Analysis of James Mars Langham's book, "Planetary Effects on Stock Market Prices" William G. Foster (September 18, 2003)

Executive Summary: This article e xamines th e Jame s Mars Lang ham classic, "Plan etary Effects on Stock Market Price s" p ublishe d circa 1 932. I wa s give n a cop y b y Mr. Huston of Ont ario, Cana da a fter he a ttend ed on e of b y se minars in Den ve r, Colorado. I used a daily DOW p rice file fro m 19 14 to 9 -16-2003 or 8 9 years of p rices. I use d AIR Software's M arket Trade r Platinu m (MTP) soft ware to complete the stu dy: www.alph ee.com This, in m y o pinion, is the gre atest a stro f ina ncia l a nalysis software on the m arke t toda y and a ny seriou s sto ck, co mmo dity, st ock in dex or futu res trade r has to h ave this software to t rad e successf ully in to day's m arket s. Mr. Lang ham used DOW prices f rom 1897 through 193 2 (3 5 years). During th at time the DOW stocks in clud ed m ostly railroa d and in dustr ia l sto cks, b ut still rep resen ted t he prem ier inde x f or e xpre ssing investo r sen tim ent. Th ere fore, even thou gh the DOW co mpon ent sto cks ha ve chang ed over the years; I feel tha t this study represents a fair com parison of L angh am's stu dy. I shall pre se nt ma ny graphics to clearly sho w th e aff ects of Geo ce ntric aspe ct s to the DOW I ndex, like only Ma rket Trader Soft ware can do. A t the end o f this a rticle, I w ill show tab les t hat reflect the differences be twe en La ngha m's research an d mine . Of course, L angha m did n ot ha ve state -of- the-art so ftwa re such as Market Tra der Platinum; so wh at mu st have t aken him ye ars, t ook me only a fe w ho urs. Such is the sta te of our current technolog y in the fie ld of Astro Fin ancial Analysis. Introduction: Mr. Lang ham's summ ary ta bles only show the Ge ocentr ic h ard versu s sof t aspects be twe en Jupite r ou t to U ra nus, in te rm s o f the numb er of up and down ca se s usin g a two pe rcen t orb of influe nce be fore and after the exact aspe ct . For "ha rd" asp ects Lang ham used th e 180 , 90, 45 & 1 35 de gre e aspe ct s; while for "soft" aspects he used t he 12 0, 60 , 30 & 150 degree a sp ects. He also cla im s that so ft aspects a re b ullish an d ha rd a spects are bea rish. Particular ly b earish where h ard aspects be twee n Sat urn and U ranus, while soft asp ects between Saturn an d Uran us and Ju piter and U ra nus where bullish. S ince this book was written circa 1932 , he often ca lled the p la net U ra nus, Hershe l. Lastly, he sta ted t hat a Uranus ing ress into Ge ocentr ic Ge mini create d war, panic and appreh ensio n. He a lso u sed the USA Gemini rising cha rt a nd considered the ingress of Ju pit er, Saturn an d U ran us in to Gem in i t o be ve ry impo rtan t for the U.S. as a whole and fo r t he U .S. econ omy an d stock market. For mo nthly move ments o f stocks, he sug gested usin g the Solar Ingress in to Card in al Sig ns (Aries, Cancer, Libra & Capricorn) and Mont hly L unat ion 's. Discussion: Let's t ake the se statem ents on e at a time a nd see wha t current astro financial ana lysis sh ows. First, le t's look at Saturn in Geo ce ntr ic signs:

Langh am m aintained that Saturn in Geo centr ic Gem ini was be arish fo r t he DOW and U.S. st ocks. As yo u can se e from th e abo ve graphic (usin g the Com posite Expert in M TP) Satu rn in Gemini doe s have a depressive affect o n the DOW b ut th ere are othe r p eriods when the DOW drops a t a m uch strong er rate . Langh am a lso sta ted t hat Jup ite r in Geo centr ic Gem ini was bu llish for the DOW a nd U .S. stocks. Le t's look a t that gra phic:

Here it ap pears that Lang ham was w ron g, as Jup ite r in Ge mini had a neg ative affe ct on DOW prices. Th is graph ic sho ws all of th e affe cts of Jupiter in all Ge ocentr ic signs a nd th e DOW . Now let's look a t Satu rn a nd U ra nus an d hard asp ects. I used the fo llow ing orb ta ble develop ed from the a ve rag e spee d of e ach plane t:

See m y S tudy Article o n "Advanced Williams M odels" at www.alph ee.com for details. Langh am claimed that Saturn ha rd Uranus a sp ects, had a be arish af fect on the DOW:

This chart is fro m the Supe rsearch M odule in M TP and clearly sh ows th e affe ct s of Satu rn and h ard aspects to Uranus 6 0 days be fore and after th e exact aspect. I had 5 3 occurren ce s of the se aspects a nd, as you can see , on th e ap plying side the a ffect is up a nd d own with a bearish bias; the n from e xa ct to 60 da ys a fter exact the re were 33 up (62. 4% up) periods, 20 down w ith an a ve rag e pr ice rise of 0 .88%. I t looks like L angha m was wrong on th is o ne. Now, to sh ow you the power o f MTP, let's take th e pr io r cha rt a nd click on the "$ Profit I nfo." bu tton a nd th e Events I nformation screen appe ars. Here I've clicke d on the "Optimize R isk" butt on w ith the "Bu llish " box ope n:

The program fo und t he be st pro bability of a b ullish r ise in the DOW, w it h 41 u p (77.4%) and only 12 d own ; for seven d ays before e xa ct and 26 da ys a fter exact with an average pr ice increase o f +1 .24% (not sho wn in the "Sum mary" w indow). In th e "recom men ded S trat egy" windo w I've shown on ly on e strate gy. The program lists stra tegies ou t as far into t he fu ture as you w ish ; in fact I had it set to 20 16 an d go t all the time s whe n this sit uation was in affect. I did no t show them becau se you ha ve to ta ke othe r th in gs in to consideration whe n investing, e .g., ot her aspects, ot her perspectives (R ig ht Ascen sion Lon git ude a nd Declina tio n, Helio ce ntr ic, p lan et spee d, retrograde a nd d irect, Arabian Part s, and m any ot hers). This ne xt gra phic is th e same aspect p air, o nly t his t im e I'm clicking on the "Optimize Profit" with the Bu llish opt ion set:

Now the pro gra m shows the gre atest bu llish profit % of +3.98 % (no t shown) by in ve stin g 33 days befo re a nd a fter the e xa ct aspect a nd still h as a strong 69.2% w in ning trade s. All o f the trad es are shown in th e drop d own boxes un der the "Winn ing Trad es" a nd Lo sing Trade s" titles an d the y may be so rte d by % p rof it o r b y date o f occurren ce . Now let's look a t the sa me Sa turn hard U ra nus scree n, on ly th is time we 'll invoke the Be arish set . He re is the "Op timize d R isk" screen :

As yo u can see fro m the abo ve , the system foun d the optimized bearish tra de at 66.0% d own market, starting a t 45 d ays after exact to 49 d ays after exact with an average p rice drop o f -0.39% (not sh own in the S umma ry bo x on th is scre en). Here's t he sam e sit uation o nly with th e "Optimize d Profit" butto n and bea rish"

The syste m op tim ized the p ro fit on th e bea rish side an d fou nd th at 53 days befo re exact to 3 3 days be fore exact p rod uced a -1.19% drop in pro fits but th e pro bability h as fallen off to 53 .8% I'm not g oin g to do this type of an alysis for any of the o ther aspects, b ut I just wante d to sh ow yo u the power o f MTP an d just one tab of the Supe rsearch Modu le (th ere are 29 in a ll just in th is on e Mo dule w it h every possib le astro event yo u can ima gine). Now let's look a t Jupiter soft U ra nus:

Prices we re u p an avera ge +2.57 % (no t shown) b ut th e probab ility of an up DOW was we aker at 58 .2% fro m exact to 24 days afte r exact. A picture is worth a thousa nd word s, and yo u can clearly se e the avera ge p rice action b efore th e aspect is exact. Now, let's loo k at Jupiter ha rd U ra nus:

This forms a beau tifu l "V" w ith pr ices d rop pin g significa ntly right int o wh en th e aspe ct is exa ct. From exact to 24 da ys a fter there was a +0.21 % p rice increase w ith a p rob ability o f 55.4 %.

Next, let's look at Jup it er h ard Ne ptune :

As yo u can see , there was a p ret ty good rise into t he exa ct aspect bu t only a +0.38 % avera ge r ise from exact to 24 d ays after with a very wea k p rob ability of only 49 .4%. How abo ut Jupiter soft Nept une:

A stron g erra tic d rop occurred b efore exa ct, but f rom exact to 24 da ys a fter the avera ge pr ice drop was -0.23% on a weak 46 % p ro bability.

Now Jupiter soft Pluto , wh ich Langh am n ever co ve re d:

Big rise an d drop b efore exact, t hen a we ak +0. 20% rise from exact to 2 4 da ys a fter with a 60.8 % p rob ability (59 d ivided by 97 = 60 .8%). Ju pit er so ft Satu rn:

A stron g r ise a fter exact w ith a 63 .5% probab ility, exact to 24 d ays after, an d an a vera ge pr ice increa se of +1.16 %. Ju pit er hard Satu rn:

Stron gly bullish a fter exact, espe cially abou t 5 to 20 d ays after. Fro m exact t o 24 days afte r th e probab ility wa s 5 6.8% an d the average p rice incre ase wa s +1.2 1%. Ju pit er hard Pluto:

Some rea l volatility here, w ith lo t's of up a nd do wn a ctio n. Fro m exact t o 24 days after the probab ility was 6 2.4% an d average price increase was a weak +0.1 8%. Saturn ha rd Nept une:

Forms a nice "V" a bout five d ays befo re e xact. From exact to 60 d ays after pr ices were up an a ve rag e +0 .54%, w it h a 5 8.1% proba bility. Saturn ha rd P lut o:

Rises in to this aspe ct se t but then falls o ff stro ngly abou t 32 days after exact. From exact to 6 0 da ys af ter prices dropp ed an average -1.19%, w ith a pro bability o f 50.0 %. Saturn soft U ranus:

Stron gly risin g pr ices a bout 15 da ys b efore to 20 da ys a fter exact. From e xa ct to 60 days afte r p rices we re u p a weak +0.23 % on a 5 0% probab ility. This points out that yo u mu st use the Events Inf orm ation screen t o find th e mo st bullish a nd be arish tim es. You ca n no t count on a str ict two degree orb . Whe n yo u re search aspects, like we are doing, then yo u know exactly wh at the affect is on any pr ice file ; you do n't have to guess ba sed up on key word s or so me body else's stu dy. Also, I c ould mark off any day s before or afte r exac t; I chose e xact to the end of the orb for consistancy. Saturn soft Nept une:

Go od r ising perio ds befo re a nd a fter exact. Fro m exact to 60 days afte r pr ice s were u p +1 .35% on a rather weak 53. 8% probability. This p rob ability cou ld have be en great ly imp roved if we had u se d the Events In form ation w indow opt im ization featu re . Saturn soft P lu to:

Stron gly risin g bef ore and after to a bout 20 da ys a fter. From exact to 60 d ays after pr ices rose +0.72 % on a 6 4.3% proba bility. Uranus soft Nep tune:

Very strongly r ising p rices afte r e xa ct . From exact to 168 d ays after pr ice s increased a strong +8.84 % with a 80.8% p rob ability. Uranus soft Plu to:

Stron gly risin g pr ices d uring the e ntire orb . From exact to 168 days afte r DOW prices were up a very strong +1 2.49% w it h a 7 6.2% proba bility. Uranus ha rd Plu to:

Prett y erratic befo re exact, bu t lo oks bullish a fter. From exact to 168 days afte r pr ice s were u p +7 .75% on average, w ith a pro bability o f 66.7 %. Uranus ha rd Nep tune:

Very e rratic, but m ostly bullish a fter exact. Fro m exact to 168 days aft er e xa ct pr ices were up +1.9 6% with a 63.2 % p rob ability. Nept une h ard Pluto:

Stron gly down pr ices, more bef ore exact tha n aft er. From exact to 3 00 da ys a fter exact pr ice s were d own an extrem ely strong -15.44 % o n a p rob ability o f 80%. Nept une sof t Pluto:

Very strongly bu llish during th e wh ole orb. Fro m exact to 30 0 days aft er e xact pr ices were up an incre dible average +37. 13%, w ith a proba bility of 6 4.1%. Transitin g Geo . Pluto soft the U .S. Natal Su n:

A definite u p trend but erratic. From exact to 3 00 d ays after pr ices were up +6.1 6% with a probab ility of 75 %. Transitin g Geo . Pluto soft the U .S. Natal M oon:

Mostly down bef ore exact up to ab out 1 00 da ys b efore ( this co uld be measu red exactly in the Even t Info rm ation Screen o r o n this scree n). From exact to 300 d ays after exact p rices were d own -2.74% w it h a 4 6.2% proba bility. Transitin g Geo . Pluto ha rd the U .S. Natal M oon:

Mostly up be fore exact b ut var ia ble afte r exa ct. From exact to 300 d ays after exact p rices we re d own -1.48% on a 42 .9% probab ility. Transitin g Geo . Pluto ha rd the U .S. Natal Su n:

Mostly up be fore exact b ut the n varia ble . Fro m exact to 300 days afte r exa ct prices were down -0.65% w it h a 6 6.7% proba bility. Ge o. M ars D irect:

Stron gly up 10 days bef ore exact to 60 da ys a fter. From exact to 60 d ays after pr ices were up an ave rag e +5 .82% w ith a 65 .9% probab ility. Ge o. M ars Retrograde:

Mostly up be fore, the n some wh at erra tic. From exact to 6 0 days af ter exact pr ice were do wn -0.13% on a 51 .2% probab ility. Summary: Here is Lang ham 's order of imp ort ant ta ble from h is bo ok:

From t he research graphics I've pre se nted , I don 't a gre e w ith this table. Of course , I ha ve the a dvanta ge of a lot m ore price file history and st ate -of- the-art astro fin ancial analysis sof tware. Here is a sum mary of La ngha m's ta ble of t he DOW up a nd d own by aspect u sing a two de gre e orb, bo th ap plying and se parating:

You can rea dily see why L angha m de cide d tha t the so ft aspe cts were bullish whe n you loo k at the "Percen t Up " co lum n as th ey all have th e highe st perce ntage s.

Here is my tab le , re fle ct in g the sa me sum marize d dat a as La ngha m on ly using the graph s for two perce nt orbs bo th front a nd b ack (no t shown):

Different t han L angh am's. I've also adde d an "Average % Price Chang e" colu mn a nd a co lu mn reflecting t he proba bility of t he pr ice increa se times the avera ge % price change , wh ich to me is a more m eaningf ul fig ure (t hin king back on my gam in g the ory cou rses in Bu sine ss Scho ol at th e Un iversit y). Here is a tab le s that sorts by % price chang e and % price cha nge t im es the p ro bability o f that price cha nge:

You can se e in bo th cases tha t the Soft a sp ect are towards the top, i.e. , have a stro nger propen sity fo r r ising prices; simila r to Lang ham 's tab le. Althoug h, co mpared to Lan gham 's ta ble , the ord er of the planet s is diffe ren t. Here is Lang ham 's tab le of Geo. asepcts for th e slo w m ovin g plane ts out to Uranu s, so rte d by the % up p rob ability:

Again, you ca n see a ll th e soft a sp ects are at th e top ; indicating th at the y had t he stronge st pro babilit y of a r ising market in La ngha m's d ay. And, fina lly, an d over all table of all t he aspe cts from exact to the e nd o f the two d egree o rb; so rte d by average pr ice cha nge:

Conclusions: Of co urse , the co nclu sion s we reach (illustrated in the tables ab ove) a re different th an La ngha m cam e to o ve r 7 0 years ago. Th e comp onen ts of th e DOW have chan ge, I have a much larger pr ice file than he did a nd I h ave state -of -the -art analysis software tha t allows m e to resea rch astro e ve nts 1,00 0 times faster than he do es. Also, I wo uld separate the a sp ect and use on ly o ne at a time and sep ara te the m fu rthe r into wa xing and waning aspects, e .g., th e 90 degree a nd 27 0 degree squ are aspects. The re ca n be a sig nfica nt diffe ren ce in terms of p rice impa ct . But we mu st not fo rge t tha t we st and o n the shoulders of m en like Lan gham and others, who pe rfo rme d or igin al re se arch int o the planet to pr ice link. Wit hout t hem we would n ot be wh ere we are today. And where are we ? Wit h the ability to re se arch the plan et (and astero id ) to pr ice link, an d using m any oth er astro technique s, we have a gre at ad va ntage over t he ea rly pionee rs. W e know, for exam ple, tha t oth er p erspe ctives h ave an im pact on pr ices; e .g., R ight Ascension Longitu de an d De clinat ion , Heliocentr ic L ongitud e an d Lat itu de, a nd transiting to natal cha rts in th ese perspectives. But, th ere are man y more astro te ch niq ues th an aspe ct s; that a ffect pr ices. Planet s in sign s, pla net sp eeds, retrograde and d irect, p lan etary picture s (Arabian P arts), Mid -Points in both tra nsit in g to transiting a nd transiting to nata l, sp eed d if fere nces between the pla nets, p la nets in ba ck a nd in front of each ot her, days of t he week an d mo nth, p la netary stre ngth by sign and house, and many o thers. By usin g all the te chniques I've liste d abo ve, in conjun ction with t he award w inn in g Artif icial Inte lligence Modu le s in Marke t Trad er Pla tin um (MTP); we at last ca n beg in to m ore fully u nderstand and p rof ita bly t rad e any m arke t in an e fficien t and effective way. With MTP software , the g olden door of o pportunity has at last b een o pene d. It is up to u s t o step t hro ugh t hat d oor and rea p the pro fit s. Written by: Willia m G. Foster Septem ber 18, 2003