s Bovespa peaked one day earlier on April 12. But all were down into the end of last
week, though not by much.

At this point, the much anticipated cosmic convergence of April 11-21 looks mostly like a temporary
peak in most global stock indices. However, since those highs were early in the cycle, the declines have
so far been very modest.

Other markets followed a similar path but with considerably larger price swings. Gold and Silver, like
U.S. stocks, peaked late in the prior week at 2063 and 26.23, respectively, then fell to 1980.80 and
24.71 in the middle of last week. Bitcoin and Ethereum also peaked on April 14 at 31,064 and 2142,
respectively, before falling 12-15% in each case on Friday, April 21. That may sound like a lot, but for
cryptos, that’s about an average decline in a major cycle.

SHORT-TERM GEOCOSMICS AND LONGER-TERM THOUGHTS

I will be rude here and say that in the past 30 years, we have not only come to understand the
internet’s and high tech’s steep and brutal downsides—political polarization for profit, the knowing
encouragement of internet addiction, the destruction of childhood, a nation that has grown shallower
and less able to think—we have come to understand the visionaries who created it all, and those who
now govern AI, are only arguably admirable or impressive. – Peggy Noonan, “Artificial Intelligence in
the Garden of Eden: People in the Tech World Want, Unconsciously, to be God and on Some Level
Think They are God,” Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2023

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-
like conversation – www.ZDNet.com.

“I’ve got to do this now because if you do what your heart says you have to do, you don’t owe anyone
your life.” Michelle Williams in the film “The Fabelmans” by Steven Spielberg.

The beginning of a cycle in financial markets is exciting because it presents the most opportune time to
buy. The end of the cycle is also exciting because it presents the most opportune time to sell. But the
middle of a cycle is the most boring or frustrating time of all and, therefore, the best time to take a
vacation and think about life – especially if Mercury is also retrograde.

We are now officially in or near the middle of a primary cycle in most financial markets, and Mercury is
retrograde – in Taurus, no less, which is the sign of slowness for the planet (Mercury) ruling the mind.
Hence there is not much to say about markets for this week, so we will go philosophical with astrology.

So, what are we to understand with Mercury retrograde now, close to Uranus, and both in the sign of
Taurus? If Mercury is the mind and intellect, and it is near Uranus, the planet of innovation, discovery,
and disruption, it would appear that this is a time of potentially great excitement and invention. And it
is, when it comes to recognizing just how rapid inventions and new applications in technology are
about to revolutionize our lives. It’s a key characteristic leading us into this period of a technologically-
inspired renaissance that I have written about the past few years in this column, the annual Forecast
Books, and the webinars that followed.

In Taurus, we “value” these inventions and innovations that will lead us into the future. But now
Mercury is turning retrograde, and suddenly there are concerns that we may have been moving too
fast. There may be hazards to our “comfort zone” (Taurus again) that we hadn’t considered. The
downside of Mercury and Uranus together is “ dissociation,” where we disconnect from our humanity,
our personal identity and separate from a well-grounded sense of self-worth, even self-being. And with
artificial intelligence (AI) advancing ever more rapidly, there is genuine concern that we may become
too dependent upon the robots we are creating and worse, becoming.

Mercury, indeed has an association with the mind. And with Uranus, is leading us into incredible
inventions about to transform our lives, especially when Uranus enters Gemini, the ruling sign of
Mercury, in 2025-2032.

Pluto in Aquarius (the ruling sign of Uranus) isn’t going to stop this freight train (think “smart train”).
But something else will. And that is the basic urge – a need – to connect with one another on a level
outside of the mind, outside of technology. For some, it will be a retreat inward to listen and follow
one’s heart. For from there comes the outpouring of love that all humans seek and the transcendence
of the fear that all humans feel – the fear of loneliness, of being disconnected and alone, of not being
able to touch and experience intimacy with another. It is only through relationships that love can be
experienced. It is only through relationships that we can truly begin to understand the concept of
karma, which is the first step to real knowledge of life, its meaning and purpose.

There may be a real danger for those who blindly follow the herd into this new age of technology and
artificial intelligence, disconnected from meaningful relationships with others.

You don’t owe anyone your life as long as you follow your heart when you know you have to – even if
Chat GPT tells you otherwise.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NOTE 1: JUNE 1-4: THE 2023 MMA INVESTMENT RETREAT AND MMTA3 COURSE TWO: “GEOCOSMIC
CORRELATIONS TO LONG-TERM INVESTMENT CYCLES.” The 4-day investment retreat is taking place at
the Michigan State University Management Education Center in Troy, Michigan, and is also offered
virtually via Zoom. Instructors and presenters will include Ray Merriman, Gianni Di Poce, Kat Powell,
and Rita Perea.

This 4-day intensive will introduce the participant to the role of Outer-Planet Aspects and Ingresses to
long-term financial market cycles. With this understanding, one will learn to identify time bands that
historically have coincided with the most favorable long-term investment opportunities as well as time
bands that have correlated with long-term market peaks or selling opportunities. These studies are
based on actual research on the performance of financial markets going back to the 17th century. Once
these studies and methods are disclosed, the instructors will then illustrate how they apply them to
current market conditions. Outlooks will be given for long-term cycles in various markets (such as stock
indices, Gold, and Bitcoin), with the goal of identifying when the next excellent investment or selling
opportunities are most likely to take place. Additionally, MMTA Graduate Rita Perea will give a
presentation on “The Role of Psychology in Financial Market Trading: Maximizing the Key Mindset
Traits of Successful Traders and Investors.”

You do not need to be a student of the two-year MMTA3 program to join! “Geocosmic Correlations
to Long-Term Investment Cycles” is a standalone course designed for investors, but there will also be
discussions on the near-term climate for traders as well. This event is an excellent opportunity to
interact with MMA President Raymond Merriman and MMTA Director Gianni Di Poce, and several
other like-minded students of financial market timing methods over an extended 4-day period.
There is nothing like the in-person interactions that occur at an MMA Investment Retreat!

The cost is $2750, or $2500 if reserved before May 11. Cost includes a 120-page workbook, all class
recordings, and slides of the class presentations. Note that this retreat is also in conjunction with
Course Two of MMTA3, and non-student participants will get credit for Course Two if they decide to
attend MMTA in the future. For further information on this unique and special event, contact MMA at
1-248-626-3034 or by email at [email protected]. For more information, click here.

NOTE 2: THE APRIL ISSUE OF THE MMA Monthly Cycles Report Plus+, edited by Pouyan Zolfagharnia,
will be issued this week. This market letter has become a very popular addition to the MMA Cycles
Report (less technical, more visual, high-quality analysis and update on MMA Cycles Report markets).
The mid-month addendum to the MMA Cycles report has stunning AI graphics and charts (people love
it!) and is very readable. It contains more illustrations and references to geocosmics than most MMA
Cycles reports and is only available for subscription to those who also subscribe to the MMA Monthly
Cycles Report. If you wish to try this month’s addendum, along with the latest issue of the MMA
Monthly Cycles Report, sign up online at the link above. The cost for a monthly copy of both reports is
$55. That will give you both the most recent copy of the MMA Cycles Report and the MMA Cycles
Report addendum coming out this week. For further information and ordering instructions, please click
here.

NOTE 3: The MMA Grain Cycles report by MMTA Graduate Wyatt Fellows will also be issued this
week, on Wednesday, April 26. This is an exceptional report by a top MMTA graduate who is also the
owner of a large family farm operation. Wyatt knows the farming business and grain markets from
both a cyclical and fundamental point of view. This report is an in-depth look at long-and short-term
cycles in Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, and Cotton. The MMA Cycles Grain Report has been extremely
accurate in its first editions that began in January. If you trade grains or are in the farming business and
wish for accurate timing and understanding of when to hedge your crop, this report is not to be
missed! To order, click here.

NOTE 4: The monthly MMA ETF Report was issued last week. Many have asked about a monthly
report on Bitcoin, and the Monthly ETF Report does this via BITO, the ETF on Bitcoin. Written by MMA
market analyst Gianni Di Poce, the ETF is a monthly newsletter that everyone trading ETFs is
encouraged to read, especially those that seek less risky trading venues than futures. This report
covers 8 ETFs on a monthly basis for readers. The ETFs include: SPY (S&P 500), GDX (gold miners), BITO
(Bitcoin), TLT (+20-year Treasuries), USO (Crude Oil), XLV (healthcare), XLK (technology), and XHB
(homebuilders). This is a report that was requested by popular demand and Gianni’s insights and
strategies are excellent. For further information, click here.

NOTE 5: TUNE INTO MMA’S WEEKLY YouTube show, hosted by Gianni Di Poce. 5-15 minute FREE
episodes review market activity of the past week and offer a preview of the geocosmic signatures in
effect for the next week and beyond. You may subscribe to MMA’s YouTube Channel today at no cost
and get alerted when a new weekly episode is released! To view this week’s MMA YouTube episode,
click here.

NOTE 6: For readers of this column who are interested in the modern-day history of astrology and its
transformation from a hobby to a professional career, you may be interested in the current issue of
The Mountain Astrologer. The June-July issue includes Part 1 of “My 50 Years of Community Service in
Astrology,” which depicts the events and challenges many of today’s professional astrologers
encountered in this task, and in particular, my role in this evolution (which is not over). For information
on TMA (the Mountain Astrologer), please go to https://mountainastrologer.com/zineshop/ and
consider taking out a subscription to this month’s TMA (The Mountain Astrologer). Let them know you
are interested in this article and look forward to reading parts 2 and 3 of this saga!

EVENTS

June 1-4: MMA INVESTMENT RETREAT: “GEOCOSMIC CORRELATIONS TO LONG-TERM INVESTMENT

Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to forecast the future
movement of various financial markets. However, that is the purpose of the MMA (Merriman Market
Analyst) subscription services. This column is not a subscription service. It is a free service, except in
those cases where a fee may be assessed to cover the cost of translating this column from English into
a non-English language. This weekly report is written with the intent to educate the reader on the
relationship between astrological factors and collective human activities as they are happening. In this
regard, this report will often cite what happened in various stock and financial markets throughout the
world in the past week and discuss that movement in light of the geocosmic signatures that were in
effect. It will then identify the geocosmic factors that will be in effect in the next week, or even month,
or even years, and the author’s understanding of how these signatures may affect human activity in the
times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from the perspective of a cycles’ analyst looking at
the military, political, economic, and even financial markets of the world. It is possible that some
forecasts will be made based on these factors. However, the primary goal is to both educate and alert
the reader as to the psychological climate we are in from an astrological perspective. The hope is that it
will help the reader understand the psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news
events and their potential effect on financial markets.

No guarantee as to the accuracy of this report is being made here. Any decisions in financial markets
are solely the responsibility of the reader, and neither the author nor the publishers of this column
assume any responsibility whatsoever for anyone’s trading or investment decisions. Readers of this
report should understand that commodity futures and options trading are considered high risk.