Business | Markets

Stock market astrology

William Delbert Gann (6 June 1878 - 14 June, 1955) is said to be the father of stock market astrology.

Suranjana Roy Bhattacharya Special To Gulf News
Published: 00:00 June 12, 2010

William Delbert Gann (6 June 1878 - 14 June, 1955) is said to be the father of stock market astrology. He was a finance trader who developed an ‘analysis tool' known as Gann angles.

The Gann method snatches from geometry, astrology and ancient mathematics. However, this is not universally accepted.

Indian financial astrology adopts what is known as "Mundane astrology" which is the application of astrology to world events.

It also draws from "Medani astrology," which deals with monsoon, metals, agricultural production, crude oil, bullion, currencies, interest rate fluctuations and geo-political tensions.

Astro-theorists manage to connect the movement of stars into measurable positive or negative impact on an individual or country.

They firmly believe planetary movements have an influence on the collective mind of investors, which in turn causes the market to go up or down.

According to them, each and every planet millions of light years away represents particular stock on the Indian bourse.

Sun: Public sector units and precious metals.
Moon: Petroleum, oil, gas and shipping
Mars: Automobile and pharma
Mercury: Textiles and FMCG
Venus: Media and sugar
Jupiter: Banking and financial sectors
Saturn: Metals, mining and telecom

Analyst versus Astrologer

Gulf News asked a technical analyst and a financial astrologer to make their predictions of how the BSE Sensex would perform between May 31 and June 4.

The predictions were made on May 30 by Sweta Killa, technical analyst for a Kolkata brokerage firm, Steward Securities Ltd, and astrologer Lt Col Ajay of www.astromoneyguru.com

Analyst speak: Sweta Killa

The BSE Sensex closed at 16,863 on May 28.
For the May 31 to June 4 week, the index could touch higher levels around 17,300.
However there is a sell signal on the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) in the weekly chart and owing to negative global cues over the weekend the Sensex might weaken further.
If it trades below the 200 Simple Moving Average (16,765) we could see 15,960 or 15,651 or below.

Star-speak : Lt Col Ajay

Overall market sentiment will depend upon the monsoon and the market would be on the positive side from May 31 to June 4.
Support for the Sensex would be 16,740 and resistance 16,938.

…and how the markets really played

The Indian market continued its rally on Monday, May 31 and closed at 16,944. As global markets tumbled on a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing data, the Sensex closed down 372 points at 16,572 on June 1. Shares ended one per cent up on June 2 at 16,741. The Sensex gained 280 points to finish at 17,022 on June 3. The bourse continued its rally on June 4. The BSE Sensex finally closed 95 points higher at 17,117.

Stars also sparkle in China

It is a myth that Communism or the brutal years of the Cultural Revolution mitigated superstition and fortune-telling in China.

Most Chinese people follow Feng Shui and are obsessed with zodiacs, lucky numbers and auspicious dates.

According to a recent online survey, 80 per cent of Chinese visit fortunetellers, the majority of business people believe in the god of fortune, one sixth believe in the existence of gods and demons and one twelfth said they had seen a ghost.

Little surprise that Chinese cyber space is flooded with astrological websites. Sites like astro.sina.com.cn, astro.lady.qq.com, astro.women.sohu.com are just some of the more popular ones.

Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly fortunes are divided into romance, employment, health and finance.

While Chinese websites do not give specific stock market predictions, it is common for users to meticulously follow their financial sections. Much of it is free, but for more detailed predictions, users have to pay 80 to 100 yuan.

Young women like Kary Li, a 29-year-old marketing executive in a petrochemical company, says she checks her financial fortunes once a month.

In April this year, she tried to play the Dalian futures market, but one warning on a Chinese website that this was a dangerous time, made her retreat.