Dear ISBA-member,
Below you can read the news of March 2006.
This is the last time you will receive the news in this format. As we enter the new astrologic
year, we will introduce the newsletter in a new format – as an attached PDF-file.
1) Member’s Corner
2) Everything old is new again – By Robert Gover
3) Congress: Financial Astrology – By Grace Morris
4) New ISBA website
5) NYSE RECAP for 2005 – By Michael Munkasey
6) ISBA internally – New secretary and new webmaster
1) Member’s Corner
We are pleased to welcome two new members to the ISBA network:
Roger Wolf, associated member, USA
Jeffrey Alan Harman, professional member, USA
2) Everything old is new again
By Robert Gover
There is an awareness growing among Americans that the times we are living through now are similar
to the 1760s, the years leading up to the American Revolution. The astrological marker for this
growing awareness is Pluto’s position at 25-26 Sagittarius.That’s where Pluto is now
in 2006, and where it was 246 years ago. Pluto’s orbit around the Sun averages 248 of our
years. This puts it conjunct the Galactic Center of the Milky Way, in a separating opposition
to the US Mars and an applying opposition to the US Venus.
”In 1760, the conservatives in North America were those who were loyal to the hereditary
aristocracy of the British Crown. By the 1780s, as the Constitution was being written, the royalists
had left the country for Canada or the UK and the remaining conservatives had shifted their advocacy
of aristocracy from one based on genetics to one based on wealth.” (“Challenging Abramoff’s
‘Artificial Aristocracy’” by Thom Hartman, CommonDreams.org.)
Thom Hartman points out that Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Tom Paine and other liberal Founders
opposed aristocracy based on birth or wealth. They believed “that if the largest portion
of the people were given the largest portion of the power of governance, then they would correct
errors they themselves made, and correct them quickly because of the impact they’d have
on themselves...(to support their contention) they quoted Locke, Rousseau, and the experience
of the Iroquois Confederacy.”
Conservative Founders like Adams argued for an aristocracy based on wealth. They believed that
the vast majority, being poor, were thus also stupid and composed an uncouth mob that, if given
the reins of governance, would cause national catastrophe.
Since the Revolutionary War, this democratic-autocratic argument has seesawed back and forth.
The Adams conservatives prevailed at first, decreeing that governance would be protected from
“the rabble” by an electoral college empowered to choose the president; the Senate
would be appointed by state politicians; only the House of Representatives would be directly elected.
Excluded from voting were all women, all African Americans, all Indians, and all white men without
property. Jefferson’s phrase, “We, the People,” was interpreted by Adams to
mean his own wealthy kind only.
Eventually, white men without property got to vote but it wasn’t till the passage of the
17th Amendment in 1913 that senators were directly elected, and it wasn’t till 1920 that
white women were allowed to vote. Blacks and Indians weren’t accorded full legal civil rights
till the 1960s.
But by 2000, rich conservatives had again tipped the seesaw and the likes of Jack Abramoff were
acting as middlemen, brokering deals between the wealthy few and the people’s elected representatives.
Political office had again become for the rich only, those who could afford to hire public relations
experts to manipulate public opinion through TV commercials. Many people had grown to distrust
the election process because of gerrymandering, record-less voting machines, corporate-owned news
media, and a variety of other methods used to prevent true democracy.
And so by 2006, the USA is morphing from a democracy into a third world country of extremes: the
rich few and the struggling or impoverished many. It is the society spawned by Adams, Hamilton
and other conservative Founders, who replaced aristocracy by inheritance with aristocracy by wealth
– most of which is obtained by inheritance.
Now, the feeling among many is that something has gone terribly wrong. Congress, the Administration
and even the judiciary are corrupt, and cannot or will not rid themselves of corruption. Although
what the US now has is called democracy, it clearly is not government of, for and by the people.
Polling indicates the public wants more attention to public schools, health care, infrastructure
and economic fairness; the “people’s representatives” persist in spending billions
on wars, cronyism, “pork projects” and outsourcing capital and/or dumping bundles
of $100 bills onto the streets of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, ironically, the ideals of the USA’s liberal Founders have caught on around the
world like the all-time hottest hit song ever. And the most recent election in Ecuador was cleaner,
according to international observers, than the most recent in the USA.
But you won’t learn the facts about these other democracies from the US news media. It has
been taken over by the same believers in an aristocracy of the rich that now controls government.
And the propaganda put out by the media has Bush and company bringing “democracy and prosperity”
by bombs and invasion. Their public relations campaign is so crafty, even dirt-poor farmers in
Kansas vote for the people who grind them deeper into poverty.
And so we have come full circle back to the social atmosphere of the 1760s, the years leading
up to the Revolutionary War that created this nation. Pluto has completed one circling of the
Sun during these 246 years, arriving back at 25 Sagittarius, opposite a point between the US Mars
and Venus. The rich are again plundering the American people, this time by taking wealth created
by American workers and investing it overseas to obtain cheap labor, and by importing cheap labor
from south of the border to replace American-born workers.
It is the outermost planets that are most indicative of major social, economic and governmental
changes. In the 1700s, the French and Indian Was of the 1750s occurred during a Uranus-Pluto square
from Pisces to Sagittarius, which resembles the Uranus-Pluto square due to begin to take effect
in 2008 and last till 2018. The F&W War was prelude to the American Revolution 20 years later.
During the revolutionary years, Saturn was square Pluto, conjunct Neptune and opposite Uranus,
in a series of aspects that occurred between the 1770 and 1780s. Upcoming, Saturn opposes Neptune
2006-2007, Saturn opposes Uranus 2008-2010, and then Saturn forms a T square opposition Uranus
and square Pluto 2009-2010. These aspects will be climaxed by an extraordinarily long Uranus-Pluto
square from 2008 to 2018.
In the 1700s, the virulence of the F&W War led into the Revolutionary War, which was more
a militia terrorist movement capped off by help from the French military. What many people are
feeling today, I think, is an approaching series of events much like the 1700s but in reverse
sequence: the Uranus-Pluto square will climax rather than instigate whatever major social, economic
and governmental changes manifest during the coming 15 or so years. Comparing the upcoming aspects
of the outermost planes to the 1920s and 1930s, and then the 1960s into the early 1970s is indicative
too.
In 1920 a stock market crash occurred during a Saturn-Uranus opposition. Then a stock market bubble
grew during the rest of the 1920s under a Saturn-Uranus square, which was extant when the markets
crashed in 1929 as a Saturn-Pluto opposition also took hold. The worst years of this great depression
occurred under a T-square formed by Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. When combined with the US natal
chart, this created a grand cross pattern with the US natal Sun-Saturn square.
One can read these transits of the outermost planets alone in a series of world charts, or one
can read them as a transit-to-natal series, noting where they hit the USA’s natal planets
in a chart for July 4, 1776. I find the latter method works best. For instance, during the 1920s,
Europe was suffering the after-effects of World War I while the US economy was booming. This contrast
can be read by using transit-to-natal charts for European countries and the US. This reading reveals
that the great depression of the 1930s did not hit the US till the outermost planets formed adverse
aspects to two key points in the US nativity: the Sun-Saturn square and the Mars-Neptune square.
Now it is the US economy which is said to be the “engine of the world economy,” so
transit-to-natal readings will, I think, give us a better read concerning what is likely to manifest
during the coming decade and a half. Of course astrology does not enable us to predict particular
events. But reviewing the past history of, for instance, the Uranus-Pluto square – when
it has “afflicted” the US Sun-Saturn square or Mars-Neptune square – enables
us to guesstimate what is likely going forward.
This transit-to-natal approach brings us to The Sixties, when last Saturn, Uranus and Pluto hit
the natal Mars-Neptune square. The Sixties was dominated by a conjunction of Uranus and Pluto
in Virgo, conjunct the US Neptune, and for the most dynamic of this decade, those planets opposite
Saturn in Pisces.
My read, in brief, is that financial markets will be crashed or crashing by November 2008 when
Saturn conjuncts the US Neptune and Uranus opposes, with both square the US Mars in Gemini, simultaneously
being opposed by Pluto in late Sagittarius, forming a grand cross to the US Mars-Neptune square.
Then, by 2015 when a grand cross to the US Sun-Saturn is formed by Uranus in Aries square Pluto
in Capricorn, the US economy will be into its fifth great depression since 1776. On the way to
the bottom of this coming great depression, in 2012 Saturn square Neptune will form a T-square
with the US Uranus.
One of the lessons of astrological-economic history is that no single hard aspect formed by the
outermost planets, alone, will bring down the economy. Rather, it’s when combinations of
hard aspects are formed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to those key points in the US nativity
that hard economic times have manifested.
During The Sixties, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto and the US Mars-Neptune square were involved.
During the 1930s great depression, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto and the US Sun-Saturn square were involved.
Based on the sequencing of the hard aspects to be formed by the outermost planets in the coming
years, first hitting the US Mars-Neptune and then the US Sun-Saturn, what appears likely is this:
A deterioration of financial markets by 2008, followed by a great depression and possibly another
revolution during the 2000-teens.
This prediction omits the expected buildup of natural catastrophes and is based not on world chart
readings alone, but rather on combining world charts with the natal chart of the USA, and then
reviewing history to find what similar planetary and economic cyclical patterns brought in the
past.
The history of Saturn-Uranus oppositions and Uranus-Pluto squares, without combining these with
any national natal chart, show that major turning points in the evolution of human affairs are
reached during these periods. It’s when these cycles are combined with a nation’s
natal chart that historic specifics emerge.
Thus, the feeling among many Americans today that we are going through a period much like the
years leading up to the American Revolution of the 1770s is one manifestation of this buildup
of hard aspects. President Bush is being accused of behaving now like King George then. Now, as
then, large corporations backed by government are creating social distress and economic imbalance.
Now, as then, the official news is upbeat and rosy while an underground media (broadsides then,
the Internet now) tell a very different story.
One major difference is this: now, unlike then, there is an abundant harvest of books about how
to prosper in the coming hard times. This message is directed to affluent individuals, and does
not take into consideration the overall economic context within which such individuals will be
thriving…or floundering. History suggests the affluent do not thrive in a sea of social
turmoil.
One factor is different today: the expected buildup of natural catastrophes. And that may save
us from our more mendacious talents. Next to making war on each other, what we humans do second
best is come to each other’s rescue in times of natural catastrophe. How ironic is that!
Should we pray, or do mass creative visualization, for the next Katrina to devastate downtown
Washington, DC?
- END -
Many thanks to Robert Gover for this article!
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3) Congress: Financial Astrology
In April 2006, Grace Morris hosts a congress on Financial Astrology. Take
this opportunity to meet some of the World’s best Financial Astrologers. Read more about
the conference at: astro@astroeconomics.com
or in the attached document.
15th World Conference of Astro Economics
Saturday & Sunday, April 8 & 9, 2006
Kingston Plantation at Myrtle Beach, SC
A wonderful location on the ocean, golf courses, theatres, up-scale shopping malls, spas, beaches,
pools and ocean-view hotel suites.
Join Arch Crawford, Walter Bressert, Tim Bost, Ray Merriman, Georgia Stathis, Grace K. Morris
and other experts as they share their knowledge in market timing, commodity and currency trading,
investment strategies, stocks, interest rates and the economy.
Learn the latest financial techniques to increase your knowledge and successfully manage your
own investments.
4) New ISBA website
ISBA’s website has had a new design by Tove Birgitte Jensen our new
webmaster (for further information, see below in this newsletter.)
We hope you like the new design and we would be very pleased to receive comments and suggestions
for further improvement. Please visit http://hjem.get2net.dk/dtp9/isba.site/
and send comments and suggestions to Tove on email: tbj9@get2net.dk
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5) NYSE 2005 Year-End Preview
By Michael Munkasey
New Records in Average Daily Volume, NYSE Composite Index and Seat Prices
New Listings Outpace 2004 Level.
NEW YORK, Dec. 23, 2005 – While the NYSE’s April 20 announcement and overwhelming
Member approval of the merger with Archipelago Holdings Inc. (PCX: AX) dominated the news of the
market in 2005, the Exchange achieved several new performance benchmarks that contributed to its
growth and position as the world’s leading and most successful equities market.
NYSE-Archipelago Merger
*On April 20, the NYSE announced its merger with Archipelago Holdings Inc. Through the merger,
the NYSE will become a publicly-traded, for-profit company for the first time in its 213-year
history.
*The merger will better serve customers and support the growth of the Exchange, providing a diverse
platform for the trading of listed and over-the-counter equities, fixed-income products, options,
and other derivative products, as well as offering a listing platform for companies that do not
meet NYSE listing standards.
*At a Special Membership meeting on Dec. 6, over 95% of votes cast by NYSE Members were in favor
of the merger with Archipelago Holdings Inc.
*Since the announcement of the merger, NYSE seat prices increased to historic highs, quadrupling
from a low of $975,000 on Jan. 11 to a new all-time high of $4 million late in the year. Year
to date, 85 seats were sold, compared to 30 in 2004. The NYSE seat market will cease to operate
at the close of business on Friday, Dec. 30.
*The merger is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2006.
New Listings and IPOs
*The total global market capitalization of the NYSE’s 2,775 listed companies now stands
at $21.3 trillion, from $19.8 trillion at the end of 2004,making the Exchange by far the world’s
largest and most valuable equities market. The market capitalization of the NYSE’s listed
companies is greater
than that of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ($4 trillion), Nasdaq ($3.5 trillion), the London Stock
Exchange ($3.0 trillion), Euronext ($2.6 trillion) and Deutsche Boerse ($1.2 trillion) combined.
*The Exchange attracted 192 new listings year-to-date. The 2005 total includes the Nov. 30 transfer
of 40 iShares exchange-traded funds from the American Stock Exchange, as well as an additional
six exchange-traded funds. In 2004, the Exchange added 165 new listings, which includes 13 exchange-traded
funds. Exchange-traded funds continued to be a strong growth opportunity for
the NYSE in 2005, largely due to their growing popularity with investors. The streetTRACKS®
Gold Shares Trust (GLD), the first gold-based ETF, amassed a net asset value of more than $2 billion
just two months after listing.
*Initial public offerings by U.S. domestic companies, excluding funds, raised $21 billion, more
than 90 percent of all qualified IPO dollars raised. Including funds, offerings at the NYSE raised
$42 billion, four times more than any other U.S. market.
*U.S. domestic IPOs at the NYSE in 2005 included Huntsman Corp. (HUN),
raising over $1.3 billion; VeriFone, Inc. (PAY) and Dolby Laboratories (DLB). New U.S. listings
in 2005 included Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) and Ameriprise Financial
Inc. (AMP).
*Non-U.S. offerings at the NYSE in 2005, including India’s Patni Computer Systems Ltd. (PTI)
and China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP), raised $2.2 billion, or 96% of qualifying
non-U.S. IPOs raising money in the United States. Non-U.S. listings in 2005 included IAMGOLD Corporation
(IAG) and Novelis Inc. (NVL). Nine companies from Canada listed on the NYSE.
*The NYSE continued to be the leading market for non-U.S. companies, with a total global market
capitalization for its 445 non-U.S. companies of $7.7 trillion. The market capitalization of the
17 mainland Chinese companies on the NYSE increased to $329 billion. With the addition of Patni
Computer Systems Ltd., the NYSE added its ninth listed company from India in 2005.
Trading Activity and Market Quality
*The New York Composite Index (NYA) once again outperformed all other major index averages, hitting
17 new highs this year. On Dec. 22, the NYA closed at 7834.04, an increase this year of 7.8%.
By comparison, the Dow Jones Indust rial Average (DJIA) increased by 0.9% to 10889.44, the S&P
500 by 5.0% to 1272.64, and the Nasdaq Composite by 3.5% to 2252.28.
*The NYSE’s average daily trading volume increased to 1.61 billion shares in 2005, from
1.46 billion shares in 2004. This was highlighted by a new record volume day of 3.12 billion shares
on June 24, followed by a second 3-billion-share day on Sept. 19. In 2005, the NYSE reached total
share volume of over 400 billion shares for the first time, exceeding the previous record in 2004
by 10%.
*The NYSE was the most efficient and competitive venue for trading its listed stocks, providing
investors the best execution prices and best quoted spreads, and the largest displayed liquidity.
This was reflected by the Exchange's leading market share of 78.7% in its listed stocks during
regular
trading hours. That helped it to facilitate the opportunity for optimal price discovery and establish
the best bid or offer 88% of the time. The average dollar value available for trading at the best
price on the Exchange in 2005 was $30,838 for NYSE-listed stocks, compared to $14,856 for Nasdaq-listed
stocks traded on Nasdaq.
*Elkins/McSherry ranked the NYSE among the world's lowest cost venues, calculating that the average
cost of trading an NYSE stock declined from 25.87 basis points in last year’s survey to
23.36 basis points this year. Plexus, which compares NYSE and Nasdaq trading costs for institutional
traders in U.S. markets, found NYSE execution costs lower in large, medium and small
capitalization stocks. Abel/Noser found the NYSE’s costs lower over time and across all
stock types.
* Abel Noser Corp. - Q1 2005, Elkins/McSherry Global Universe - Q2 2005, Plexus Group - Q2 2005
*The NYSE’s execution certainty was among the highest of any major U.S. market in 2005,
according to 11Ac1-5 data filed with the SEC; the NYSE executed 99% of market orders it received.
Other market centers’ lower liquidity resulted in lower fill rates, less execution certainty
and higher cancellation rates.
Hybrid MarketSM and Technology Highlights
*In December 2005, the Exchange introduced the first phase of the NYSE Hybrid MarketSM , the Exchange’s
new market model that will give customers the broadest choice of trade-execution services. Additional
phases of the initial pilot program will be rolled out in early 2006.
*In 2005, NYSE Direct+ ™ daily volume grew to 208 million shares a day, or over 12% of overall
NYSE volume, from less than 9% in 2004. Average execution speed for NYSE Direct+ was 0.36 second.
*NYSE systems capacity expanded from 8,000 to 14,000 messages per second,in preparation for further
growth in customer message traffic.
*The NYSE market was available for trading nearly 100% of the time, in a year that saw 832 new
software releases and 1,217 hardware changes.
*The NYSE upgraded its wireless network to the latest standards, providing enhanced security and
50 times more throughput for the 800 floor brokers who rely on it everyday. The new network enables
the addition of streaming market data to the handheld computers.
Community Outreach
*Leading government officials and top policy makers, including U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel W.
Bodman, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, visited
the NYSE in 2005, as well as government leaders from various countries around the world, including
Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe-Vélez, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, Ukraine’s
President Victor Yuschenko, and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI.
*The NYSE Foundation, the private philanthropic foundation established by the NYSE, donated $1
million in January to support the relief efforts associated with the South Asia tragedy. The NYSE
Foundation also contributed $1.2 million toward relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, adding to
$208,000 in contributions from the Exchange community. In total, the Foundation contributed $4.2
million to support education, quality of life, and community service programs.
Important Acquisition Information With Respect To The Merger In connection with the proposed merger
of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. ("NYSE") and Archipelago Holdings, Inc. ("Archipelago"),
NYSE Group, Inc. has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) containing a joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed transaction.
The parties have filed other publicly available relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction
with the SEC. The SEC declared the Registration Statement effective on November 3, 2005.
NYSE MEMBERS AND ARCHIPELAGO STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE FINAL JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/ PROSPECTUS
REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
NYSE members and Archipelago stockholders can obtain a free copy of the final joint proxy statement/prospectus,
as well as other filings containing information about NYSE and Archipelago without charge, at
the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies
of the final joint proxy statement/prospectus can also be obtained, without charge, by directing
a request to the Office of the Corporate Secretary, NYSE, 11 Wall Street, New York 10005, 212-656-2061
or to Archipelago, Attention: Investor Relations, at 100 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 1800, Chicago,
Illinois 60606 or calling (888) 514-7284.
The NYSE, Archipelago and their respective directors and executive officers and other members
of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from
Archipelago stockholders in respect ofthe proposed transaction. Information regarding Archipelago's
directors and executive officers is available in Archipelago's proxy statement for its
2005 annual meeting of stockholders, dated March 31, 2005.
Additional information regarding the interests of such potential participants is included in the
joint proxy statement/prospectus and the other relevant documents filed with the SEC. This correspondence
shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor
shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities
laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus
meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this correspondence may contain forward-looking information regarding the
NYSE and Archipelago and the combined company after the completion of the transactions that are
intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided
by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not
limited to, the benefits of the business combination transaction involving NYSE and Archipelago,
including future financial and operating results, the new company's plans, objectives, expectations
and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon
the current beliefs and expectations of NYSE's and Archipelago's management and are subject to
significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth
in the forward-looking statements: the ability to obtain governmental approvals of the transaction
on the proposed terms and schedule; the failure of NYSE members or Archipelago shareholders to
approve the transaction; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; the
risk that the cost savings and any other synergies from the transaction may not be fully realized
or may take longer to realize than expected; disruption from the transaction making it more difficult
to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; competition and its effect on
pricing, spending,third-party relationships and revenues; social and political conditions such
as war, political unrest or terrorism; general economic conditions and normal business uncertainty.
Additional risks and factors are identified in Archipelago's filings with the Securities Exchange
Commission, including its Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2004 which
is available on Archipelago's website at http://www.Archipelago.com,
and the Registration
Statement on Form S-4 filed by NYSE Group, Inc. with the SEC on July 21, 2005 (and amended on
September 24, 2005, October 24, 2005 and November 3, 2005).
You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date of this document. Except for any obligation to disclose material information under the Federal
securities laws, none of the NYSE, Archipelago or the combined company after the completion of
the transactions undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document.
- END -
Many thanks to Michael Munkasey for this article!
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6) ISBA internally – New secretary and new webmaster
Since New Year 2006, there have been some changes in the ISBA Crew.
Our much appreciated secretary, Hannah Lund, has left us due to a comprehensive workload in her
professional career. We wish Hannah all the best for the future, and we would like to take the
opportunity to welcome our new secretary, Jeannie Mathiasen. We hope you will stay with us for
many years, Jeannie. Jeannie can be contacted via email: jeannie.mathiasen@gmail.com
Furthermore, the Graphic/IT work in the society has had a new face. In the
future, Tove Birgitte Jensen will update our website and help our members with questions regarding
the ISBA website: www.businessastrologers.com.
Welcome Tove! If you have amendments or wish to add information to the website,
you can contact Tove via email: tbj9@get2net.dk
Best wishes,
Karen & Jeannie
from members
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