By Raymond A. Merriman
MMA/Seek-It Publications, P.O. Box 250012, W. Bloomfield, MI 48325; 1999, 8-1/2" x 11," perfect bind, gloss softcover, 295 pages, $95.00 (plus $3.95 US/Canada, or $22.00 overseas), ISBN 0-930706-27-7

Once in a great while a truly revolutionary trading book is published that creates and redefines a method of analysis. Past examples would include Technical Analysis of Stock Trends by Magee and Edwards in 1948, or New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems by Wells Wilder in 1978. A new book has just been published that is just as revolutionary for the method of financial astrology. In his new book, The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Vol 2: Geocosmic Correlations to Investment Cycles, Ray Merriman takes astrological analysis of markets to a new level with his excellent and incredibly in-depth research.

Mr. Merriman researches geocosmic signatures back to the 1790's, and has found 16 that correlate 100% of the time with major cycle turns in the stock market. Incredibly there are 35 geocosmic signatures with an 80% or greater correlation to major market turns. The next 40 years of future turn dates are very generously provided, out to 2040. When was the last time an investment book was published with a shelf life of forty plus years?

The focus of the book is clearly investor-oriented with its focus on longer-term cycles. Everyone who owns a share of stock or a mutual fund should read the chapter entitled "The Very Long-Term Trends in the U.S. Stock Market." Quoting from that chapter: "If the pattern of the first instances were to repeat, the U.S. stock market would lose 80-90% of its value over the next 3-7 years." It may be coming up in our lifetime, and this book tells you when and backs it up with copious research.

This book is Volume 2 in Mr. Merriman's Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing series. The first volume dealt with cyclic analysis in the market. This book is available from Seek-It Publications, P.O. Box 250012, W. Bloomfield, MI 48325. 1-800-662-3349, or fax 248-626-5674.

- David Wierzba, Willow Financial, Atlanta, GA

Recent work with chaos and complexity studies has shown the value of "models" of complex systems. Astrology was humanity's first universal model. The patterns in the sky offer us a key to time, to the changing seasons in nature and in the affairs of humans. In this carefully researched book, Ray Merriman provides the basics of financial astrology correlated with the major cycles in the U.S. stock market. Both astrology and financial markets are highly complex subjects which feature a variety of cycles. Novices in either or both fields may feel overwhelmed by the potential details, but Ray does a great job in presenting clearly the basic principles in both fields while showing their historical correlations. The outer, slower planets are the featured players: Jupiter to Pluto plus the lunar nodes.

Volume I in Ray's series laid out the foundation for his work, tracing historical cycles in the U.S. and Japanese stock markets and explaining modern technical analysis. A Volume III is promised which will feature the inner, faster planets and shorter market cycles. But Volume II can stand alone, offering solid advice for investors, that extra "edge" that can make a real difference in results.

I just finished Volume II of The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing: Geocosmic Correlations to Investment Cycles, by Raymond A. Merriman. It is everything I was expecting and looking for, and is a landmark in research.

The reason I call this a landmark is as follows. For all of the pseudo-scientific theories and proofs of the major schools of economics and business, e.g., the Chicago School, the underlying philosophies are those of Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer. These philosophies are the "invisible hand" of the market and the social darwinistic notion of the "survival of the fittest" in the economic jungle. Today, these are folded together and expressed neutrally as "market efficiency." This theory of market efficiency states that market prices reflect all known information in an ultimately rational way. The Efficient Markets theory is mechanistic and portrays economic activity as a huge computing machine that is constantly processing information and spitting out rational prices, even if the activity does not appear rational to we limited mortals.

Ray Merriman's research points to a perhaps different and more organic dynamic underlying the markets. In fact, we probably should speak of organic markets instead of efficient markets. This book demonstrates that just as organisms have their biological rhythms, the markets have their cycles...and that these cycles correlate with the greater rhythms of the solar system which supports organic life in this neck of the woods. Ultimately, explanations such as "survival of the fittest" and "efficient markets" are tautological. Everything is after the fact and these philosophies have little predictive power on their own.

- Lukman Clark, Signal Hill, CA, The Future Works