Indian Time Cycles, Gann and the Future of the U.S. Stock Market

"Most Gann aficionados know that Gann usedstock market, and is familiar with the rules for
astrology and that the most successful traders use itpredicting and interpreting the Indian dasha or time
in their trading, as it is the hidden undercurrent thatcycle system, the mysterious cycles which seem to
runs the markets. J.P. Morgan, the founder of thegovern stocks would no longer be a mystery. For
Morgan bank, was fond of saying that "anyone canexample, by no accident the bull market that began
be a millionaire, but to become a billionaire, you needin 1982 coincided with the beginning of a 16-year
an astrologer." He had a private astrologer, EvagelineJupiter period, which began in late August. In general
Adams, who helped him tremendously. I have beenthen, this system predicted the stock market would
fortunate to purchase financial astrological bookscontinue to expand until 1998, since Jupiter is a
from her library.""bullish"" planet and is well placed in the natal chart of
It is a little known fact that W. D. Gann went to Indiathe May 17, 1792 stock market chart. Rises and falls
and studied Indian Sidereal Astrology. In hiswithin the major cycles are explained by sub-periods,
notebooks we find sketches of astrological symbolsor antardasas. These sub-periods can either amplify
on his charts; and in his memoirs, he discusses hisor diminish the strength of the major period.
journey to India. In fact, the famous Gann wheelWithin this 16-year period, the transits of Jupiter, its
was first used by tea merchants in seventeenthretrogradation and aspects to it are especially
century India. Gann also discussed the importance ofinfluential since Jupiter assumes the second most
using the starting date of when the first futuresimportant role in the NYSE chart next to the moon,
contract for a commodity began trading forthe chart lord. The Jupiter period ended in 1998,
predicting the future of that commodity. To mywhen a 19-year Saturn period assumed the
knowledge, there are very few individuals who usesecond-most important role.
these starting dates to successfully time the marketsA recent study I did of the NYSE will explain how the
even though my experience in using Indian Siderealdashas can be of use to spot short- term and
astrology has shown that these charts are invaluable.intermediate declines or rises. Certain combinations
Below is a brief introduction to Indian Sidereallead to very predictable outcomes. To get daily
Astrology, an overview of Indian time cycles andtiming on the stock market, one needs examine four
how they can be used, and a forecast through 2017or five levels of dashas, or cycles, to break the
for the U.S. stock market based on this system.larger 20- and 2-3-year periods down into 20- and
The Western Zodiac vs. the Indian Zodiac3-4- day periods. Amazingly, the cyclical combinations
Indian astrology is over 5000 years old and has itsthat are negative on the larger scale level will often
foundation in ancient science. Parashara, a great seerprove negative on the smaller scale.
or ancient scientist, intuited the laws of space andA comparison of the October-February 1987-88
time responsible for the evolution of humanfourth level cycles (Jupiter/Mercury/Venus/Rahu etc.)
consciousness and recorded his findings in a bookwith the third level periods in 1901-1904 (Mercury
called the Brihat Hora Sastra.Venus/Rahu) reveals that the major lows coincide
The first major difference between Indian andwith a repetition of particular combinations. This
Western astrology lies in the calculation of theprinciple can also be extended to sections of other
longitude of the planets. Ancient Indian astrologerscycles in other years. For example, note the following:
observed that the equinoxes and solstices movedVenus/Rahu/Saturn: (8-28-29 to 2-17-30) Declined
backward by one degree every 72 years, anfrom high of 372.06 on 9-03-29 to a low of 230.07 on
astronomical phenomenon now known as precession.10-29-29. Jupiter/Mercury/Venus/Rahu/Saturn (Dec 4,
Over time this has resulted in a difference of slightly1987). Signaled another major low and decline to 1747
over 23 degrees between the tropical Zodiac, usedon the Dow after being as high as 2051 following the
by Western astrologers, and the sidereal Zodiac,crash.
used by Indian astrologers. In essence, the twoJupiter/Mercury/Venus/Venus/Rahu (October 19,
systems differ in their choice of a zero point for1987) The third level Venus period did contribute to
Aries--the Western system uses the position of thethe direction of the decline in combination with a
spring equinox, while the Indian system uses a fixednumber of bearish oppositions, the return to an
star. Thus when the Sun is moving into Arieseclipsed constellation, and the sidereal transit of
according to the Western system, it is still at 6Uranus into Sagittarius. This one example indicates
degrees Pisces in the Indian system. (For a furtherhow the Venus/Rahu combination can be used to
discussion of the differences, please see my article insignal a sharp decline if it occurs in a particular
the Winter 1989 NCGR Journal.)combination.
Planetary Periods: Beyond TransitsThis particular Venus/Rahu combination is only one of
A dasha is a period of time during which one's life ismany combinations that one can label, and historically
influenced or governed by a particular planet. Forstudy. Other combinations are bullish, such as when
example, the shortest period, the Sun period, laststhe sequence unfolds from a Sun period into a Moon
six years, while the longest period, Venus, lastsperiod and onto a Mars period. For example, the
twenty years. These cycles unfold in a fixedstock market's last major Moon Period went from
sequence and comprise 120 years before theyAugust 1947-August 1957. During that time the Dow
repeat. The order of the cycles is:went from 179.74 to 492.32, a gain of over 200%.
Ketu (Moon's South Node): 7 yearsDuring smaller moon cycles within larger periods, such
Venus: 20 yearsas the Mars/Moon period from Jan 21, 1964 to
Sun: 6 yearsAugust 21, 1964 the market climbed from 776 to
Moon: 10 years838. And in the Rahu/Moon period from Jan 31, 1980
Mars: 7 yearsto July 31, 1981, the Dow climbed from 875 to 935.
Rahu: (North Node) 18 yearsEven on the third level we can usually count on a rally
Jupiter: 16 yearsduring a moon period, such as the Jupiter/Mercury
Saturn: 19 yearsMoon period from April 4, 1988 to June 13, 1988. We
Mercury: 17 years.saw a surprise rally that began in late May and took
Where the cycle begins is based on the exactthe Dow from 2000 at the beginning of the period to
position of the moon at the time of birth. Foralmost 2200 by the end of the period.
example, when soybeans started trading in 1936, theFrom the above examples, one can see the value of
moon was in the constellation (nakshatra) of Orion,being able to label and quantify the cycles in order to
which is ruled by the planet Mars. Thus a sequentialpredict the magnitude of the move. As many cycle
unfoldment of cycles began with a seven years Marsanalysts know, one can often find major cycle lows
period followed by Rahu (North Node of Moon), 18and entry point but still not have any idea how large
years, Jupiter 16 years, into its current Saturn periodthe move is going to be. The Indian time cycle
that lasts 20 years etc. If beans had begun trading aanalysis is a genuine solution to forecasting because it
day later, then the cycle would have begun from thecan predict the future, not just suggest it from the
next constellation, which is ruled by Rahu, or thepast.
North Node of the moon. The number of degreesFuture of the US Stock Market Based on Indian
the moon has transited through a nakshatra willCycles into 2017
determine how much time is left in the initial cycle.A 19-year lackluster Saturn period in 1998-2017 does
Thus if the moon were in the final degree of thenot have the bullish energy that we have seen in the
constellation, the initial cycle will begin in the lastJupiter Period from 1982-1998. Consequently, the
section of the cycle. (Software is available for rapidmarket will not go straight up nor will it go straight
computer calculation of these cycles--see referencesdown--and it turns out that Venus periods have the
below.)biggest percentage losses. As we saw in the 18 year
Within major cycles are sub-periods or sub-cyclesRahu period from August 1964 to August 1982, the
that also unfold in a set sequential pattern. Themarket can go net sideways in relatively narrow price
sub-cycle begins with planet ruling the major cyclebands over many years.
and then continues in sequence. For example, theThere is an approximate high into June 9, 2007
current Saturn period for stocks started with afollowed by a sharp decline into the week of Oct. 22,
Saturn/Saturn period in 1998, and continued with a2007 with a lower low due into about the third week
Saturn/Mercury period in August 2001 followed by aof April 2008. We are still watching patterns to
Saturn/Ketu period in 2004, etc. The major Saturntranslate this into price movement.
cycle will finish in 2017 and then the U.S. stock marketThere appears to be a recovery rally into late May
will go into a Mercury major period. In order to2010, then a sharp fall into Dec. 2010, a recovery
properly use the Indian time cycles and their smallertoward the highs into Jan. 2013 and a major decline
periods, one must have the exact time of the startinto 2013 that is one of the lowest points in the
of the first future's contract of a commodity. Eachwhole period, a recovery into August 2015 and then
minute that one is off can lead to changing thea sharp fall into the end of the period, which makes
prediction low or high by about 4 days. O'Non andnew lows into April 2017. Hence the periods to be
Remnick illustrate the importance of the exact timelong stocks appear to be Feb.-June 2007; April 2008
using an analogy from physics:to May 2010 and Dec. 2010 to Jan. 2013. We adjust
To launch a rocket ship to the moon, knowledge ofthese directional indicators using Elliott Wave pattern
the precise angle, time, and location of the launchinganalysis to predict price. There appears enough
on earth are necessary. If it is launched at a slightlyupward momentum in the current cycle to take
different time and angle, it will miss by 30,000 tostocks much higher into the June 2007 cycle high.
40,000 miles.Gann reminded us that we have to take everything
I have had to travel to the archives of the Chicagowe know and apply it to our forecasts. Indian Time
Board of Trade and other major exchanges to verifycycles are one tool. In our newsletter, we combine it
the first tick starting time and have collected anwith Elliott wave pattern analysis, minor astrological
almost complete set of dates and times that I maketiming from planetary aspects, and five other
available to participants in my advanced seminars orproprietary cyclical techniques as well as technical
through my home study course on Vedic Financialanalysis.
Astrology (see references below). The challenge isBack in 1990 and 1994, when everyone was bearish
that some of this data is very hard to get or wasabout stocks, we predicted DOW prices well over
destroyed as was the case for wheat and corn data7000 into 1998-2000 based on our dasha cycle
due to the Chicago fire and New York exchangesmodels.
merging and not keeping good data. It takes time toConclusion
rectify the charts and make them useful. The easiestAnyone attempting to uncover the mysterious laws
way to understand the effects of a period is tooof nature that underlie the commodity and stock
look at past examples. Because we have 215 year ofmarkets will be rewarded and intrigued by the depths
data on the U.S. stock market, and the completeof Indian astrology. The study of Indian astrology
unfoldment of a series of cycles is 120 years, we canleads not only to knowledge of economic laws, but
go back to the period between 1878 and 1897 toultimately to knowledge of the self. Understanding
study past analogues.Indian cycles and transits is as important for trading
Application of the Indian Cycles to the US Stocksuccessfully as a good timing system. A combination
Marketof the two is astoundingly useful and leads to a
What is extraordinarily exciting about using dashas orprofound appreciation of the order of natural law.
Indian time cycles for market prediction is that itWhile no astrological system should be used 100% to
allows one to know the exact date that cyclestime market entries and exits, using both astrological
change, to label them, and to quantify whether theyand technical signals can certainly stack the odds in
are strong ups, minor ups, strong downs, orone's favor.
sideways. If one studies the 215 year history of the