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. « 

Kitchin Cycle Suggests DJIA Decline Until End of 2025 | Sergey Tarassov

 » DJIA correction begun, and the 41 Month Kitchin Cycle suggests a decline until the end of 2025. «  
 —  Sergey Tarassov, August 5, 2024.

 

» Multiyear High in the DJIA between June and October 2024, i.e. sometime
between the crests of the 40 Month Cycle and the 42 Month Cycle.  «    
 —  Sergey Tarassov, June 25, 2024.

Reference:
Sergey Tarassov (August 5, 2024) - Tune Up 41 Month Kitchin Cycle for DJIA. (video)
Sergey Tarassov (June 25, 2024) - Review of Forecasts for DJIA, Gold, Bitcoin, IOC and Mexican Peso. (video)

 2024 in W.D. Gann's Financial Time Table: » Major Panic - CRASH! «

 

Panic Cycles Week July 15 - 19 & Week September 9 - 13.

—  Martin Armstrong, June 14, 2024.

 

Prophecy of Trump Assassination Attempt & Market Crash | Brandon Biggs

» I saw an attempt on Trump's life. This bullet flew by his ear and it came so close to his head that it busted his ear drum. And I saw he fell to his knees and he started worshiping the Lord. He got radically born again. He became really on fire with Jesus.  « 

 

  

» I saw a great economy crash - worse than the Great Depression. « 

 

» And then I saw Trump winning the presidency through the patriots coming out voting for him. And then there will be a great economy crash - worse than the Great Depression. And the Lord warned me about this would be a great dark time. And then I could see that darkness and heaviness upon America. And I saw Donald Trump praying in the Oval Office. He was weeping before the Lord with his hands on his head. Then the crisis started to lift and good times coming back again. But the Lord said it would be a season of a shaking. « 

 

Brandon Biggs, March 14, 2024.

Quoted from:
Steve Cioccolanti (March 14, 2024) - 3 Prophets explain 3 American Solar Eclipses | April 8 Sign. (full video)

 

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

 

Meanwhile in Uganda.

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.

L.H. Weston - Gann’s Professor | Hans Hannula

I've been told that Gann was very private about his office. He absolutely forbid anyone from entering it. He wanted to protect his secrets. But one document he kept in his safe. That document was a manuscript by Professor Weston of Washington, D. C. It was written in 1921 (part 1) and 1923 (part 2), four to six years before Gann published his Tunnel Thru the Air, Or Looking Back From 1940, Tunnel Thru the Air contains, in coded form, Gann’s explanation of how to use planetary cycles to trade stocks and commodities. 

 

He told his own family that it was all they ever needed to learn his market secrets. Many Gann students have labored very long and hard (yes, me, too) to decode Gann's writing. Gann loved to write in the abstract style of the Biblical mystics, whom he admired. Much of what is written in the Bible is information about planetary cycles. It is hidden in census counts, symbolic imagery, and heavily coded to escape notice of the casual reader. While one can dig out this material, it takes time, an ephemeris, and a lot of work. Gann had it much easier. What you are about to read is the paper Gann kept in his safe. 

 

Take your time and read it carefully. It’s one of the best papers ever written on the market. 

After you read it, I'll point out some interesting things about it.

 

HERE

 

[...] First, this is clearly the foundation of Gann’s use of the 10 year cycle, and its multiples. Second, this is historically a fairly early use of Fourier sequences, and far more mathematical than just using financial astrology. This is no surprise, since it is well known that Gann was a very good mathematician. It is also a source of many of his ideas that market movements follow geometric rules.

 

[...] It is also quite interesting that Weston actually proposed two different versions of the ten year pattern. The first is his computation, using 50 years of data, of a series composed of 20 , 28, 10, and 14 month components, to which he adds a Venus term. In this system he cites use of heliocentric positions. We'll call this first method "Weston’s Curve’.

A most interesting point made in this method is Weston’s discovery that the planetary cycles tend to slip to synchronize with the earth’s annual cycle. I discovered this in my own work, and was sure it was an original discovery. So much for that vanity!

The second method I call “Weston’s Snowflake.” In it he proposes a sequence of turning points in the Jupiter-Saturn cycle that divides it into 10 irregular parts. Interestingly, Weston claims that this is a geocentric system. We'll show in a moment that it was not. But this “false lead” may have been intended for those whom Weston feared would learn his secret. Gann obviously made good use of Weston’s methods.  

[... Weston used] the 0, 18, 54, 90, 126, and 180 degree points of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle as turns. One can quickly see the problem with using this geocentrically. Almost all of the points are triple points, as the earth moves around the sun, giving multiple views from which to measure the angle between Jupiter and Saturn. The problem becomes one of which points to use.

[...] It took only one look at using this rule heliocentrically to convince me that Weston used it that way. Obviously, W. D. Gann watched these outer configurations to be alert for the deviations they might cause in the Jupiter-Saturn cycle. You are advised to do the same.

Quoted from:
Hans Hannula (1993) - Gann's Greatest Secret.

See also:
L.H. Weston (1921 & 1923) - Being a Treatise on the Geometrical or Chart System of Forecasting in which is explained the principles of the art, and, in this lesson no. 1, giving demonstration with the price curve of potatoes in U.S. 

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).

S&P 500 Index vs Astronomical Momentum Forecast Model | March 2018

This Astronomical Momentum Forecast Model (AMFM) was inspired by the work of L.H. Weston, W.D. Gann and Chris Carolan. More than 120 years of US-stock market and detrended momentum data derived from a Williams %R oscillator were used, assuming this would reflect the overall sentiment and mass mood during the period. One fundamental concept of mundane astrology considers sentiment and mass mood to be conditioned and modulated by a complex set of nested, overlapping and repeating astronomical cycles, most important solunar cycles. These cycles are ranging from several decades to days and even minutes (Callipic Cycle, Metonic Cycle, Mythraic Cycle, Solar Cycles, Lunar Cycles, Planetary Hours, Muhūrta, etc.). They can be calculated into the past and future and hence be put into practical use. Considering the general nature, pros and cons of market momentum indicators, the AMFM is able to project market sentiment several decades into the future (see also HERE). Of course work on this model is experimental, not perfect and in progress. However, the current model presented here indicated a momentum peak in October 2017, a negative divergence at the January 27 major high, and suggests a decline from there into a major low around mid-March, followed by a rally into early May, a retest of the March-low by mid-June, another rally into early October, and a decline into end of December.

SPX vs North Node | Louise McWhirter's Theory of Stock Market Forecasting

Louise McWhirter presented her theory in 1938 in "Astrology and Stock Market Forecasting" (p. 7-8) as follows:

Whenever the North Node passes through Scorpio and Libra [2012-2015], there is a transition period as the curve passes from normal, going from normal to high.

[…] The high point of business volume is reached when the North Node transits Leo [2017-2018]. As the North Node goes through Cancer and Gemini, business volume is above normal, but slowly going to normal.

[…] Taurus [2003-2004] is the transition point or normal point as the curve goes from normal to below normal in business volume.

[…] When the North Node enters Aquarius [2007-2008], the low point of business activity has been reached. As the Node transits Capricorn [2009] and Sagittarius [2011], the normal position of the business curve is below normal going to normal.

[…] This is the natural position of the curve without the presence of secondary factors which can distort the curve favorably or unfavorably from one to twenty percent.

[…] The following secondary factors tend to lift the Business Curve:

(1) Jupiter conjunction the North Node. [2009, 2016, 2023]
(2] Saturn trine, sextile, or semi-sextile Uranus. [2002-2003, 2016-2017, 2025-2026]
(3) Jupiter in Gemini or Cancer. [2000-2005, 2030-2035]
(4) Jupiter conjunction, sextile or trine Saturn and Uranus, when in aspect to each other.
(5) The North Node in Gemini. [2013, 2016]
(6) Favorable aspects to Pluto. [2013, 2016]

[…] The following secondary factors have been found to depress the Business Curve:

(1) Saturn conjunction, square or opposition the North Node. [2013, 2016]
(2) Saturn conjunction, square, opposition, or semi-square Uranus. [2012-2013, 2021]
(3) Saturn in Gemini. [2000-2003, 2030-2032]
(4) Uranus in Gemini. [2025-2033]
(5) Uranus square, conjunction, or opposition the North Node. [Jan 2015, Jun 2018]
(6) Unfavorable aspects to Pluto.” [Jan 2015, Apr 2019]

As the Node moved through Capricorn (2010) and Sagittarius (2011) the general economy approached a very high level of activity in Scorpio (2012), and should peak as the Node passes through the sign of Leo (2017). 

However, W.D. Gann associated the period of the Node in Libra (2015) also with stock market panics (HERE). Moving through the signs of Cancer (2018) and Gemini (2020), the economic activity is still positive but beginning to slow to more normal levels. 

The above chart of the SPX and the North Node in the zodiac signs clearly shows that in the past this basic theory was not always properly reflected in the stock market's movements. This has to do with other important astronomical cycles, e.g. the 19.86 Year Jupiter-Saturn Cycle, 19 Year Metonic Cycle, the different natured 18.61 Year Lunar Declination Cycle, the 18 Year Saros Cycle or the varying lengths of the Solar Cycle. Additional important "secondary factors" could be the amazing activities of central banks, especially during the past 40 years. Nevertheless, empirical research discovered a multitude of other interesting economic sub-cycles of 17 to 20 years length, never out-ruled by any human intervention. The Wave Length Index of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles lists the following:

 

Foundation for the Study of Cycles (1964): Catalogue of Cycles - Part I.