consumer confidence

Consumer confidence rose in April – what’s next?

It’s not surprising that consumers breathed a collective sigh of relief in April as Saturn, planet of restriction and limitation, retrograded out of reach of the challenging square to Pluto that has been evoking intense feelings of despair since it began last fall.  In addition we’ve seen Jupiter, planet of expansion and confidence, in the sign of Pisces which can be idealistic and hopeful to the extreme.  (To give you an idea how this works, the radio show I did on Jupiter’s entry into Pisces was titled “Santa Claus in Dreamland.”)

Jupiter is moving ever closer to a conjunction with Uranus which will intensify the urge to break free of the desolation and restriction that has kept consumer spending at a minimum over the past six months.  But Saturn, that Celestial Taskmaster, will oppose the other two and enforce the rules and boundaries of common sense.  Anywhere that improvement in the economy is based on fantasy and delusion, Saturn will force us to come back to earth.  However, it is also true that any improvement that is based on a real recovery will continue unabated.

Uranus is the planet of surprise, and it will briefly dip its toes into Aries at the end of May.  By early June, Jupiter will have joined Uranus in Aries and I suspect the economy will be pushing full steam ahead throughout the world for a month or so, until Uranus turns retrograde in early July.

It’s probably too early to celebrate a recovery, particularly if that recovery is based on consumer spending alone.  A healthy recovery in a Pluto in Capricorn world depends upon a solid foundation, which means good job numbers and a healthy savings portfolio.

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By |2010-04-28T15:58:54-04:00April 28th, 2010|Money and markets|Comments Off on Consumer confidence rose in April – what’s next?

Retrogrades brings reversals in consumer confidence

When the outer planets appear to change direction from our perspective here on earth, we call that “retrograde.”  Jupiter, Chiron, Neptune, and Pluto are all retrograde now, and Uranus will turn retrograde tomorrow.

A report on consumer confidence in the US that is out today reveals that confidence of the average consumer dropped in May, driven largely by job fears.  Saturn changed direction in May – it had been retrograde since December of 2008.  In mid-May Saturn slowed down to a crawl in preparation for its retrograde turn, adding a reality check to the thrill ride of the conjunction of Jupiter to Neptune that was moving into position back in April.  The combination of Jupiter and Neptune can take us into Never-Neverland, the very place the Saturn seeks to keep us away from.

I was anticipating a significant reversal in the stock market when Uranus turned retrograde but I wasn’t sure which direction we would head in.  It appears that we might be headed into the negative territory in light of today’s news and the fact that Mercury is square to Saturn right now where there is a tendency for the mind (Mercury) to follow the negative course (Saturn).  It’s a good time to sit tight and not make any radical or sudden decisions until it’s obvious that the course is clear.

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By |2009-06-30T06:43:00-04:00June 30th, 2009|Money and markets|Comments Off on Retrogrades brings reversals in consumer confidence