Raging Universe on Raging Markets

I was up into the wee hours of the morning at my day job, posting stories about the impending bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the hastily arranged merger between Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, and the “restructuring” of AIG.

I had planned to sleep until noon, but my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see how the markets would open at 9:30 a.m.

I’m awake, but too dazed to analyze why this is happening now. The financial turmoil seems to be coinciding with today’s full Harvest Moon at 5:13 a.m. Of course, the eclipse back in August squaring the New York Stock Exchange natal Sun was my signal to move to cash. Still, I didn’t think things were going to be quite as crazy as this.

Fortunately, Raging Universe has his wits about him. Here’s what he has to say about the Full Moon at 22 degrees of Pisces conjunct Uranus and the chaotic financial markets.

It’s interesting that Hurricane Ike hit Houston as the Sun in Virgo opposed Uranus at 20 degrees of Pisces. Now, financial commenters are calling the combination of last night’s financial events “Wall Street’s Perfect Storm.” Uranus in Pisces: hurricanes in Houston and on Wall Street.

If you’re looking for more intelligence on the Wall Street meltdown, check out my favorite finance maven, Barry Ritholtz, who blogs at The Big Picture.

The economist of the hour is Nouriel Roubini, who was on Bloomberg TV last night, predicting “disaster” for the U.S. financial system that “is going to get worse.” Why? Because we’re drowning in debt. (If you click on this TV interview with Roubini, be patient.)

I’ve blogged about Roubini, whom the press has dubbed “Dr. Doom,” which was also the moniker of famed economist Henry Kaufman the last time Saturn was in Virgo.

I hope that today’s Dr. Doom is being quite careful about what he says, because in this video here, he’s talking about the possibility of a run on U.S. banks. He’s encouraging Congress to immediately recapitalize the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures deposits of up to $100,000. The danger of even saying something like this in today’s environment is that it will trigger a panic.

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A Global Central Bank?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is dancing as fast as he can at the Fed, but ultimately Pluto in Capricorn is going to determine when the music stops. Pluto moves very slowly and it’s early days, since the demoted planet  is only at 0 degree of Cap and will soon retrograde back  into Sagittarius. Still, Pluto has the potential to bring about nothing less than a restructuring of the world financial system by the time it leaves Capricorn in 2024.

What might this entail? Well, the dollar’s descent could lead to the introduction of a new currency along the lines of the euro. Think it can’t happen here? Think again. A visionary friend of mine who has telepathic contact with the gnomes of Zurich 🙂 tells me the replacement for the U.S. dollar is called the “amero,” and that it will also incorporate the Canadian dollar (the “loonie”) and the Mexican peso, bringing together the currencies of the three partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The once-mighty greenback might not be the only part of our financial system headed for extinction; the Fed also appears to be on the endangered species list. Mike Mandel of BusinessWeek is one top economics writer calling for the creation of a global central bank. You can read more about what Mandel has to say here.

Jupiter in Cap and Welfare for Wall Streeters

We’ve had some thrills and chills over the past 24 hours with JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns and the Federal Reserve Board cutting interest rates on a Sunday night. Since I’ve been involved in covering financial markets for the past 25 years and like to put my two cents in, a lot of people have been asking me lately about the prospects for the U.S. economy.

Here’s my bottom line: This year won’t be that bad because Jupiter in Capricorn will be opposing the U.S. Sun ( “Born on the Fourth of July”) and will be moving in the same sign as Pluto, also in Capricorn for part of the year. What this means to me is lots of government benevolence — or welfare for Wall Streeters. That’s why we’re getting tax rebates when we need tax hikes and why the Fed is coming up with programs to stop the subprime bloodbath by allowing investment banks to borrow directly from it, a privilege previously extended only to commercial banks.

Don’t worry, folks. Oil and gold may be skyrocketing and the dollar will be tanking, but Uncle Sam has deep pockets.