Bradley Cowan’s Lunar Cycle Projection Methodology Applied to the S&P 500

One of Bradley F. Cowan's methodologies for identifying cycles in financial markets and projecting future turning points employs synodic lunar periods (the time it takes the Moon to align with the Sun relative to the Earth). 

Major low in the S&P 500 (SPY/ES) on Monday, March 30 at 20:20 EDT (Hurst 20-week cycle low),

followed by one synodic lunar cycle projection (red arrow) extending to Wednesday, April 29 09:04. 

 

While the synodic lunar month averages 29.53058886 days (≈ 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.88 seconds), orbital eccentricity causes individual periods to vary from 29.26 to 29.80 days, a difference of up to 12 hours and 57 minutes. 

 

Synodic Lunar Periods for New York City in 2026 (EST/EDT). 

 

Cowan's technique anchors the start date and time of the synodic lunar cycle to a confirmed major market top or bottom, e.g. to the major low on Monday, March 30, 2026 at 20:20 EDT. Subsequent cycle projections are then generated at exact 360-degree intervals forward from that anchor to April 29 (Wed) 09:04, May 28 (Thu) 21:48, June 27 (Sat) 10:32, July 26 (Sun) 23:16, etc.

 

Anchored to the S&P's major low on Monday, March 30 at 20:20 EDT, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th harmonics

of one synodic lunar cycle generate the blue summation or composite projection line to April 29 (Wed) 09:04.

 

Anchored to the S&P's major low on Monday, March 30 at 20:20 EDT, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th harmonics of the

8.4-week cycle (2-lunar month or 59-day cycle) generate the blue composite projection line for April and May.

 

Anchored to the S&P's major low on Monday, March 30 at 20:20 EDT, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th harmonics of the

 17-week cycle (= Intermediate Term Delta cycle = 4-lunar month or 118-day cycle = one third of the lunar year)

generate the blue composite projection line to July 26 (Sun) 23:16. The June 18 high should

be lower than the May 8 high, and the July 26 low should be lower than the March 30 low.

 

Bradley Cowan's synodic lunar cycle projections in stocks.

 

In his books "Four Dimensional Stock Market Structures and Cycles" (1993) and "Pentagonal Time Cycle Theory" (2009), Cowan further elaborates on this "anchored" lunar and planetary cycle projection methodology. However, unlike the highs and lows shown in the blue composite projection lines in the charts above, Cowan's methodology utilizes 45-degree synodic lunar cycle offsets (= 8th harmonic ≈ 3.6913 calendar days or 3 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes, and 28.3 seconds = April 03 (Fri) 12:55, April 07 (Tue) 05:31, April 10 (Fri) 22:06, etc.) to project potential turning points only rather than specific highs and lows, higher highs and higher lows, and lower highs and lower lows. 

 

Sidereal lunar cycle projections.

 

In 2021, a certain Mario of "4X Other Way" presented anchored projections of future turning points using the 27.321661-day sidereal lunar period (≈ 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, and 11.5 seconds; the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth relative to the distant 'fixed' stellar background; to fixed stars such as Aldebaran, Altair, Deneb, Rigel, or Sirius). Now, should the lunar cycle be synodic or sidereal? Both cannot be simultaneously correct or exact—at best, only one of them works.

 

Reference:
Stock Market Geometry (2022) - Bradley Cowan's Lunar Cycle in Stocks. (video)

» Usually there will be an eclipse near the same degree of the zodiac once every 19 years [...] In this cycle the Sun makes a complete circuit of the sky and reaches the same Node at the same place on the ecliptic. This length of time is 6,585.32 solar days, which is 48 years and 11.33 days. The shortest time required for the Sun to travel from and return to the same node is 346.6 solar days, an interval known as an Eclipse Year. [...]  Nineteen of the eclipse years contain 6,585.4 days, which is precisely 223 synodic months. This is when the Nodes themselves become important in the predictions on the stock market. «

The Sun and the Moon, Jack Gillen, 1979.

Tom McClellan observes that the 2026 price structure closely mirrors 2025, with the tightest alignment achieved by shifting the data 343 days to synchronize even minor fluctuations. This offset approximates the above mentioned Eclipse Year (346.62 days)—the interval required for the Sun to return to the same lunar node (the intersection of the Moon's orbit with the ecliptic). Because this draconic cycle is shorter than the solar year, it governs eclipse seasons, which recur about every 173 days and drift earlier each calendar year. The cycle is driven by the westward precession of the Moon’s orbital nodes, completing a full rotation roughly every 18.6 years and thereby defining the 346.62-day periodicity. However, intermediate- and longer-term analogs are generally unstable and break down at some point. If Tom McClellan’s "Stock Market Matching the Year Ago" analog continues to hold, it implies a sustained bullish trend into the summer of 2026. This conflicts not only with intermediate-term cycles but with typical seasonal weakness from May to October—especially in a presidential cycle’s second year. 

See also:

Jack Gillen (2002) - Moon-Stats (2026 to 2034). 

Louise McWhirter (1938) - S&P 500 Short-Term Forecasting Methodology. 

TPR (2015) - The S&P 500 versus the Moon and Planets Transiting 14° Cancer. 

TPR (2012) - The Delta Phenomenon.

Louise McWhirter’s Forecasting Theory: The US Stock Market Through 2028

Louise McWhirter first presented her theory in her 1937 book "Astrology and Stock Market Forecasting." The model in the chart below demonstrates her claim that primary trends in business volume, finance, and stock prices are systematically delineated by the retrograde motion of the lunar North Node (NN) through the twelve signs of the zodiac. 

The draconic period of the true (osculating) lunar North Node is 18.612958 years (6,798.383 days). On average, 
each 30° zodiac sign is traversed in 566 days, or one year, six months, and nineteen days (1.55108 years).

 

The zodiac wheel is divided into four quadrants: "above normal," "normal," "below normal," and directional zones marked "prices up" (Leo through Libra) and "prices down" (Aquarius through Aries). Prominent arrows labeled "NODE TREND" and "TRANSITION PERIOD" indicate the clockwise retrograde flow, with gradual shifts occurring across defined transition zones near Scorpio–Sagittarius and Taurus–Gemini. Four pivotal turning points occur when the North Node enters the fixed signs, corresponding symbolically to the four heads of the cherubim in the Book of Ezekiel:

 

■ Aquarius represents the extreme low of business activity and the bottom of the cycle.

■ Leo signifies the extreme high of business activity and the top of the cycle.

■ Taurus marks the point at which business activity reaches a normal level while the overarching trend remains downward.

■ Scorpio indicates business activity reaching a normal level while the trend is upward.

 

The intervening signs provide precise transitional and amplifying effects:

 

► Aquarius: Extreme low of business activity, the bottom of the cycle.
► Pisces: Business activity approaches the bottom of the cycle.
► Aries: Business activity starts to fall below the normal level.
► Taurus: Business activity reaches a normal level, but the trend is going down.
► Gemini: Business continues to fall lower towards the normal level.
► Cancer: Business activity fades from the top.
► Leo: Extreme high of business activity, the top of the cycle.
► Virgo: Business activity goes even higher.
► Libra: Business activity starts to go above the normal level.
► Scorpio: Business activity reaches a normal level, and the trend is going up.

► Sagittarius: Business continues to go higher towards the normal level.
► Capricorn: Business activity turns up from the bottom.

 

These phases are not instantaneous but unfold within the broader nodal transit and transition periods shown on the wheel. The following ingress dates, drawn directly from the established nodal cycle, demonstrate the theory’s practical application across recent and forthcoming years:

 

► November 11, 2015: NN enters Libra. 

► May 9, 2017: NN enters Virgo. 

► November 6, 2018: NN enters Leo. 

► May 5, 2020: NN enters Cancer. 

► January 18, 2022: NN enters Gemini. 

► July 17, 2023: NN enters Taurus. 

► January 11, 2025: NN enters Aries.  

► July 26, 2026: NN enters Pisces.

► January 27, 2028: NN enters Aquarius. 

► August 2, 2029: NN enters Capricorn. 

► January 26, 2031: NN enters Sagittarius. 

► October 2, 2032: NN enters Scorpio. 

► April 2, 2034: NN enters Libra. 

► October 25, 2035: NN enters Virgo. 

[The intervals reflect the variable motion of the true North Node, ranging from 542 to 623 days while averaging to the theoretical 566.532-day mean.] 

As of March 2026, the North Node resides in Aries, a phase in which business activity begins to fall below the normal level within the “prices down” quadrant. This downward pressure persists until July 26, 2026, when the Node enters Pisces. Throughout the remainder of 2026 and the entire year of 2027, the Pisces transit prevails, during which business activity steadily approaches the bottom of the cycle. The subsequent ingress into Aquarius on January 27, 2028 will mark the extreme low, completing the descent that commenced in Aries.

 

Louise McWhirter’s Nodal Cycle theory
parallels Gann’s Financial Timetable.

 

McWhirter’s model suggests subdued business volumes, contracting financial activity, and a prevailing downward bias in prices through 2027. While this part of her theory does not specify intra-sign turning points and acknowledges that secondary factors (such as other planetary cycles or policy interventions) may modify outcomes by up to 20%, it supplies a disciplined structural overlay that contextualises shorter-term technical, fundamental, and sentiment indicators. 

 

See also:

TPR (2018) - Louise McWhirter's Theory of Stock Market Forecasting. 

Louise McWhirter (2018) - S&P 500 Short-Term Forecasting Method.

TPR (2015) - S&P 500 vs North Node: Louise McWhirter's Theory of Stock Market Forecasting.

TPR (2025) - 2026 in W.D. Gann’s "Financial Time Table." 

 TPR (2012) - W.D. Gann's "Financial Time Table" Extended and Adjusted ( 1784 - 2121).

    Graham Bates (1994) - US GNP vs North Node: A Projection into 2025.

2026 in W.D. Gann’s "Financial Time Table"

W.D. Gann’s Financial Time Table from 1784 to 2008 is based on the 18.612958-year lunar nodal cycle (6,798.383 days, the time for the Moon's north node, also referred to as the True Node, to complete one orbit relative to the ecliptic). Compiling his Financial Time Table in 1909, however, Gann approximated the lunar node's period without an ephemeris by simply alternating 18- and 19-year intervals to achieve an average of 18.5 years—an error of 47.33 days per cycle, meaning Gann's cycle is lagging behind the node's true position.

 

» Gann himself was quoted as saying that this was his greatest market discovery. « 

 

Fast-forward to late 2025, Gann's error sums up to 300 days. Hence, the exact criteria and starting date to which he anchored his cycle, including his annotation: "Dec. 25, 1989 revises to Mar. 13, 1934," remain unclear and subjects of debate. The table’s basic conceptual congruence with Louise McWhirter's 1937 "Theory of Stock Market Forecasting" led analysts to suspect "Louise McWhirter" was merely a Gann alias used to correct the flawed astronomy of his 1909 Time Table and provide an elaborated astrological theory of the lunar node's 18.6-year cycle and its impact on the US business cycle and stock market.

 

US GNP vs North Node: A Projection into 2025, Graham Bates, 1994.

 

 » "W. D. Gann" and "Louise McWhirter" share the same numerological root of “9”. « 

Regardless, even though the extended version of the original table into 2121 did not correct Gann's error, it forecasted a market panic in 2020 (accurate), and high stock prices in 2022–2023 (accurate?). For 2024, 2025, and 2026, Gann's table warns about a "major panic CRASH! 4 years of falling prices, business stagnated, breadlines, soup kitchens, despair, unemployment." Correct? For 2027 to 2031, the table announces "extreme low stock prices, strikes, repression, [and] despair" to be followed by the "beginning of [a] new business generation of 18.6 years. 4 years of rising stock prices and improving business. Markets bare of goods. Young men becoming prominent." Time will tell.

 

Gann claimed his time table accurately forecasted over a century of significant events, including the 1907 Panic, the 1929 Crash, and the post-World War II boom. This framework has shown continued relevance in modern validations, such as the 2020 COVID-19 market panic, which aligned with a projected low year in the table. Furthermore, the 2022–2023 stock highs preceded an anticipated downturn, also fitting the established pattern. 

  

 » Major crash in 2024–2026 with prolonged economic stagnation, and a recovery by 2028–2030. «

W.D. Gann's original "Financial Time Table" adjusted and extended into 2121.

 

While appealing, the table’s predictions should be approached cautiously, considering external factors and the debated accuracy of Gann’s methods. 

 

» Maybe Gann’s table should be shifted for a few months in view of 18.5M approximation vs 18.6M desired value. « 

Branimir Vojcic, 2025.

 

Branimir Vojcic is right: For higher degrees of conviction, diehard Gann aficionados may want to re-anchor the exact lunar nodal period to a specific date (e.g., sign ingress, natal chart, crash low), and derive further clues from "Louise McWhirter."

 

 S&P 500 vs Lunar North Node moving through the Zodiac, 1950-2028.

» We shall find out soon enough. « 

The 18 Year Economic Cycle │Akhil Patel

Akhil Patel was the special guest presenter at the Foundation for the Study of Cycles' June 3 'Masters Working Group' interactive session. Author of 'The Secret Wealth Advantage', Patel discusses how the 18 year cycle affects the markets and how it can transform investing strategies. Patel is one of the world’s leading experts in economic, financial, and property cycles. He has been working for over a decade to produce unique research that combines an in- depth understanding of business, real estate, and stock market cycles. 

 

Reference:
Akhil Patel (June 4, 2024) - Significance of the 18-Year Cycle. (video)

 

See also:
The 18.6 Year Real Estate Cycle.  

2024 in W.D. Gann's Financial Time Table.

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle │ March - April 2024

 

» I’m not trying to predict the future; I am trying to accurately and quickly depict the present. 

I’m not trying to predict what people will do, but rather identify what they are doing right now. «  
Chris Camillo, 2023

 

 

See also:

Previous Projections.

TPR (2015) - S&P 500 vs True Lunar Node's Speed and the Eclipse Crash Window.

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle │ January 2024

 

» The lunar node, quite abstractly speaking, is the point of intersection of the solar and the lunar orbits. There are, therefore, two nodes in opposite positions in the heavens: an ascending node or lunar north node, and a descending node - the lunar south node. The solar and the lunar orbits are not, in effect, in the same but in different planes, enclosing a certain angle. Thus there arise the two opposite points of intersection. The peculiarity of these two points of intersection is that they do not stand still but slowly move. The plane of the lunar path rotates in relation to the plane of the solar path; so the two nodes move a round. They move around the Zodiac in a contrary direction to the rotation of the planets, i.e., from Aries backward through Pisces, Aquarius, etc. A complete revolution of a lunar node takes place in 18 years and 7 months; after this time, therefore, the node — the ascending node, for example — is once again in the same position in the Zodiac as it was before. The ascending node is, thereby, the mathematical point that (at any given time and again after 18 years and 7 months [= 6,798.383 CD] the lunar orbit rises above the solar orbit, while at the opposite point the descending node sinks below it. «

Willi O. Sucher, 1937.

 

See also:

TPR (Dec 21, 2023) - S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle: Projection into April 2024.

 

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle │ Projection into April 2024

 

Dec 21, 2023 (Thu) = May 10, 2005 (Tue)

 

 

 In bull markets, New Moons are bottoms, and Full Moons are tops. 

Jan 3 (Wed) 22:30 = 270° = Last Quarter    
Jan 11 (Thu) 06:57 = 0° = New Moon    
Jan 17 (Wed) 22:52 = 90° = First Quarter    
Jan 25 (Thu) 12:53 = 180° = Full Moon    

2024 in W.D. Gann's Financial Time Table

2024

» Major Panic - CRASH! «

» 4-years of falling prices, business stagnated, breadlines, soup kitchens, despair, and unemployment. «

Quoted from:
TPR (2012) - W.D. Gann's Financial Time Table 1784 - 2121 | Extended and Adjusted.

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle | August 2019

Projected low = Aug 24 (Sat), high = Sep 17 (Tue).

S&P 500 vs 18.61 Year Cycle | Sideways to Down into Jan 03 - 09 (Thu-Wed)

The more precise 18.6 year projection HERE is suggesting a Dec 28 (Fri) High and a Jan 05 (Sat) Low.

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle | Nov 27 (Tue) Low

This 2000-2018 Analog projects some sort of a low on Nov 27 (Tue),
some sort of a rally into Dec 09 (Sun), another decline into
Dec 22 (Sat), a high on Dec 28 (Fri), and a low on Jan 05 (Sat).

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Nodal Cycle | Aug 27, 2018 = Jan 14, 2000

Jan 14, 2000 (Fri = Major High in DJIA) + 6,800 CD = Aug 27, 2018 (Mon)

A high should print around Aug 30 (Thu) ± 1 CD. Aug 30 will be also
195 Solar Degrees of geocentric longitude from the Major Low on Feb 09 (Fri)
and 1,440 Lunar Degrees from the Low on May 03 (Thu).

The Golden Fabric of Time and Phi in the Sky │ Nicholas Kollerstrom

Source: Nicholas Kollerstrom (2011) - The Golden Fabric of Time and 'Phi in the Sky'.
In: Correlation 27 (2), July 2011.

Droughts and Floods vs. Jupiter-Saturn Cycle and Lunar Declination Cycle

 When the sunspot and lunar cycles coincide there are distinct rainfall peaks. The 18.6 year Lunar cycle created flood years in Central Victoria in 1954-56, 1973-75, 1992-93 and 2010-11. The 2010-11 floods in northern Australia reflected a peak lunar rain-enhancement cycle. This particular lunar cycle was strongly enhanced by the closely synchronised 19.86 year Jupiter-Saturn Synodic Cycle.

Planetary and lunar cycles play an important part in shaping the climate, and also Australia’s flood and drought cycles are influenced by these forces. The Central Victorian rainfall records reveal that the 18.6 year lunar declination cycle and the 19.86 year synodic cycle of Jupiter-Saturn can each enhance or diminish average rainfall over prolonged periods resulting in extreme flood and extreme drought cycles. When these two cycles are closely in-phase with each other and are supported by the El Nino or the La Nina cycle, extreme droughts and extreme floods are likely to occur. This was the case during the early months of 2011 and enhanced by a very strong La Nina cycle during the preceding 9 months. Another major drought period is scheduled to occur around the middle of this lunar cycle (2020). 
 
The above graph shows the long-term rainfall record for Bendigo in Central Victoria, Australia. The Central Victorian climate is particularly sensitive to any changes in average air movements (air tides). This is due to the generally flat terrain of the area, which means the effects of the cosmic cycles are more prominent than in most other places in the world. This can be seen to occur with about 80% reliability during the last 66 years. The dominating effects are most obvious when a four-year rolling average line is used (thick line). The spacing of the recent droughts to flood periods appears to closely follow the “9.3 year rule” (i.e. half of the 18.6 year moon cycle). Peaks and troughs relative to the Bendigo’s long-term average of 544 mm are:

1944         Severe drought (284 mm)        
1954-56   Typical three years of major floods (average 737 mm)
1967         Severe drought (278 mm)        
1973-75   Wettest ever three year flood period (average 861 mm).
1982         Driest year on record (206mm)
1992-93   Two years of flood period (averaging 729 mm per year
2002         After 9 years of declining average rainfall, 2002 delivered only 271mm
2010         Eleven consecutive months of above-average rainfall set a new Bendigo record of 1061 mm. 

 

Reference:
Kevin Long (2011) - Cosmic Cycles and Their Impact on Floods and Droughts in Eastern Australia.

SPX vs 4.5 Degree Steps of Lunar Node to Lunar Apogee | 80th Harmonic

Upcoming aspects in this 18 Year Cycle:
Feb 04 (Sat) = 85.5 degrees, Mar 14 (Tue) =  90 degrees, Apr 13 (Thu), May 07 (Sun), May 26 (Fri),
Jun 19 (Mon), Jul 16 (Sun), Aug 22 (Tue), Sep 25 (Mon), Oct 21 (Sat), Nov 12 (Sun), Dec 02 (Sat),
Dec 26 (Tue), 2018 Jan 29 (Mon) = 144 degrees. See also HERE

SPX vs 15 Degree Steps of Lunar Node to Lunar Apogee | 24th Harmonic

Upcoming aspects in this 18 Year Cycle:
Jan 12 (Thu) = 165 degrees, Mar 14 (Tue) = 180 degrees, Apr 28 (Fri), Jun 04 (Sun), Jul 16 (Sun),
Sep 17 (Sun), Oct 28 (Sat), Dec 02 (Sat), Jan 15, 2018 (Mon).

David McMinn (2016): 9/56 Year Cycle: Lunar North Node - Apogee Angles [5 p.]

DJIA vs Lunar North Node in Zodiac Signs | Louise McWhirter

The mathematically calculated Lunar Nodes are sensitive points in space where the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersects the ecliptic - the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The Ascending Node is where the Moon crosses from south of the ecliptic to north of the ecliptic. The Descending Node is where it crosses from north of the ecliptic to south of the ecliptic. In Western astrology the Ascending and Descending Nodes are known as the "North Node" and the "South Node". 

 

Only the North Node is usually marked in horoscopes, as the South Node is by definition at the opposite point in the chart. In Vedic astrology, the North and South Nodes are called Rahu and Ketu respectively, and both are marked in the chart. Nodes always move retrograde and are considered natural malefics. 

 

Astrologically the Nodes are thought to powerfully influencing both the affairs of nations and of people. Eclipses occur only near the Lunar Nodes: Solar eclipses occur when the passage of the Moon through a Node coincides with the New Moon. Lunar Eclipses occur when passage coincides with the Full Moon. The plane of the lunar orbit precesses in space and hence the Lunar Nodes precess around the ecliptic, completing a revolution (called a Draconic or Nodal Period, the period of nutation) in 6798.383 days or 18.612 years. The Nodes need 1.55 years to pass through one zodiac sign.

 

In her book 'Astrology and Stock Market Forecasting' published almost 80 years ago, financial astrologer Louise McWhirter described a theory of the business cycle. She claimed the low point of the depression was reached in summer of 1933 (Lunar North Node in Aquarius) and predicted the next peak in economic activity would occur in November 1942 (NN in Leo). Her prediction for recovery in 1942 coincided with the massive economic stimulus spending set in motion by the build-up for World War II. Looking at 100 years of stock market prices she consistently found the North Node in the sign of Aquarius during periods of low economic activity. At the halfway point in the 18.6-year cycle, the North Node is moving into the sign of Leo, where economic high points have historically been recorded. After this, the long-term trend moves lower as the North Node slowly and systematically makes its way back to the sign of Aquarius, where the cycle begins anew (see also HERE).

Enlarge

 

Using McWhirter’s method, one would have expected the lowest economic period between January 2008 and August 2009 (NN in Aquarius), and then gradually improving from below normal levels to normal levels between August 2009 and August 2012 (NN in Capricorn, Sagittarius and Scorpio). The period between September 2012 and February 2014 was projected to be an above normal period for economic performance (unfortunately the red line of the averaged composite in the above chart doesn't clearly reflect this pattern). 

Though a considerable market correction between now and Q1 2016 is likely (HERE & HERE), a larger ensuing double-dip recession wouldn’t fit into the McWhirter-pattern (HERE). Instead the general upward trend should continue into the major peak-out between May 2017 and November 2018 (NN in Leo - HERE), followed by collapsing and declining markets into the 2020s (HERE).