| Britain's biggest banks use astrology to play the markets |
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| Paranormal & Unexplained, | |||
| Written by Danny Penman | |||
 Christeen Skinner blinks at the screen of her computer and takes another slurp of coffee. It’s half past seven in the morning and she’s preparing for a crucial meeting with the chief executive of the High and Mighty fashion chain.Apart from the black cat dozing on her lap, the only clue to Christeen’s occupation as a 21st century astrologer is a copy of an Ephemeris that lies open at a page marked “Mercury March 25th”. “The financial crisis has ensured that I’m busier than ever,” says Christeen. “People in the City need to know what is just around the corner. I can help with that.” Christeen is one of a growing, albeit secretive, network of astrologers who work for seemingly conservative British institutions such as high street banks, City investment funds and retailers. Desperate to avoid financial meltdown in the ongoing ‘credit crunch’ and to spot fashions and consumer trends before they start, these institutions have turned to the stars to divine the future. “Most academics distrust astrology and regard it as mumbo-jumbo,” she says. “The thing is, it works. Nobody’s sure how it works but it does. Most of my clients are businesspeople who are very canny. If it didn’t work for them, then why would they use it?” “I’m fairly pragmatic,” says Judith. “I will only spend money on an astrologer if the decision I have to take is very important - the kind of decision which will cost me a lot of money if I get it wrong. “When we launched our Kayak brand a few years ago we used astrology to decide the launch date. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength. It’s one of our best selling brands.” For believers in heliocentric astrology, the branch of the discipline currently in vogue with business folk and fashion designers alike, it is the planets that appear to have an influence over us not the stars. They maintain that each planet has a subtly different effect on our behaviour, which varies as it sweeps through the zodiac during its journey around the sun. Mercury, for instance, can be generally positive apart from when it turns ‘retrograde’. This happens when it appears to reverse direction and travel backwards through the zodiac. When this happens, roughly three times a year, communication begins to break down and travel plans may go awry. It’s seen as a celestial spanner in the works. It’s Mercury’s potential to wreak havoc that has led many world leaders and military figures to plan their lives and campaigns to avoid its influence. Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin would only travel and hold press conferences when the planets, specifically Mercury, dictated. Hitler, a keen user of astrology, notably failed to take into account Mercury’s influence. He launched the Battle of Britain and planned operation Sealion – the invasion of the UK – just as Mercury turned retrograde. Both mistakes dealt serious blows to his plans for world domination. Mars seems to have an uncanny correlation with over-achievement for those lucky enough to be born with the planet at certain critical astrological positions. The French statistician Michel Gauquelin discovered that the upper echelons of numerous sports, as well as the medical profession and the military, are stuffed full of people with Mars in these locations. For example, Nick Faldo, OJ Simpson and Muhammad Ali were all born with Mars in the requisite position. And so far at least, nobody has managed to rubbish Gauquelin’s research. 
According to the police in Brighton, a full moon brings out the worst in the British hooligan. Cases of anti-social behaviour rise noticeably and commanders routinely deploy more police, hospitals prepare for a rise in casualties from pub brawls, and the fire brigade readies itself for more incidents. “There is definitely a trend,” says Inspector Andy Parr, who is responsible for patrols in Brighton at weekends. “With each full moon the number of disturbances recorded increases significantly.” “I'm aware that this is just one of many things that can influence public disorder but if you speak to ambulance staff they will tell you exactly the same,” he says. “It may be dismissed as an old wives' tale but there's plenty of other research to suggest that the moon has an impact on human behavioural patterns.” There’s some academic evidence to back up these claims too. A study published by German scientists in 2000 claimed the full moon sparked a rise in binge drinking. The scientists checked the police arrest reports and blood-alcohol tests of 16,495 offenders. Most of those with an excess of 2ml of alcohol per 100ml of blood – the definition of drunk under German law - had been caught during the five-day full moon cycle. Sceptics will no doubt point out that there’s no conceivable mechanism for the moon to affect our behaviour. In other words, astrology is just bunkum. Professor Chris French, a parapsychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London, certainly thinks so. “It’s just not true,” he says. “Hundreds of studies disprove astrology. There are all kinds of reasons why people might want to believe in these things for solid psychological reasons but that does not make astrology true.” Dr Percy Seymour, an astrophysicist recently retired from Plymouth University, disagrees. He’s spent decades studying astrology and has come up with a theory as to how it might actually work. Crucially, his ideas do not violate any of the laws of physics although they may over-tax some people’s credulity. Dr Seymour believes that low frequency magnetic fields emanating from the sun interact with those of the Earth, which in turn affects the functioning of the human brain. “The magnetic field of the sun can be affected by the movement and position of the planets,” he says. “Having said all that, I don’t believe that the cosmos controls us but it can influence us.” It’s a neat theory but does it stand up to scrutiny? Jim Porter, chief technical analyst for one of the UK’s largest banks, believes it does. He uses heliocentric magi astrology to predict the direction of the international financial markets. Millions of pounds worth of commodities, shares and currencies are traded on his command. His decisions may affect the value of your pension, your home, and perhaps decide whether or not you have a job tomorrow. When I spoke to him late last year, he told me that the position of the planets indicated a 3.2 percent fall in the American markets. The following week they duly fell 3.5 percent. “My attitude is that if you can test it, and it works, then it’s just another tool that you can use to predict the direction of the markets,” he says. “I have tested it and astrology works. Used with other techniques it can give you confidence, and the more confidence you have, the bigger the risks you can take.” Jim has recently compiled a report for a major central bank charting the likely economic trends of the coming few years. According to Jim’s forecasts, the economy and the financial and housing markets all face a rocky road and have a dismal short-term future. “At the moment,” he says. “Mars in Cancer is in opposition to Pluto in Capricorn. This indicates a polarisation of opposing sentiments – turmoil, in other words. This cycle ends around 6th April.” “Sentiment will then recover and will turn down in early August. That phase will last for 4-5 weeks. There will be another shake in October. “In 2012 we’ll be entering the precession of the equinoxes, which is the most important thing that’s happened in the last 26,000 years. That suggests that something mega is going to happen. There will be a huge change in the world’s psychology caused by a huge natural disaster or a massive change in spiritual beliefs. “We have an interesting four years ahead of us.” If you are like me and the rational half of your brain screams ‘It can’t possibly be true!’ whilst the other half is a bit confused, then maybe you should remember that people seem to be making money from astrology. And perhaps that’s the acid test. Making millions from the financial markets using astrology Have scientists proved that man can see into the future? Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          
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written by Matt, October 15, 2008 "There will be another shake in October." I have been waiting 5 months for this to come true. Looks like it has. ...
written by nicholas gray, August 07, 2008 Ten years ago, a 'scientist' claimed that her study had convinced her that the moon played no role in human behaviour- specifically, humans did NOT play up when the moon was full. One Newspaper printed the numbers she gave, however, and they supported the idea that more crimes were committed during the full moon! Something like 120 crimes reported during a new moon, and 160 during a full moon. She thought it was important enough to report, but she didn't change her mind when the facts didn't support her! And as for Market predictions, I bought the book 'Astrology really works!', which was printed in 1995, and I followed it's advice, and I correctly called the markets after that, predicting the May 2000 peak of the dot.com craze. So it might depend which book you read, and you need a good ephemeris. ...
written by Anonymous, May 31, 2008 It is amazing how astrologers can manage to actually predict anything, given the chaos found on their web sites. Most seem to have self respect issues, if you look at tons of random quotes about them, and one or two correct predictions from the past, distant past. I followed the Crawford site based on a comment here and a news item from January is a "breaking news". There is no current information that can actually be verified and be useful. Astrology can be useful, but as it is pointed out earlier, it is a complex study and requires a lot of disciplined study. ...
written by Sam, May 09, 2008 To: written by Abhay, April 29, 2008 I checked out your GBP/JPY teaser and you nailed it. Where can I get that kind of education? ...
written by alexander troup, April 30, 2008 i feel your comments are pretty up to date, we are entering the 21st century and the age of aquarius, besides if man can land on the moon,one day he will guide space ships through the universe by observing the weight and depth of a planet, of course we need to create a name and archatype for a planet in order for it to exist, until then, a.t ...
written by Abhay, April 29, 2008 For those who do not know will always argue and it is just ignorance. Astrology is very complex subject and it's application needs high intellect and skills. I have publicly projected Stock Indexes and Currencies trend of tomorrow by looking at past.. Teaser... Look at prices for Sterling-Yen as of 6pm EST on 04/29/08 It will rise higher into early Friday and then good size drop expected. Check back to see if it proved correct or not.. it is based on astro.. ...
written by Cardinal Sin, April 28, 2008 A monkey throwing darts outperformed stock analysts. If astrology is random guessing, its application would improve financial markets. Otherwise they always hurt the little people. ...
written by Dan, April 28, 2008 President Bush, his father and World Trade Center attacks are on Sept 11 1991 and 2001, a Pagan day. The upper brass of the Army is said to run on Pagan worship. The Grove conducts pagan rituals to the great owl with the worlds elite every year. Our world is ran in the heavens and principlaities.. Christ will ultimately set everything straight. Watch out for Marshall Law in the US and the Prison Trains run by FEMA. ...
written by Karl LeMay, USA, April 28, 2008 My question is, should corporate leaders and governent leaders be allowed to use our investment and tax money at the whims of a few highly paid astrologers? Is this how we want that money spent? Is this how we want the decisions WE pay for made and implemented? ...
written by Anonymous, April 28, 2008 I have an issue with astrology. I do believe it's junk. However I have noticed that things tend to go a bit wilder when there's a full moon. I always kept that to myself. However one day I was talking with a friend, who certainly isn't into psycho astrology babble, and he was telling me he wasn't going out that weekend because it was full moon and the morons got more moronic when that happened. Amusing. ...
written by Arch Crawford, April 27, 2008 "In fact, over the last 5 years, the timing advice of only one market-timing newsletter aamong several dozen timers tracked by Hulbert Financial Digest has outpaced the simple strategy of buying and holding the Vanguard Index 500 fund, which mimics the S&P 500. The big claim to fame of that letter, CRAWFORD PERSPECTIVES, and its editor, Arch Crawford, is having called the crash of 1987 with total precision. Crawford also forecast the start of the 1997 correction - February 18 - to the day. But Crawford is unlikely to attract a following because his letter mixes technical analysis with a heavy dose of astrology." KIPLINGER'S Personal Finance Magazine, July, 1997. Crawford was also tracked by Hulbert as #2 Market Timer for 2002! ...
written by Jim, April 27, 2008 Astrology cannot predict markets. The beauty of debunking astrology is that you can drop yourself into some point in the past, run all the charts for that point in time for the person/people in question, and then see how the prediction actually did. All such tests, against all manner of charts, always end up making predictions that statistically are consistent with random guessing. So it's just laughable that anybody educated in western society would believe this stuff. Another good debunking is twins or triplets....they are born at the same time in the same place, so why would they have markedly different personalities if astrology is true?!? ...
written by TonyGordonBushDik PigBeasts666 gangsters, April 26, 2008 The bank of endgland run by brtish military police-MPs and their beasts666 and queenbee is the cause of their imperial designs against the rest of the nations of the world that knows every ill deeds it carries out throughout the world by overt,covert,lowert means but fails accept as their problems and instead blames the rest and indulgese into rampaging throughout the world and killing innoscent peoples of the world who has nothing to do with the projects707% plus 911% that united kondomes of states of endglands carry out for their pleasures and fcukups ...
written by Andrea, April 26, 2008 Modern predictive Astrology such as: transits, secondary progressions, solar arcs, transits to progressions, diurnal, horary, mundane, etc., provides a wealth of information to a client when interpreted by a well-trained astrologer, preferably a certified professional one. The studies that I have read debunking Astrology have focused far too much on natal sun signs rather than full charts based on accurate birth information and utilized poorly trained amateurs as test subjects. Taking professional Astrological business advice is no different than taking any other financial advice. If it works for you than use it. If it doesn't, then move on to something else. ...
written by John, Sartell, MN, USA, April 26, 2008 The Lunar Perigee at New or Full Moon (Perigeean Spring Tide)is known to be associated with earthquakes. Google "Jim Berkland". Robert Anson Heinlein, in his book "Time Enough For Love", his hero pretended to use planitary astrology to predict commodity prices for his patron. (In actuality he was using planitary positions to determine the dates of the cheapest interplanitary Holman Transfer Orbit arrivals and departures. Export comodity prices would peak just before cheapest departure dates, while imported commodity prices would bottom out just after the cheapest trip arrival dates.) This story suggested to me that ships could enter and leave ports more heavily loaded if they left and arrived at the higher Spring Tides (New and Full Moons). Likewise, Export commodity prices would peak just before New and Full Moons while imorted commodity prices would bottom out just after New and Full Moons. Might this explain why Astrology can predict markets? ...
written by Alboday, Michigan, USA, April 25, 2008 It sounds like astrology, but here is a stern warning for the West Coast: since the perigee of the moon is occurring within a day of the new moon, so that June 3rd, 2008 is both the perigee of the moon and new moon, becoming exact only six hours apart. This is magnified by the accumulating gravity of Venus directly behind the sun. For those who live in areas with earthquake faults, California, Memphis, and Nevada, especially, you should be aware that May 5th & 6th, and June 3rd thru 9th are higher probability Sidereal-Astrology provides a `scientific' geo-centric analysis the same alignments that accomanied the eruption of MtStHelens in 1980, when Mars Jupiter and Saturn conjoined in Leo. Venus was behind the sun on the morning of the Northridge earthquake, Jan 17, 1994. Turkey was in the shadow of a total solar eclipse at noonday the earthquake hit seven days later, the Venus was behind the Sun three days later. It's obvious to me that something's going on here, but astrology on a tropical system (seasonal) is 25 degrees off, pretty embarrassing in light of modern astronomy. ...
written by Jim, April 25, 2008 The so-called rules of astrology are completely testable. They have been tested through hundreds of scientific studies. These studies show that astrology is consistent with random guessing. The example of Hitler is just downright nutty....Mercury in retrograde? Gee, why didn't it affect the Allies in a negative way too? Why not pull up all military campaigns throughout history launched while mercury was in retrograde, and see how they fared? Lol. If there's anything you can count on, it's that PT Barnum was right. Throw some hocus-pocus at a bunch of gullible people and you have money. ...
written by Brad, April 25, 2008 I've been considering a stream of logic wherein, if powerlines, which have been linked to childhood luekemia, have an effect on human DNA (cancer is a mutation), then by the same measure, slight magnetic changes from the planets will also undoubtedly affect the human system. All of the planets carry electromagnetic systems, and pull and sway those of the sun, if Mars lines up with Saturn, their gravity pulls the sun's electromagnetic forces more strongly in that direction than in other directions, if the Earth passes through this waterfall of force, we will be bathed in a formidable life-affecting stream of energy. If you are quietly developing in your mother's sweet womb during this time, your DNA, still in development, may have its course slightly altered, therefore, this may account for a personality change, mutation, you may be more inclined to quick rage, you may be inclined to be docile, you may be inclined to be a sexaholic. Obviously, noone likes to hear that things are predetermined, and I'm not saying that, I'm saying that the decks appear to be stacked, it's how you play those hands that makes you who you really are. ...
written by John Sawyer, April 23, 2008 I wouldn't trust anyone's opinion (on top of being an astrologer) who states â??In 2012 weâ??ll be entering the precession of the equinoxes, which is the most important thing thatâ??s happened in the last 26,000 years." Precession isn't something that the Earth "enters"--it's a continuous process, in which the earth's axis slowly "wobbles" and comes back to the same point about every 26,000 years. I don't think even astrology accepts such fundamentally wrong concepts of how celestial bodies (which includes the Earth) move. If this person meant "We're coming back around to where the axis was oriented 26,000 years ago", then still, the Earth's is always coming back around to where it was 26,000 years ago. ...
written by Simon, April 22, 2008 Of course nothing like astrology could possibly be true could it. We clearly understand absolutely everything there is to understand about everything - i can't work out why these 21st century scientists are bothering to investigate and experiment at all. |
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