The January 26 Solar Eclipse in Aquarius combined with Mercury retrograde stirs up a lot of choppiness this week resulting from conflicting economic indicators. The Solar Eclipse (a supercharged New Moon) is bringing a bit of buying back to the market which is likely to be short lived. Aquarius and its planetary ruler Uranus tend to create volatility and unexpected price moves (in either direction) as Aquarius/Uranus likes to break through barriers and support levels.

FOMC Meeting:
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee begins a two day meeting today culminating with a statement at 2:15 PM Wednesday, January 28. With interest rates at 0%, Bernanke has backed himself into a corner. Planetary transits to the Fed’s chart tomorrow indicate strong potential the Fed will announce it will implement what it stated it was evaluating in December: start buying Treasury bonds in a last ditch effort to lower mortgage rates.

Venus/Uranus and the Dow and Pfizer Deals:
Pisces rules drugs and chemicals, and as Venus conjoined Uranus in Pisces the evening of January 22, The Wall Street Journal broke the story that Pfizer (PFE) was in talks to buy rival Wyeth (WYE). The following day the FTC approved Dow Chemical’s (DOW) acquisition of Rohm & Haas (ROH).

With Uranus ruling the Aquarius Solar Eclipse, Pfizer announced yesterday they would buy Wyeth for $68 billion in cash and stock. Rohm & Haas filed a lawsuit in Delaware court yesterday after Dow CEO Andrew Liveris told R&H Dow wants to delay the deal until June (as Liveris still refused to commit even if granted the delay). With the Moon in Pisces Wednesday and Thursday and conjoining Uranus and Saturn in the late afternoon, more information could surface about these deals. It is unlikely either deal will be consummated in its current form.

Since the Aquarius Solar Eclipse occurs while Mercury is retrograde in Saturn-ruled Capricorn and with Saturn and Uranus in opposition, this is the time to develop new and innovative ways to tackle old issues. Jupiter in Aquarius conjoining the eclipse provides the courage and confidence to live your own truth.