If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget it. This is real astrology. See the section above. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT).

CORRECTION: Please note, there's a typographical error in the section of the January forecast addressing the full moon on the 18th. The full moon is not "at 28 Capricorn" as stated there. In truth, 28 Capricorn is the degree of the Sun at that full moon - the Moon being at 28 Cancer, of course. My apologies for the error. (As regular visitors know, I don't change forecasts once written.)

My forecast of "weather disturbances, including storms that can cause locally heavy flooding . . . until the 5th" was well supported by headlines in Europe as the new year got underway. A Reuters wire dated the 4th reported that "at least seven people were killed this week by hurricanes and flooding in Europe which blocked roads and railways and swamped homes." The killer storm packing winds of "nearly 125 mph" wreaked havoc in "Germany, France, Britain, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic." Here in the US, heavy snowfall on the 5th made highways treacherous in parts of the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states. Snow fell for a second day Monday, closing schools in parts of the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states and making highways treacherous. Sunday's snowfall contributed to a 34-vehicle pileup on the Baltimore Beltway in which 27 people were injured, according to an AP report, which added: "Other accidents around the state were blamed for three deaths."

"Accidents, fires, crashes and explosions are par for the course. Look for all of them to make headlines within a few days either way of the January 14 Mars eclipse degree transit." That's what I said, and that's what the headlines read. For example, a huge foam factory just north of downtown St. Louis went up in flames Thursday morning (the 16th). In Medellin, Colombia that same day, a car bomb exploded outside the attorney general's offices, killing four people and wounding 32. "The explosion collapsed walls, blew out windows and damaged nearby buildings and cars," according to an AP report. In Russia the following day, seven people were killed when a predawn fire swept through a two-story wooden apartment building in the town of Luga, near St. Petersburg. That night just outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank, one Nathanel Ozeri was killed by Palestinian gunmen as he ate Sabbath dinner with his family at their home.

As predicted, there was indeed an "increase in storm and seismic activity from the 15th through the 24th." Torrential rain triggered mudslides in southeastern Brazil on the 16th, "killing at least 27 people in two states," according to an AP report. Dozens more people were injured, and hundreds of homes were destroyed. And on Monday the 20th, a powerful Richter 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Solomon Islands. Residents fled their homes, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. A powerful earthquake measuring at least 7.6 on the Richter scale - 7.8, according to the USGS - struck central and western Mexico on the night of the 21st. Early reports put the death toll at 23, with more than a hundred injured. Walls and homes fell to rubble in the western city of Colima, located near the epicenter.

I had warned of "a number of planetary alignments in late January suggestive of a drop in equity markets." There were a number of celestial signals suggestive of such a decline, which I enumerated as follows: "Venus conjoins Pluto on the 25th and opposes Saturn on the 29th . . . a solar alignment with Neptune on the 30th and opposition to Jupiter on February 2." Sure enough, stocks plunged throughout late January, the Dow dropping nearly 900 points in the last two weeks of the month - and more than 160 points on Thursday the 30th alone.

While stocks were down, gold went in the opposite direction - dramatically. Which is just what my 2003 Forecast Highlights indicated in advance: "gold has begun to climb under Jupiter's Leo sojourn, and this trend should continue overall through August 2003. (Of course there will be ups and downs, but the overall trend should take the precious metal to a price pinnacle not seen in many years.)" By Monday the 27th, Reuters was reporting, "gold leapt to its highest level in more six years." At $372.55 the troy ounce, the precious metal had indeed hit "a price pinnacle not seen in many years," exactly as I predicted. (Don't fret, the yellow stuff will peak yet higher - despite periodic retreats - so you haven't missed your opportunity altogether.)