&ltp class="c1">&ltstrong&gtOlga Tellis&ltp&gtWho can one blame for the current turbulent times in the economy and the stock markets in India and the world over We all know what market analysts say about the seeds of trouble being sown in the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States. That's mundane and does not explain why all negatives whether galloping crude prices, inflation, sub prime crisis, etc. came together, almost like a conspiracy.&ltp&gtSo one looks to the stars for an answer. If you go by what the astrologers say then it is Saturn in the House of Leo that is responsible for all the turmoil and turbulence in the world economies and the stock markets globally. Everyone knows that Saturn, the very exotic planet with a swishy ring girdling it, is the most malefic planet in the Zodiac. It is the second biggest planet in the solar system and as they say 700 earths can fit into Saturn. His transit according to astrologer, G. Kumar is very important to the astrological fraternity.&ltp&gtIt is mind boggling the amount of literature one can find on the Internet about the stock market and astrology. You type in Bombay Stock Exchange plus astrology and you get Market Jyotish in very bold letters. The jyotish even gives the chart of the Bombay Stock Exchange. More interesting is the fact that the jyotish is a Christopher Kevill who describes himself as a neo-Vedic astrologer who uses Western and Hindu predictive techniques. In June 2008, he predicted &ampquot;we are in the beginning phase of a protracted bear market that will last until at least 2010. We will see impressive rallies in the coming months and years but in general they will fail to reach previous highs. July is looking extremely bearish and may take the Dow down as low as 10,000. A rally into the fall is likely, but it probably won't reach much past 12,000. Another leg down is likely in November and December that will create lower lows than those formed this summer. It's sheer guesswork to call a bottom, but I would not be surprised to see Dow below 7,000 in the next two years.&ampquot;&ltp&gtNearer home we have a host of astrologers who predict the market trends on the basis of astrology. Bhikhubhai Chauhan, an astrologer who concentrates on charts for horoscope readings has a take on the stock market. He says the main reason for the state of the stock market is the transition of the major planet Saturn to Leo. Leo is the sign of the lord the Sun which signifies gold, politicians and Leo signifies shares, stocks, sports, education, gambling and entertainment. Leo governs the world economy. Saturn and Sun are bitter enemies as the Sun is hot and Saturn is the coldest. Mr Chauhan said in July 2007, Saturn transited into Leo and will remain there till September 9, 2009, and Leo will be under the check of Saturn and this will create calamities, instability and volatility in the stock market. The graph of shares and stocks can go up or down. Because of the volatility even when it goes up it can cause problems.&ltp&gtMr Jitendra Trivedi, a journalist-cum-astrologer also agrees that the one single factor that is dominating the stock markets is the presence of Saturn in Leo. For instance, he points out from September 1977 to November 1979 Saturn was in Leo and this was the time that the world economies were passing through very depressed conditions. Same is the situation today he said, and predicts that it will continue till September 9, 2009, when Saturn will exit Leo and transit to Virgo.&ltp&gtIndian astrologers are agreed that the malefic times for the stock market and the economy will last till September 9, 2009 or 9.9.9 as Mr Chauhan says.&ltp&gtMr Kumar, an astrologer who has his own blog, says that slow down in the manufacturing sector, agricultural growth not up to the mark, drop in GDP growth - these are all characteristics of this torrid phase of sade sathi or what he calls the Saturine phase. Elarata Saturn or sade sathi will be there till October 2009, till that time India will go through a crisis. solution, he says, Jupiter in the sixth has created this temporary recession. Some relief he said can be expected when Jupiter moves over to Capricorn on December 9, 2008.&ltp&gtAs Christopher Kevill says, it is impossible to make astrological predictions of individual shares or even particular moments of time as the stock market is very complex. What is possible he says is to predict the general tendencies. For this the study of the planetary movements through the Zodiac and their angles to each other could help. &ampquot;What can be read,&ampquot; he says &ampquot;is primarily how different lines of business might do, but also things about the total stock market situation. It is not easy, though, because of its chaotic complexity.&ampquot;&ltp&gtSo for the good times we will have to wait to 9.9.9.&ltp>