Weekly column: The influence of Uranus and the full Moon on financial markets 

​The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate edged down to 4%….. The gain in jobs marked a drop from November and December and was less than the 169,000 jobs that economists had expected for January, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. But the job counts for November and December were revised upward by a combined 100,000. The unemployment rate was below the 4.1% that had been expected.
—Jeanne Whalen and Justin Lahart, “Employers Added 143,000 Jobs in January, and Unemployment Edged Down to 4%,” www.wsj.com, February 7, 2025.
It was another chaotic week with sudden, somewhat sharp reversals in many financial markets last week. This is typical during the Sun sign of Aquarius, and especially in the midst of powerful Uranus signatures. The prior week witnessed the New Moon in Aquarius on January 29, followed by Uranus turning direct on January 30. Friday, February 7, was a Gemini Moon day with the Sun in Aquarius, or an air/air combination, which can be volatile, especially on Friday with the monthly payroll report coming out. As if choreographed by the cosmic conductor, U.S. stock indices made the weekly highs on Thursday-Friday, then sold off rather sharply into Friday’s close. Gold and Silver did likewise.On the global front, the German DAX and London FTSE made new all-time highs last week, unconfirmed by the Amsterdam AEX and Zurich SMI. In Asia and the Pacific Rim, the Australian ASX made a double top on Friday to its all-time high recorded the week before. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong and Shanghai SSE were also bullish, whereas prices were range-bound in the Nikkei and NIFTY indices.In other markets, Crude Oil dropped to the 70.00 area on Friday, down three weeks after a crest on January 15 at 79.39. Bitcoin put in a trading cycle low at 91,439 on February 3, testing its major cycle low of 89,613 made on January 13. Ethereum, on the other hand, fell to 2415 last Monday, its lowest price in three months and a possible intermediate-term cycle trough.
“The market is trying to predict and trade off a very unpredictable situation and person. You could look like a hero one minute, only for the market to turn on a sixpence, and you look like a zero the next.”
— Antony Foster (Nomura trader), “Trump Trades Are Misfiring,” Bloomberg’s Market Daily, February 7, 2025.“
 The market volatility, along with the geopolitical uncertainty and disruptions, may not let up next week. We are still under the spell of “retrograde chaos,” and Tuesday finds a Full Moon, making a fixed T-square with Uranus on Wednesday. Mercury makes that same square with Uranus on Monday, so the week is likely to start off with more bombshells (figuratively speaking). Financial markets may be caught by surprise, leading to sudden and sharp price fluctuations both ways. This is not a favorable market for those who are not nimble. Market analysts may be more wrong than right in their calls. Therefor, our strategy will be t