Louise McWhirter (October 19, 1896 - November 1, 1957) was a financial astrologer who purported to use astrology to forecast the financial markets.[1] [2] [3] In 1937, she published her only book, Astrology and Stock Market Forecasting.[4] [5] [6] Some believe that “Louise McWhirter” was only an alias of famous market forecaster W. D. Gann.[7]
McWhirter's main theory was that the major of primary trend of business volume and finance is clearly pointed out by the 18.6-year cycle of the North Node as it passes through the twelve signs of the zodiac.[8] During a long-term trend, the four crucial points of the stock market are reached when the Node enters the four fixed signs respectively:
It has been noted that the four crucial signs (the top, bottom and two break-even points) correspond to the four heads of the cherubim in the Book of Ezekiel.[9]
Below is a table of stock market crashes[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] and the respective North Node locations. Please note that the motion of the North is retrograde by default, so that it always travels from West to East, in the opposite way of other planets.
| Name | Date | Country | North Node Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kipper und Wipper | Left Scorpius into Libra in May 1623. | |||
| Tulip mania Bubble |  | Left Aquarius into Capricorn in April 1637. | ||
| The Mississippi Bubble | Stayed in Leo for the whole year. | |||
| South Sea Bubble of 1720 | Stayed in Leo for the whole year. | |||
| Financial Crisis of 1791–92 |  | Left Scorpius in November 1790 and stayed in Libra for most of 1791-1792. | ||
| Panic of 1819 | | Left Taurus in October 1818 and stayed in Aries in 1819. | ||
| - | Panic of 1837 | | Left Taurus into Aries in May 1937. | |
| Panic of 1847 | Left Scorpius in September 1846 and stayed in Libra in 1847. | |||
| Black Friday | | Stayed in Leo for the whole year. | ||
| Panic of 1873 | | Stayed in Taurus for the whole year. | ||
| Paris Bourse crash of 1882 | 19 Jan 1882 |  | Left Sagittarius into Scorpius in May 1882. | |
| Panic of 1884 | | Left Scorpius in December 1883 and stayed in Libra in 1884. | ||
| Panic of 1901 | | Stayed in Scorpius for the whole year. | ||
| Panic of 1907 | | Left Leo into Cancer in March 1907. | ||
| Crash of 1929 | | Stayed in Taurus for the whole year. | ||
| Kennedy Slide of 1962 | | Stayed in Leo for the whole year. | ||
| Brazilian Markets Crash of 1971 |  | Stayed in Aquarius for the whole year. | ||
| Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash |  | Stayed in Leo for the whole year. | ||
| Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange Crash | | Left Taurus into Aries in May 1989. | ||
| Friday the 13th mini-crash | | Left Taurus into Aries in May 1989. | ||
| Early 1990s recession | | Stayed in Aquarius for the almost whole year. | ||
| Japanese asset price bubble |  | Left Aquarius in December 1990 and stayed in Capricorn in 1991. | ||
| 1998 Russian financial crisis | Left Virgo into Leo in September 1998. | |||
| Dot-com bubble | | Left Leo into Cancer in March 2000. | ||
| United States bear market of 2007–09 | | Left Pisces into Aquarius in January 2008. | ||
| 2015–16 stock market selloff | | Left Virgo into Leo in April 2017. |
McWhirter also lists several secondary factors which tend to raise or depress business, mostly related to aspects of major planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto:
| Favourable | Unfavourable | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| North Node aspects | Conjunction with Jupiter | Conjunction, opposition, square with Saturn or Uranus | |
| Jupiter aspects | Conjunction, trine, sextile with Saturn or Uranus | N/A | |
| Saturn-Uranus aspects | Trine, sexile, semi-sextile | Conjunction, opposition, square, semi-square | |
| Planet(s) in Gemini | Jupiter, North Node | Saturn, Uranus[18] | |
| Planet(s) in Cancer | Jupiter | N/A | |
| Aspects to Pluto | Conjunction, trine, sextile | Opposition, square, semi-square |
McWhirter maintained that one should pay attention when a planet moves to 14° Cancer (104°) and 24° Pisces (354°), because these places are where the Ascendant and Midheaven were when the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was initiated by an agreement on 17 May 1792,[19] though only after rectifying the exact time to 7:52 am. Similarly, since the tenth house of the NYSE chart was in Pisces and Aries, which are ruled by Neptune and Mars respectively, she also thought that aspects to these two planets are important.
In a shorter timeframe, McWhirter uses the new moon for timing market turns. The key idea is that she would pay attention to planets which make an astrological aspect to the new moon, and watch them as the moon passes through them later.[20]
M. G. Bucholtz suspects that “Louise McWhirter” is not the author's real name. His reason is that he comes across no other books by McWhirter and finds no other sources mentioning this person. He believes that the real identity of Louise McWhirter was famous market forecaster W. D. Gann, whom Bucholtz believes used similar techniques in market predictions. According to Pythagorean numerology, the names “W. D. Gann” and “Louise McWhirter” share the same numerological root of “9”.[21] [22] [23] It is possibly not a coincidence, since some people believe that Gann was an numerologist.[24] [25]
One of the biggest connection between McWhirter and Gann is that McWhirter's Nodal cycle theory is very similar to Gann's “financial timetable”.[26] It is timetable with alternating 18- and 19-year cycle, which mimics the Nodal cycle very closely. Like McWhirter's theory, Gann also found that the stock market follows a rhythm of 18–19 years.[27] Here is a modernised example of the table:
| Major Low | 1990 | 2008 | 2027 | 2045 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 2009 | 2028 | 2046 | |
| Booming | 1992 | 2010 | 2029 | 2047 |
| 1993 | 2011 | 2030 | 2048 | |
| 1994 | 2012 | 2031 | 2049 | |
| Major High | 1995 | 2013 | 2032 | 2050 |
| 1996 | 2014 | 2033 | 2051 | |
| Correction | 1997 | 2015 | 2034 | 2052 |
| 1998 | 2016 | 2035 | 2053 | |
| Major Top | 1999 | 2017 | 2036 | 2054 |
| 2000 | 2018 | 2037 | 2055 | |
| Big Crash | 2001 | 2019 | 2038 | 2056 |
| 2002 | 2020 | 2039 | 2057 | |
| Major Low | 2003 | 2021 | 2040 | 2058 |
| 2004 | 2022 | 2041 | 2059 | |
| Major High | 2005 | 2023 | 2042 | 2060 |
| 2006 | 2024 | 2043 | 2061 | |
| Major Top | 2007 | 2025 | 2044 | 2062 |
| -- | 2026 | -- | 2063 |