2026 Financial Forecast
let us seeNEWS BEFORE THE NEWS
2026 FINANCIAL FORECAST
Stock prices are a neat reflection of public sentiment. The rise of business brings exuberance, in the fall despair. Public confidence, spending, and investment go up with market rises. Pessimism, hoarding, and conservatism prevail as the market turns down.
Stocks based on the DJIA gained 11.8% in 2025 nearly matching those of last year. The trend line was all up after a deep dive from March through April.
LAST YEAR’S PREDICTION
The stock market will reach historic highs this year. Sunspots are near maximum and precipitation is still below average but rose in 2023 from a low in 2022. After a record high in January or early February followed by a steep loss, the market should chug along nicely for the rest of the year with the exception of August as Mars conjunction Jupiter occurs 8/24 with the first of three Jupiter/Saturn squares. After the last square (6/15/25) the market usually drops to a significant low near the following trine August 2026 – July 2027.
THIS YEAR’S PREDICTION
Funk’s Cycle points to lower stock prices sometime during 2026 promoting a good time to buy. The nodal cycle reached 00 Aries in January 2025 indicating moist conditions, bumper crops, and lower commodity prices in general. This trend is ending and heading toward drier conditions peaking in 2029. What is good for agriculture and prices is not necessary favorable for the financial markets so a reverse psychology is at play. Long-term stock prices will go significantly down – in typical waves dictated by undulating forces. Before we move to deciphering shorter trends take a look at another broad cyclical force – precipitation. 2024 hit a peak of annual average precipitation in the United States. This correlated with the 22-year sunspot peak of Cycle 25 and a record high stock market in 2025. Conditions turning into 2026 are still favorable but we are at a turning point. The average precipitation in 2025 was a little over 2-inches lower than the previous year. This steep drop in rainfall is another sign that the long upward trend in the market is about to end.
A significant correction early in the year is indicated by several planetary cycles. The slow moving planets beyond the orbit of Mars are broad drivers of financial movements. They set the stage for finer weekly tuning by Mars and the super-fast daily transits (Sun, Mercury, and Venus). The Jupiter/Saturn cycle indicates a low near 8/31/26 followed by a nice, long upturn. Both Jupiter/Uranus and Jupiter/Neptune point to higher prices after a low near 7/21. Another sign of a low in or near July is the Jupiter/Pluto opposition. These cycles are also pointing to a major low in 2027.
There are three slower transits offering a similar view of the future. The Saturn sextile Uranus points up in 2026 supplying evidence against a collapsing market for most of the year. Saturn to Neptune and Pluto are more telling; they point to high production near 2/20 and 3/28. A sharp sell-off normally comes after these planets form their respective angles with one another. Generally speaking, sometime between the end of February and July a short but sharp correction is due followed by a strong uptick through the rest of the year. 2027 into 2028 is another matter as Saturn sextile Pluto indicates a major bottom before June 2028 – more likely during the second half of 2027.
Several additional cycles point to unstable points when the market is apt to reacts negatively. The Capricorn Rally brought fabulous gain in December 2025, and in typical fashion, right up to the Sun/Mercury conjunction of 1/21/26. And this was no mere Sun/Mercury Capricorn connection – it was a supercharged one. Venus and Mars joined the Sun at 190 Capricorn while Jupiter was in opposition. A spectacular triple conjunction opposite Jupiter on the 9th of January with the Moon square Mercury! The star Rukbat in the constellation Sagittarius shines within a degree of this cluster imparting the symbolism of steadiness and strength. The market loved it and soared to an all-time high.
What then of the 2026 correction? A low looks likely in July based on the cycles mentioned. But there is one further alignment to consider with far reaching implications for more than the economy. A new, and particularly unusual, 36.4-year Saturn/Neptune cycle begins 2/20/26 (see The U.S. 2026 Forecast). This conjunction takes place at a vital cosmic intersection. Neptune crosses 00 Aries January 26 and Saturn does so on February 13. The spring equinox is a major vortex power point in the Earth’s orbit. And there is more. Neptune was square the Galactic Center (a source of strong cosmic radiation that our galaxy orbits) on January 15. It is no coincidence then that on January 19, right before the Sun/Mercury conjunction and during the Neptune/GC square, the strongest solar eruptions in twenty years blanketed our Mother planet with massive electromagnetic surges. Huge and terrific storms will beset the Earth. This is a very unusual time. Misunderstanding, disunion, and mistakes can easily be made on the world stage. It is a spiritual moment to be sure, but a most uncertain and unstable one as well.
These unusual alignments are punctuated once again on a deeper lying layer of planetary significance. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction falls within 11’, less than a quarter of a degree, from the midpoint between Uranus and Pluto. Saturn and Neptune at 00 Aries, remember. Well, the Moon joins them on the 20th of February. Something is going to happen. The stability of Saturn and the obscurity of Neptune meet the vacillating Moon. What can the midpoint tell us? A lot about instability I’m afraid. The explosive Uranus/Pluto combo is like a volcano that spurts its insight and innovations into a Neptunian ocean of imaginative possibilities. Old realities will be torn away as people lose faith, led by strong emotional undercurrents of change, destruction and rebuilding. There will be those with symbolic insight, intuition, and the creative gifts that allow for great advances. But the financial markets face a particular challenge as the midpoint implies disorientation, feeling ungrounded and confused by an overwhelming barrage of cultural, structural, and technological changes uprooting the foundation of societies.
February is an unstable month. But what is it about April. Mars joins Neptune on 4/13 and then Saturn at 80 Aries on 4/19 – Mercury is invited on the 20th. This sets off the Saturn/Neptune conjunction! Venus is also within orb of a conjunction with Uranus (erratic finances). Mercury relates to ideas, business, and transactions; while the Mars/Saturn conjunction (2×3 times in the past five years) often correlates to short price downturns.
It could be that the markets are rattled during this time due to geo-political events but recover shaken. The very reliable 22.6-month cycle of Mars and Pluto comes next, squaring 5/26 and accentuating the longer Jupiter/Pluto cycle peaking 7/20. A series of steps is therefore likely to unfold, each weakening the other until downward pressure finds equilibrium in strong market conditions. Beginning in February, battered in April, a rapid sell-off ensues that may involve May and June. Then up…strong and long for the rest of the year.