THE GREAT PANIC OF 2008

Moon Sun Finance

"No one ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
                                                                                         H L Mencken


David McMinn

The continuing financial crisis in the US financial sector led to yet another major panic in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) with the -4.40%  collapse on September 15, 2008. This was due to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America. Deals for these moves were arranged on Sunday September 14, which had been called Black Sunday by several market commentators at the time (ref). However, this only proved to be a forerunner of even more severe panics on:
*    September 29 (-6.98%), when the US Congress failed to pass laws ensuring a US$700 billion bailout of indebted companies.
*    October 9 (-7.33%), with the continuing fear in the market.
These trends are assessed in relation to Moon Sun
cycles. 

NB: The annual one day (AOD) fall is the biggest % one day fall in the year beginning in March 1. based on closing market levels. Additionally, September 11, 2001 was taken as the OAD fall for 2001, as this represented the maximum panic intensity.

Lunar Phase & AOD Falls

The most amazing correlate in Moon Sun finance arises between lunar phase and the timing of major US panics. The accompanying diagram shows the relationship between lunar phase and the annual one day (AOD) falls over –4.40% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) during the 1915 to 1999 era. Lunar phase nearly always occurred in two quarter segments, between first quarter & full Moon and third quarter & new Moon, the only exception being in 1930. This diagram was first presented by yours truly in 2000 and published by the Australian Technical Analysts Association. (NB: The annual one day fall is the biggest one day % decline in the DJIA in the year commencing March 1.)        


LUNAR PHASE & MAJOR DJIA AOD FALLS
1915 - 1999

Source: McMinn, David. Lunar Phase & US Crashes.
Aust Technical Analyst Assoc Journal.  p 20 Jan/Feb 2000.


By
extending the period from 1910 to 2008 and including all AOD falls down to -4.25%, the following events may also be included:

Date

Event/DJIA AOD Fall

Phase
Angle

Jan 20, 1913

AOD fall -4.90%

153

Jul 30, 1914

AOD fall -6.63%

099

Feb, 1946 AOD fall -4.29%

287

Apr 14, 2000

Tech Wreck

130

Sep 11, 2001

WTC attack

281

Jul 23, 2002

AOD fall -4.64%

122

Jan 21, 2008

Stock market panics (a)

169

Oct 09, 2008 AOD fall -7.33%

116

(a) Worldwide stock market panics occurred on this day. However, the US market was closed on the day due to the Martin Luther King Jnr holiday. Even so, this was taken as the AOD fall for 2007.

Of the total 31 major DJIA AOD falls since 1910, only the 1930 event did not have lunar phase in the two quarter segments noted in the diagram. The finding was extremely significant  (p < 10-6) and would be like tossing a coin 31 times and getting 30 heads. This and many other correlates support a very strong Moon Sun effect in market activity, thereby creating a major problem. According to modern economic theory, financial markets are both efficient and random in their movements and such Moon Sun correlates could never arise. One of the theories has to be wrong – traditional economics or the Moon Sun hypothesis.

Curiously, the lunar phase effect did not show up in DJIA trends pre 1910 nor in AOD falls < -4.25%. It also did not appear in FT-30 daily data since 1935.

All September - October AOD falls (> -3.50%) since 1910 have fallen between:
*     090 and 120 E
o (1946, 1955, 1982, 1998, 2008).
*     150 and 165 E
o (1927, 1931, 1937, 1989).
*     280 and 325 Eo (1929, 1987, 1997, 2001).

October 9, 2007 Record High

If you list Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) market highs chronologically, they will not correlate with lunar phase. However, if you list the highs by month – day (year ignored) excellent relationships can be established. When the peaks occur at a certain time of year, the Moon & Sun will be in similar ecliptical segments, giving rise to similar lunar phases (see Table 2). The only anomalous period was between September 25 and December 15, when no overall pattern could be determined. For the remainder of the year, the connection between lunar phase and seasonal stock market highs held up very well. Remarkably, there were 16 highs from January 15 to October 15, all of which had lunar phase between 230 and 015 Ao, a range of 145o (highly significant p < 10-5).

Table 2              LUNAR PHASE & MARKET HIGHS 

Market Highs

Number
of Highs

Sun
E
o

Moon
E
o

Phase
A
o

Jan 16 – Feb 28

2

295 - 325

195 - 235

235 – 295

Mar 01 – Aug 14

7

330 - 115

310 - 055

270 – 335

Aug 15 – Sep 10

3

150 - 165

160 - 180

000 – 015

Sep 11 – Sep 25

2

165 - 180

150 - 160

330 – 350

Sep 25 – Dec 15

7

No overall pattern

Dec 16 – Jan 15

4

260 - 295

335 - 030

075 – 095

Raw Data: DJIA market highs sourced from fiendbear.com

If two or more DJIA highs occur near the same date, then remarkable parallels can arise on how the ensuing market unfolds. The best example was the September 3, 1929 and August 25, 1987 peaks, both of which took place just after the new Moon and both were followed 55 days later by massive October panics. The violent market decline lasted only a few months with the DJIA hitting bottom on November 13, 1929 and December 4, 1987. The interval of 717.0 lunar months was evident between the 1929 - 1987 spring lows, the record highs, the autumn highs, the panics, the recoveries and major post crash one day falls (Moon Sun Parallels - The Great Panics of 1929 and 1987). 

Other examples may be given. The July 16, 1990 and July 17, 1998 peaks happened just prior to the third quarter Moon and had an interval of 99 synodic months (one Octaeteris cycle) were followed by AOD falls in August. Both markets declined by around  –20% and the financial distress was brief, with DJIA lows on October 11, 1990 and August 31, 1998.

The highs in November 19, 1909 and November 21, 1916 were followed by AOD falls a few months later on February 7, 1910 and February 1, 1917 respectively. The market slump extended well after the peaks, with the lows being registered on September 25, 1911 and November 19, 1917.

 
The 2007 - 2008 market situation has historical parallels. The record DJIA high occurred on October 9, 2007, which was close to September highs in 1895, 1899 and 1912. Each of the four highs was followed by a major crash 104 to 112 days later (see Table 3) and a protracted market decline. We are currently going through the long bear market period - when it will bottom remains to be seen.  

Table 3
              BEAR MARKET PARALLELS - 1895, 1899, 1912 & 2007

Market
High

Interval

AOD Fall
> -4.50%

Interval

BM
Low

1895 (a)
Sep 04

107 days

1895 (a)
Dec 20

232 days

1896
Aug 08

1899
Sep 05

104 days

1899
Dec 18

280 days

1900
Sep 24

1912
Sep 30

112 days

1913
Jan 20

556 days

1914
July 14 (b)

2007
Oct 09

104 days

2008 (c)
Jan 21

????

????

(a) Based on the 12 Stock Average index.
(b) The market was closed on the day and not reopened until December 15, 1914. Thus July 30, 1914 probably was not the true low for the 1912 - 1914 bear market. 

(c) January 21, 2007 witnessed worldwide stock market panics, although the US market was closed on the day due to the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. Even so, January 21, 2008 has been taken as the AOD fall for the DJIA


AOD Rises. All 13 AOD rises (> +4.00% - 1897 - 2000) from August 15 to November 5 occurred with lunar phase between 190 & 015 Ao or just after full Moon to just after the new Moon with no exceptions (significant p < .01).

The 9/56 Year Cycle. McMinn (2007) established that financial crises tend to occur in the around the same month every 56, 112 and 168 years. The seasonality associated with the 56 year sequences was well documented and has held up reasonably well over hundreds of years. For Sequence 24, several marked DJIA one day falls occurred in mid 1896. There was also a US banking panic in October 1896 and the DJIA AOD fall on December 18, 1896. A bear market low was also recorded on August 8, 1896. 

Sequence 23
1783 British panic (Sep 1783 - Jan 1783).
1839 US panic (Oct).
1895 DJIA AOD fall (Dec 20).
1951 No crisis.
2007 Worldwide stock market panics (Jan 21, 2008).

Sequence 24

 

1784

1784-1785 US panic.

1840

1839 - 1841 US banking crisis.

1896

US banking panic (Oct).
DJIA AOD Fall (Dec 18).

1952

No crisis.

2008

The great crash. After debt mania.

Conclusions

The great panic of 2008 conformed nicely within Moon Sun cycles. The problem comes to predict the final low to this protracted bear market. It may extend well into 2009, as occurred during the 9/ 1912 - 7/ 1914 bear market. Unfortunately, timing the major  market lows is difficult and there are no simple rules to follow. However, to pick the nadir for this bear market will have immense financial rewards. The answer lies in Moon Sun cycles, but how it all functions mathematically remains a great enigma. One can produce numerous correlates to support the Moon Sun hypothesis in financial activity, but accurate forecasting has remained elusive to date. Whether there will be another, even greater crash in the US stock market in the coming months remains to be seen.

Isn’t American capitalism wonderful? The whole system is seriously corrupt and fails the most fundamental test in economics - that is efficiency.


References

McMinn, David
. Market Timing By The Moon & The Sun. Privately published. 2006.
McMinn, David. Market Timing By The Number 56. Privately published. 2007.



© Copyright 2008. David McMinn. All rights reserved.

 

Appendix 1

The following 9/56 year grid contained many of the major panics and crises in US economic history - 1792, 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1884, 1893, 1920, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1987, 1998 and 2007.

COMBINED 36 YSC SERIES 1 & 2 - 1760 - 2010

Sq 52

Sq 05

    Sq 32 Sq 41

Sq 50

Sq
03

Sq 12

Sq 21

   

Sq
48

Sq
01

                          1761
             

1763

1772

1781

1790 1799 1808 1817
 

1765

1774 1783 1792

1801

1810

1819

1828

1837

1846 1855 1864 1873
1812

1821

1830 1839 1848

1857

1866

1875

1884

1893

1902 1911 1920 1929
1868

1877

1886 1895 1904

1913

1922

1931

1940

1949

1958 1967 1976 1985
1924

1933

1942 1951 1960

1969

1978

1987

1996  2005        
1980

1989

1998 2007                     

The 56 year sequences in the table are separated by an interval of 9 years.
Years in bold contained major financial crises as listed by Kindleberger (Appendix B, 1996) in the year commencing March 1.
Source: 9/56 Year Cycle: Financial Crises.