"Anyone can be a millionaire, but to become a billionaire, you need an astrologer." J.P. Morgan, founder of Morgan Bank

In 2001 stock analyst Arch Crawford predicted that September 8th would mark the beginning of an economic downward spiral and he ominously foresaw war as a result of this fall. With a near eighty percent success rate, Arch's clients took him seriously and consequently saved a lot of money in the dark days following. So miraculous were these predictions (not his first) that Arch has made his way onto 20/20, Dateline and the pages of Money Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. What's so special about Arch Crawford? He's not just a stock analyst, he's an astrologer.

Financial Astrology is a relatively new branch of the cosmic science but it's roots can be found in the Fibonacci Numbers (a series of whole numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 etc) and the Elliot Wave theory (movement of the stock market can be predicted by observing and identifying a repetitive pattern of waves). From there consideration is given to all sorts of cycles including lunar, solar and those of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto.

Financial astrologers have many tricks up their sleeves, one of which is to construct a natal chart for when a company first goes public and then to see what influence Jupiter and Saturn have. By comparing this information with an individual's natal chart they are able to determine good times to buy, sell or trade - many times making their clients a lot of money.

Westerners are not the only ones to incorporate the stars into their financial planning - the Chinese use the I Ching and Four Pillar Astrology to aid their investors. Using the five elements they are able to hone in on trends in various sectors as shown below.

Element / Trend / Sector

Wood / Expansion / Communication

Fire / Peaking / Energy

Metal / Contraction / Banking

Water / Bottoming / Transportation

While technical analysis, price data and mathematical methods yield a sixty percent success rate in predicting stocks, financial astrologers and their clients enjoy a marginally higher success rate since geocosmic studies are best at the short term trends and market reversals. After all, it's ultimately about timing.