Rare total solar eclipse takes place today over Indonesia
Markets are relatively calm today but if you're astrologically inclined, you'll want to know that in a few hours a rare total solar eclipse will occur.
The start of the eclipse is at 8:38 pm ET (0038 GMT) so it won't be visible in Europe or the Americas. But a partial eclipse will be viewable in most of Asia, and the full eclipse near Indonesia.
Astrologists say solar eclipses represent new beginnings. So far today oil is down and risk aversion is high so it could be the beginning of a new cycle of market fear after two weeks of relative calm.
Next August you're going to hear a lot about eclipses
A total solar eclipse only occurs every few years. The most recent one was Nov 13, 2012 centered around Australia. The next one will be on August 21, 2017 over North America. It's already being billed as the Great American Eclipse and has its own website. The last time an eclipse occurred in the lower 48 states was 1979 and one hasn't crossed the US from Atlantic to Pacific since 1918.
Markets during recent solar eclipses
So I started to write up this fun little post about eclipses and just now I went and looked at a few charts. Checking out the most recent total solar eclipse from Nov 13, 2012 is impressive. You can virtually pin point that as the day the USD/JPY bull market started.
That was the start of a 6-day, 4% rally that that eventually gained 45-cents.
A few days later, the S&P 500 also put in a minor bottom and went on to rally 58%.
Another total eclipse happened on Aug 1, 2008. Just a week later the EUR/JPY bull market ended and the pair embarked on a 10-week 5500 pip drop that's one of the great FX moves of this generation.
Then again, there is always a market topping or bottoming somewhere. Other total eclipses happened on July 22, 2009, July 11, 2010 and March 29, 2006. None of those days appear to be particularly notable in markets, at lease in my cursory survey.
