Article by Maarit Laurento, Finland

Maarit Laurento has had an interesting talk with Micha Felner who has developed new fascinating methods for financial astrology. Micha Felner is originally from Israel and is now living in Amsterdam. He is a member of ISBA.

What is your astrological background, Micha?

My astrological era began in 1982 and since then it was more or less my only doing. From the beginning I have developed methods which are different from the ordinary classical astrology; however these methods are very well based on the traditional astrology.

How and when did you become a financial astrologer?

Around 1997 while I was staying in the US, I started to investigate the stock market with a lot of curiosity checking if my method was good enough for analyzing the stock market. That time I was not aware as to what I am getting into.

What do you mean by saying that?

Now, after 12 years I can say that it was the most fascinating learning process I ever had. Some parts of the journey had been painful, like in the old saying:

“No pain, No gain”. When the Sun is in the 8^th house like it is in my case, this is my main way of learning. From the methodical point of view, there is no better feedback than the stock market performance, to give a clue if my way of thinking and analyzing is right or wrong. In a personal consultation, the client may return or may not. The stock market history and current performance always exist to teach you something. All along the years I spent unlimited time comparing the market history and the different planetary combinations trying to understand the connection between the two.

You mentioned your different methodology, could you, please, tell us more about it?

Yes, of course. I am using a traditional method that gives each planet a solar or a lunar identity by a day or a night chart principle. This is a very important tool as each planet except the Sun and the Moon are ruling 2 signs which are very different from one another. Having this identity is helping for more precise birth chart analyzing and prediction. In addition, I am using a house system called “The Focus Degree House System”. It is an equal house system that combines the Asc and the Mc to an average degree, which is the center of the house.

This degree can be called as “The Main Life Clock”.

The last important method factor is the intense use of the 3 crosses to have a better understanding of life processes. (1-7/4-10 2-8/5-11 3-9/6-12)

By that, each planet going into a house, reflect the other 3 houses that belong to the same cross.

You predict the future; what kind of prediction system do you use?

I am using transits planets and transits midpoint to sensitive points such as the Focus degrees that I mentioned before. By that, I am only looking at exact birth time factors, so there is a great dependency on exact birth time data. To make the process easier, I produced a computer program that enables the user to find the exact birth time within 2 hours of an estimated time. All you have to do is to type in few significant events from the person’s life and the program instantly comes up with the exact birth time.

Please tell us more about the data issue. What kind of data are you looking for?

Regarding the market data, and I am referring only to the US market, I am using the birth data of the main indexes such as: Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Russull 2000.

More problematic is the company’s data. I am using the excellent file of Michael Munkasey from the US. In that file there is information on most companies that are trading in NYSE, including the changes history of the companies’ formation.

I am using the first trading data, together with the last registration date of the company. Not always the exact data is available, but in the end I can say that Michael did and doing a great job dealing with this matter. Without this file, my life as a financial astrologer would be much harder.

Let’s get back to the methodological issue. In your experience, what is needed from the astrological method to be most suitable for the stock market analyzing?

In my experience, there are 2 important conditions for that. One is that for any given indication using by that method, the positive or the negative influence will be defined very clearly. There is no room for a lack of clarity. The second condition is that it should be clear what is more important and what is less regarding the different indications using that method. Without these 2 basic conditions it will be impossible to make the right analyzes.

Let’s talk about your actual work as a financial astrologer. Are you a trader yourself?

Yes, I am.

When you compare yourself with other traders, what kind of similarities and differences do you find?

Unlike anybody else that are busy listening to all kind of information trying to figure out what is meaningful, and what is not, my job is not to listen to anything.

What do you mean by not listening?

I am expecting my method to give me an advantage, so while people are busy with the current trend, I can prepare myself to the next phase, by what I see coming in my papers. If I will listen to the ordinary information, it will just take me out of focus. So the CNBC channel is open in my place, but mostly to follow the market movements, and much less to listen to different people’s opinions.

Could you, please, give us a more specific example?

I am choosing now stocks for 2010 portfolio. Sometime there is a big difference between the stock performance right now and between the potential future as it’s appear to me.

My work is to take an advantage of that gap and find the best buying period.

If the stock has a down trend right now, and I understand why it is from the astrological point of view, then the turning point will be when positive astrological data is replacing the bad one, and just before that it might be a buying period opportunity.

It sounds very simple, is it so?

It is not as simple as it sounds. Sometimes, the positive and the negative astrological data coming together and I have to evaluate many factors at the same time. When more and more positive astrological factors are coming into the picture, I should trust what I see and put money on the table a while before, even the trend did not change yet. So when I want to be one step ahead, that means to be able to act many times in the opposite direction than the current trend. However, to follow one stock is not as difficult as it is to follow the market as a whole.

Do you mean predicting the directions of the main indexes such as Dow Jones, Nasdaq etc?

Yes, this is the real difficult part. If there is anything that I spent 90 percent of my time is on this issue of defining the US stock market structure from the astrological point of view.

Could you, please, be more specific?

I am using the main indexes birth chart data, not only each chart alone, but also different combinations of composite charts between the indexes. For example, the composite chart between the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 create a cycle at 3 degrees of Cancer. When Pluto was at 3 degrees of Capricorn, according the method I am using, it was one of the important factors for the major up-trend in the market during that period of time. By many other different calculations, there are more many cycles. In the end, there is a complete map of cycles for the US market. Then for any given time I check the current transits picture in regards to that complete US market map. Of course not all of the cycles are activated at the same time, but for any given time, there is enough information to evaluate.

This is the complicated part. I am glad for any time I am having a success, and when it is not the case, I am willing to learn from it for the next time.

Can you give an example for both cases, for a success and for a failure?

On summer 2008 I was able to predict that September 2008 is a problematic period for the market. I was not sure how strong it will be, but in the end I prepared the right position to benefit from the down trend. Also, around the end of March 2009 I was convinced that the major down trend is over, so I was buying stocks at a very cheap price. That was fun. On the other hand, I did not see the February 2009 strong down trend, so I sold my short positions too early and did not benefit from that trend.

Do you consult other people regarding the stock market?

From time to time I give a recommendation on different stocks. In most cases people want to know about the market in general.

Furthermore, do you give consultation to business clients?

I consult few companies’ managers regarding their business.

What kind of information are you able to give them?

I am kind of a time planner for them. When is the good time to act, or when is the time not to act, or which direction to put the energy in any given time.

Things to do and not do?

Yes, exactly. The most important consultation is about deals. Go or not go regarding new business activities.

It sounds like a lot of responsibility?

It is. I prefer to say what I see and to be wrong, then not to say and realize that what I saw was correct. Business people are interested in what can give them an advantage in comparison to others. As long I am giving them that, they are happy.

Otherwise, they will not come anymore.

What is your opinion regarding the crisis; how bad is it, when will it end?

I think for the moment, we are coming out of the crisis. It may take more time then the optimistic recovery view. It is looking like the market is still vulnerable to a down trend, any time the optimistic view for a quick recovery will not be justified by the reality. In 2010 in general I see a huge difference between sectors performance in US economy.

Furthermore, the problem is not when the sense of crisis is still in the air, but when things will get back to normal. Then I see new bubbles in the world economy. When these bubbles will explode, the 2008 crisis will be like a children’s game, as compared to that new future crisis.

When is it going to happen?

This information I tend to keep between me and myself.

The seventh international financial and business astrology conference ISBA 2010 will be organized in Finland next summer (Helsinki June 11-12). You are going to give a talk. What is your topic for that talk?

I am going to talk about the US stock market outlook for 2011. In my talk I will combine a full explanation regarding the methods I am using, together with a complete US market outlook for 2011. It is a great challenge, and it will be a 2 hours talk divided into 2 parts.

About Author: Maarit Laurento has been a professional astrologer since 1997 when Astro Bar was founded in downtown Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. In addition to personal analyses she has worked as a business astrologer since then (business strategies, management, and coaching). She is the chair of the Professional Astrologers in Finland and a board member at the International Society of Business Astrologers (ISBA). Before her career in astrology she worked as a researcher for several years.