The chart
Nasdaq's horoscope is a complex one, especially when it comes to its aspect - although for the aspects I allow only an orb of 4°, whereas most astrologers can stretch it to 8° or even 10°. But it is easier to begin with the planetary positions.
     Below is a table of in what Zodiac signs the planets are - I call them planets, although some of them are not astronomically seen as such, a few of them are not even heavenly bodies, but in lack of a simple, more accurate term, I allow myself this sloppy use of word.
     So, the number of "planets" I include is 13. Again, some astrologers would add such astrological elements as the Part of Fortune, others again might exclude the moon node, maybe even the AC and MC. I dare say that the ones included in the above horoscope are generally regarded as the most important ones.
     So, here is how they are spread over the Zodiac:

Planet	Position
AC MC sun moon Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto moon node	Taurus 3°28' Capricorn 18°20' Aquarius 19°12' Leo 00°27' Aquarius 01°08' Capricorn 03°18' Sagittarius 10°23' Sagittarius 03°44' Taurus 16°09' Libra 13°21' R Sagittarius 02°54' Scorpio 29°20' R Aquarius 23°55'

Positions are given to the minute of a grade (1/60).
     By studying the table above, we find that some Zodiac signs are well represented, and others not at all. That's easy enough to see on the chart itself, too. But to examine the planetary spread more closely, it is rewarding to make another table, focusing on this - the one below.



Elements and qualities
Here is a cell for each Zodiac sign, and they are sorted so that the four elements each have one row, and the three qualities have one column each. Every Zodiac sign belongs to an element, and a quality, each with its own unique combination. For example, Aries is the cardinal fire sign, Taurus the fixed earth sign, and so forth, and 3 X 4 = 12, so that's the whole Zodiac.
     The number of planets in each Zodiac sign (by element and quality) is:

	CARDINAL	FIXED	MUTABLE	SUM
FIRE	0	1	3	4
EARTH	2	2	1	5
AIR	1	3	0	4
WATER	0	0	0	0
SUM	3	6	4	13

     Already by these very fundamental statistics, some things can be concluded. The planets are pretty evenly spread among the elements, with the striking exception that there is no planet at all in a water sign. Now, water is the element of emotion, feelings, and certainly those are involved in stock exchange operations - but they should certainly not rule them. So, a Nasdaq hardly at all ruled by emotions, must be to everyone's liking. Stock exchange is a dead serious business.
     Concerning the three qualities, there are signi­ficantly more planets in fixed quality signs. Simply put, cardinal is leading, mutable is following and fixed is neither. Again, the serious business of exchanging valuable stocks by the billions, is right at home with a strong fixed quality.
     It cannot be too fixed, though, since the essence of any stock market is movement and change, without which there would be no profit at all possible. Therefore, the seven planets not in the fixed quality, become an essential ante dote to what could otherwise become a complete standstill. Still, it is odd to see this hi-tech high-speed computerized bourse having a rather dominant conservatism, the fixed quality, making it somewhat reluctant to change and experimentation.
     Of course, a closer examination is needed, to find out in what way Nasdaq is conservative, and in what way it is not. But before that, let's run through the aspects with a manner resembling the one exercised above.

Aspects
When using the orb of 4°, the Nasdaq horoscope has got a total of 16 aspects - slightly above the usual of ten or so. In the table below are the numbers of each aspect. Notice that I am only including the Ptolemaic aspects, which are the five listed in the table. Plenty of astrologers use as much as twice that number of aspects, but I dare say that everyone would agree these five to be the most important ones.
     The orb given in each case is the deviation from the exact angle of the aspect. The smaller the orb, the closer to exact is the aspect. The significance and importance of an aspect is to a high extent marked by its orb.

Aspect	Planets	Orb
CONJUNCTION 0°	Saturn-Neptune	2°58'
OPPOSITION 180°	moon-Mercury	0°41'
TRINE 120°	moon-Jupiter moon-Neptune Mercury-Pluto Venus-AC Saturn-MC	3°16' 2°26' 1°48' 0°09' 2°11'
SQUARE 90°	moon-AC Mercury-AC Venus-Pluto	3°00' 2°20' 3°59'
SEXTILE 60°	moon-Pluto Mercury-Jupiter Mercury-Neptune Mars-Uranus Neptune-Pluto	1°08' 2°36' 1°46' 2°58' 3°34'

Positions are given to the minute of a grade (1/60).

     Of the heaviest aspects, the conjunction and opposition, there is only one each, which implies that there are not many strong forces pulling Nasdaq in differing directions. A homogeneity seems more to be the order of it, forces of a lesser drama, which is also proven by the clear majority of the mild and positive aspects, the trine and the sextile.
     Most of the activities and the forces at play in Nasdaq, then, have a cooperative character, finding peace rather than conflict, joining rather than breaking apart. Again, a fortunate situation for a stock exchange - as it is, of course, for most institutions as well as persons.
     Still, as goes for the qualities presented above, some conflict, some diverse interests, are essential to keep the stock market alive and functioning. A win-win situation might be ideal also there, but too much friendly cooperation and avoiding provocation, might make the whole place a bit sleepy, unable to have the dynamics going, which ensure development, challenge and its rewards.
     A stock market of value, cannot be drowsy and calm, no matter how pleasant that would be. Here seems to be shortcomings in dynamics, which might lead to the market having a quantity of stock exchange surpassed by none, but the margins of profit becoming increasingly minute.

Orb
Regarding the orb, there are two aspects with less than one degree of it. The only opposition in the horoscope, that of the moon and Mercury, is only 41 minutes away from 180°, which gives a lot of strength to what seems to be the only insoluble conflict at Nasdaq, to be examined in the following. It is of some additional interest, since the silvery moon is commonly regarded as involved in monetary matters, and the quick Mercury has a lot to do with communication, the root of Nasdaq operation. We are given the impression that somehow the techniques of communication used at Nasdaq actually are an obstacle in creating profit and a good flow of money, as well as the opposite: the flow of money creates disturbances in the communication. That can't be good for Nasdaq.
     The closest aspect of them all is the trine between Venus and the ascendant, being only 9 minutes from perfection - wherefore this must be an aspect of quite some significance, working powerfully wherever it gets involved. Still, the two linked in this aspect are usually mild in their expression, as is the aspect itself, and not of such nature as would make them essential to the workings of the Nasdaq stock exchange - far from hard cash and the mighty roar of fortunes swirling through the network. Venus and the ascendant speak of pleasantness, which is always nice but rarely decisive.
     But now it is time to leave the generalizations of statistics, and dig into the details of the horoscope.

Next:
The horoscope

© Stefan Stenudd 2001