The Rise & Fall Of WaMu

The Rise & Fall Of WaMu
*From The University Of Astrology Forum on MySpace*: http://groups.myspace.com/uoaforum

10:11 AM 09/27/2008 Sat

Last week's reports of yet another financial behemoth biting the dust, this time the nation's sixth largest bank, Washington Mutual, gives us astrologers yet another chance to watch the stars at work on the Markets. I've been spending the better part of the morning so far astrologically tracking the rise and fall of WaMu, and I must say, the results have been striking to the eye.

So far in this tutorial thread, we have been mainly focusing on the ongoing movements of the planets thru their Signs and in terms of the aspects they make to one another, to give us cues as to the ebb and flow of the Markets. On certain occasions, we've also made use of particular horoscopes, such as that of nations, or institutions, such as the NYSE and DJIA. And, we've seen a bit of how Incorporation and First Trade charts work as well, often as a compliment to the aforementioned transit movements.

The WaMu chart is no exception. It both ties in nicely to the current transit scheme, and as well, works perfectly as a diagnostic and timing tool in its own right:
Washington Mutual Sep 25 1889 Seattle WA 12PM LMT; Placidus 10 Sag 12, Wikipedia. No time is known, so "12PM" is used.

Right off the bat, we can see why WaMu was so big, and its size contributing to its eventual downfall; Jupiter both rises in and rules the Sagittarius Asc, and is the Final Dispositor of the horoscope. Jupiter represents banking and credit. Note the close trine between Jupiter and Saturn in this map it mirrors that of the ongoing trine between Jupiter and Saturn in the skies as we speak. One line of thought in astrology circles is that one can expect major events to take place when natal configurations are "repeated" in the skies after one's birth. Known as "recurrance transits" these events are carefully watched for by some astrologers. I've been quietly observing this for myself, and I have to say, that it is indeed something to lookout for, as the WaMu meltdown shows.

Saturn in the WaMu chart rules the Noontime 2nd house of finances and banking, and its position in detriment in Leo, combined with its trine to Jupiter in Sag, speaks to its overdoing it in the acquisition and more importantly, *subprime* areas. Saturn in turn conjuncts Venus, ruler of the Noontime 10th house - the CEO - and is in Mutual Reception with the WaMu Sun, itself fallen in Libra. Another signal of bad decisions made at the top.

Venus is dispositor of no less than four planets in the WaMu chart - including the Sun, we also have the Moon, Mercury and Uranus all in Libra. This extreme emphasis on the Sign Libra brings our attention to that area of the Zodiac; in more recent years, WaMu was dedicated to lending to *everybody*, a classic Libran focus insofar as fundamental fairness is concerned. Yet, a major tenet of good banking is to assess risk properly; lending to those who have little ability to repay loans or credit, is a cardinal sin in the banking world. In short, it doesn't pay to "be nice" in the world of Finance, as WaMu has clearly learned.

Another key feature of this map is the rare Neptune-Pluto conjunction in Gemini, something that happens only once in some three centuries or so. Note how this conjunction is trine the Sun, and Pluto also trines the Moon. Neptune, as has been observed before, is not friendly to the World of the Markets, and almost always promises scandals, cooking of the books and other nefarious dealings, layoffs and downsizing, takeovers, mergers, and so on. And interestingly enough, a quick look to WaMu's Solar Arcs reveal an applying SA Neptune=MC!!!, to be exact only a few short months from now. The handwriting was on the wall for this bank. It was only a matter of time before it was going under. JP Morgan Chase ended up buying the bank for little or nothing, at $1.9B. Only a few years ago, WaMu posted up assets of more than $300B. My, my, what a difference a year makes.

We've observed that Venus, Jupiter and Pluto are the Money Planets, and their condition in a chart gives very strong clues as to said chart's fiscal health. For example, in the chart of the United States, it is telling that Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction, with the latter exalted and also ruling the Asc, while Pluto is in Capricorn, which for this astrologer, may suggest an exaltation placement, on the basis of the "higher octave" theory of the Outer Planets. It would certainly help to explain how the USA is among, if not the, richest nation on Earth.

In the WaMu chart, please note the following with regard to its Money Planets:
Jupiter, while angular, ruling the Noontime Asc and dignified, nevertheless is in tight aspect to a planet who both rules the 2nd house and is also in detriment, Saturn.

Venus, although also in tight aspect to Jupiter, is conjunct the same 2nd house ruler who is "hurt" by being in detriment, Saturn.

Pluto, is conjunct Neptune, and what's worse about this is that both planets are Rx.

Therefore, it was easy to see that the fiscal health of this institution was in question, on the basis of a simple assessment of its Money Planets.

Casting a tri-wheel chart that features the natal, Solar Arc and current transits, we see the following for Sep 2008:

Transit Pluto conjunct WaMu Jupiter
SA Saturn=Jupiter(!!!)
SA Neptune=MC(!!!)

Later I'll post up an astrological timeline of the history of WaMu; in the meantime, here's what journalist Steve Sailer had to say about WaMu's demise earlier this week:

"Washington Mutual's Last - Press Release - Ever By commenter demand, here's a commercial from the late, not-so-great Washington Mutual bank:
Thanks to a commenter, here's the last press release from the nation's 6th largest bank on the day before it finally went under:

WaMu Recognized as Top Diverse Employer—Again Company ranks in top ten of Hispanic Business’ Diversity Elite and earns perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index SEATTLE, WA (September 24, 2008) – Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), one of the nation’s leading banks for consumers and small businesses, has once again been recognized as a top employer by Hispanic Business magazine and the Human Rights Campaign.

Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked WaMu sixth in its annual Diversity Elite list, which names the top 60 companies for Hispanics. The company was honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also awarded WaMu its second consecutive 100 percent score in the organization’s 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures progress in attaining equal rights for GLBT employees and consumers. WaMu joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses that also received top marks in the annual survey. The CEI rated a total of 583 businesses on GLBT-related policies and practices, including non-discrimination policies and domestic partner benefits.

In both surveys, WaMu earned points for competitive diversity policies and programs, including the recently established Latino, African American and GLBT employee network groups, all of which have a corporate executive sponsor and champion.

“Diversity is an integral part of cultivating a welcoming, innovative and dynamic workplace here at WaMu. We are proud to be recognized for the opportunities and benefits we offer to all of our employees, including the specific efforts we have made to engage Hispanics and the GLBT community,” said Steve Rotella, WaMu president and COO. “We are committed to diversity at WaMu and pledge to listen to our customers and work closely with our employees to continue to make progress.”

These two recent honors build upon diversity recognitions WaMu received earlier in 2008. WaMu was named one of 25 Noteworthy Companies by Diversity Inc magazine and one of the Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity by Hispanic Enterprise magazine.

About WaMu

WaMu, through its subsidiaries, is one of the nation's leading consumer and small business banks. At June 30, 2008, WaMu and its subsidiaries had assets of $309.73 billion. The company has a history dating back to 1889 and its subsidiary banks currently operate approximately 2,300 consumer and small business banking stores throughout the nation. WaMu’s press releases are available at http://newsroom.wamu.com.

Rex May has a cartoon take on WaMu.

The NYT reports:
Until recently, Washington Mutual was one of Wall Street’s strongest performers. It reaped big profits quarter after quarter as its then chief executive, Kerry K. Killinger, enlarged its presence by buying banks on both coasts and ramping up mortgage lending.

His goal was to transform what was once a sleepy Seattle thrift into the “Wal-Mart of Banking,” which would cater to lower- and middle-class consumers that other banks deemed too risky. It offered complex mortgages and credit cards whose terms made it easy for the least creditworthy borrowers to get financing, a strategy the bank extended in big cities, including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. With this grand plan, Mr. Killinger built Washington Mutual into the sixth-largest bank in the United States.

Okay, Mr. Killinger, but perhaps by now you've noticed the fundamental difference between Wal-Mart and WaMu: Wal-Mart takes money from lower- and middle-class customers, while you gave money to them.

While our increasingly diverse lower- and middle-class American residents have been spending a lot in recent years in our vibrant, globalized economy, they haven't been making a lot. (You may have noticed that our elites were united in their horror of "wage inflation" and did their best to combat it through encouraging massive immigration, outsourcing, cutting tariffs, and the like.) In the long run, that's a problem. To cover the difference between what the bottom 2/3rds or whatever of society was spending and making, they've been going more in debt to, say, WaMu.

You were able to mark that up as profits, which Wall Street celebrated, but eventually the clock struck twelve and the carriage turned back into a pumpkin.

To broaden the subject slightly, it's interesting that we don't yet have a name for this decade yet, even though it's almost over. All other decades for the last 80 years were named directly from the third digit (e.g., The Sixties), but nobody has agreed upon a quantitative title for this decade.

Therefore, we should feel free to recommend a qualitative name. Pardon the vulgarity, but at this point I can't come up with anything more descriptive and accurate than The Bullshit Years.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve SailerBy Steve Sailer on 9/26/2008 Cited by 52 comments Labels: political economy"

Alpha, Beta & Omega Males: An Evolutionary (Astrology) Look

Alpha, Beta & Omega Males: An Evolutionary (Astrology) Look

Posted: 20 Aug 2008, 06:45 AM on The Evolutionary Astrology forum on MySpace:
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=67029506&categoryID=0&IsSticky=0&groupID=100071296&Mytoken=C4B18A79-E396-4B9D-9C802B931DC97EAD37285848

One of my usual haunts on the Web is a blog called Half Sigma, which I got turned on to while checking in w/another haunt of mine, Steve Sailer’s blog. Half Sigma often takes us themes and issues that greatly interest me, and I suspect, interests others but would never openly so say in public, such as Race, Class & Sex, to name just a few. Yesterday while "thumbing" through his archive, I ran accross something that seems perfectly fitted for a forum entitled "Evolutionary Astrology".

HS posits that instead of usual dichotomy of males, ie, Alpha and Beta, that there was a third catergory, Omega. He suggests that these three catergory of human males are an interesting study in how the human race gets on w/the business of reproducing itself. I agree.

As we all know, the Alpha Male catergory is pretty straightforward, even though we’ve live in an Industrial age now for a little more than a century, and the Alpha Male’s heyday was back during the Hunter/Gatherer and early Agricultural eras. Alpha Males are, simply put, usually bigger, strong, and/or had access to maximum resources so as to be more appealing to and thus, have the most access to femles, especially the choice females.

Beta Males, those second tier guys who weren’t blessed w/such great genes, nevertheless were good guys, reliable, dependable and so forth. Back in the day their only chance of sending their genes off into the future was to hope for the Alpha Male to go off on the hunt or something like that, sneak into the harem and get a quickie before the Big Man came back. Other than that, it was the end of the genetic line for most Betas, until the Industrial Age, when male resources (wages) were more or less equalized and more guys had the chance to get a bride. Although she may not be the cat’s meow, it sure beat beating off for the rest of one’s life.

Oh, btw, Alpha Males make up roughly 10 to 15% of any population; Betas, roughly 70%. And another thing-Alphas do have one drawback, they tend not to be great nuturers, dads, and providers, whereas the opposite is true largely for Betas. This has given rise to what some Evo-types call the "Beta Strategy" where females would hookup w/the Alpha Male to get his genes and then get w/a Beta Male because he can provide better for the Alpha’s seed. In other words, Cuckoldry. But that’s another topic for another time.

Then we have what HS terms Omega Males. Again, these guys makeup about 15% of any given population, and are both lacking in sufficient genetic material AND material resources/social skills and thus are completely out of contention for copulating with females. These are generally the guys who live at home in Mom’s basement doing all kinds of geeky stuff, and looks it. Women wouldn’t give these guys the time of day, and that includes women who hangout in places like this one.

OK, so since we’ve briefly outlined the three types of males, the question becomes-how do we see this astrologically? I have a few theories, but I invite those reading alone (especially the ladies!) to chime in w/their thoughts. It seems pretty clear to me that Sexual Aspects play a huge role here. A male w/a lot of such aspects usually has the corresponding "animal magnetism" to attract females and get them to say "yes" moreso than Betas and definitely more than Omegas. So, when it comes to Alphas in general, that’s what I would expect to see, lots of Sexual Aspects, perhaps w/an additional refinement of said aspects occuring in Beastial Signs: Aries, Taurus, Sagittarius (at least the first half of the Sign anyway LOL), Capricorn, Leo.

Because Betas don’t have the raw Sexual power that Alphas have, I would expect to find an average amount of Sexual aspects at work here, along w/more "nuturing" astro markers-perhaps a strong Moon, or Jupiter, maybe a strong Neptune, something like that.

W/Omegas, hmm. That’s a good one. I suppose I would be looking for "outcaste" signals astrologically, but I’d need a bit more time as to how to formulate a postualte here. This is where we all can really jump in and toss the ball around.

So there you have it, the Three Male Types per Evolutionary Theory as set forth by Half Sigma. I think its a lot more valid than we may want to admit. And, there’s one more thing:

We have to remember that we Humans are only at the top of the foodchain, not apart from it. The Zodiac means literally, Circle of Animals, and we’re a lot closer to the Animal Kingdom than we think. This is especially true when it comes to things like "Synastry" which in so many ways, is a proxy for saying that we want astrology to help us get laid, and/or get laid more often.

Just keepin’ it real, y’all.

OK, that’s it. Discuss, and Holla Back!

Salaam
Mu

Is Today's Astrology "Gynocentric"?

Is Today's Astrology "Gynocentric"?

Posted: 21 Aug 2008, 09:22 AM on The Evolutionary Astrology forum on MySpace
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&groupID=100071296&page=0&EntryID=67047370&CategoryID=0&get=1&adTopicId=0&lastpagesent=1&Mytoken=F780B4C8-DF06-4570-BE881C195ED2789136649436

Since it appears that my suggesting so has raised the hackles on Astrology’s Quasi-Feminist Contingent, I thought to devote an entire thread to this topic. For those who might have missed it, I’ll recap briefly. In my Open Letter to Zane Stein thread, I made the case that astrology in our time-and by that I mean, the Modern Era, since Rudhyar, and the following rise of Psychology being used in astrology analysis, study and work-is what I called Gynocentric, or in other words, astrology in our time is more and more seen, evaluated, communicated and written/presented, in a way that is more favorable to women.

Now, as you might guess, I’m prepared to defend my proposition, and to offer the most basic evidence of this, one only need look at the extant literature on the subject; note how its written, the word choice, perspectives and point of view therein. Moreover, consider the bulk of attendees at conferences, retreats and the like, you will find invariably that they are women in the main, even if by a simple majority.

Now, before the howling starts, let me say that I’m not-NOT-arguing that this is in itself a bad thing. What I am saying, however, is that astrology runs the serious risk of painting itself in something of a corner, because its this astrologer’s view that a lot of guys would be interested in seeking what astrology has to offer were it not for the Girly Perspective and Presentation.

What has occured in astrology over the past three or four decades is the notion that a kind of "unisex" approach can be adopted, and that the symbols we see can equally-keyword here-apply to both sexes. All the while claiming individuality, no less! Yet even hard science has proven again and again that men and women are PROFOUNDLY different, and the astrology must follow suit.

Of course, I suppose it doesn’t help much that many of the men that fill up the ranks of astrology, either as leading voices (considerably more at this level than are women, see for yourself) or as hardcore hobbyists, for lack of a better word, either don’t seem very interested in this topic because their interests in astrology take them away from dealing directly with people and more into the area of abstract concepts, like Mundane astrology, etc., or they have a more "feminine" view of the world, or, more cynically, they go with the flow because as that famous bank robber once said, that’s where the money is. And its no accident who pays a working astrologer’s bills, and from this standpoint, a business model, it makes sense to focus on your target market. But as a self-professed Anomaly, I like asking pesky questions of our craft. That’s what Cosmic Pests do.

So-is Astrology Gynocentric? You make the call.

Comments?

Holla back

Salaam
Mu

Suggested Further Reading: Astrological Eye For The Regular Guy, muminspeaks.blogspot.com, or Google it

Yao Ming: Successful Eugenic Experiment, Or Successful Astrological Timing???

Yao Ming: Successful Eugenic Experiment, Or Successful Astrological Timing???

Posted: 16 Aug 2008, 08:22 PM at The Evolutionary Astrology forum on MySpace:
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=66985794&categoryID=0&IsSticky=0&groupID=100071296&Mytoken=24AF687D-3161-48B1-962DA24C2B23EA2A33711626

Steve Sailer’s done it again, w/his coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games at Beijing China. Here’s his take on Yao Ming: http://isteve.blogspot.com/. Its the second post down the page, can’t miss it.

In it he talks about how Yao Ming came to be; Ming is the product of an essentially arranged marraige between the centers and captains of the men’s and women’s basketball teams in Shanghai. Ming’s dad is 6’11"; his mom, 6’3". Ming himself weighed in at ELEVEN POUNDS, TWICE THE AVERAGE WEIGHT OF A CHINESE NEWBORN. His head was huge and square shaped, and his hands and feet were that of a three year old. At 10 years old he was 5’5"; in his early teens he was over 6’ tall.

And, according to the book, Operation Yao Ming, we have a pretty good crack at Ming’s birthtime, "shortly after 7PM" at Shanghai Hospital No. 6. The rest of the data is Sep 12 1980. This gives an Asc of 13 Ari 02 using Placidus houses and Tropical Zodiac.

Matchmaking, or arranged marriage, is a lot more common in the world outside the USA/West than most of us know or care about. Of course, w/feminist indoctrination here, arranged marriages have gotten a very bad rap, by way of the relatively few horror stories they trot out to dissuade anyone from hooking up that way. But if one takes the time to actually study the thing, one comes away w/the view that it ain’t all as bad as some would try to make it out to be. And besides, w/the American track record of marriage, no American should even be thinking about turning their nose up at the option, one that has a much better track record, I might add.

At any rate, Yao Ming’s story raises all kinds of questions for astrologers. As the Olympic games, especially the Summer events, since they’re much more racially and ethnically intergrated, shows us, Human Biodiversity is Real. There is no getting around the different body types and aptitudes, talents and inclinations, of so many groups of players and atheletes. There’s no denying that certain groups clearly dominate certain events (like sprinting and long distance marathons, where West and East Africans continue to dominate the field, for example), and while other groups lockup others. All of this points to an undeniable, if not brutally politically incorrect Truth:

That the horscope MUST accomodate these particularities, or astrology will have proved itself useless. Additionally, we can see that astrology, especially as practiced in the West, has to contend w/the idea of "matchmaking"-arranged marriages-w/the particular intention or purpose of producing children w/an edge. In a word, eugenics.

Largely discredited after the horrors vistied on the Jewish people by the Nazis in the Holocaust, Eugenics nevertheless is a deep area of human concern, and will in this astrologer’s view never go away.

The ever expanding fertility industry, w/ever increasing arrays of IVF options, is just one such example of this fact. Women can choose the sperm of high IQ achievers if they wish, and many have done just that. To wit, one Jodie Foster. Look it up.

To select for the best potential mate is fully human, and as noted above, as Foster is a lesbian, even among gay folks this is true. So we astrologers need to get busy talkin’, because there are lots of people out there not only looking for a match but one that can produce Kids w/the Right Stuff.

Again, Yao Ming: Sep 12 1980 "shortly after 7PM" CCT Shanghai China. Placidus 13 Ari 02. Comments?

Holla back

Salaam
Mu

Mu'Min Returns

I deeply apologize to readers of Mu'Min Speaks, aka The Mu'Min Bey Astroblog. I've been busy as I don't know what over the past four r five months working like a dog, and haven't had the time to do as much as I'd have liked. This meant that blogging on the astrology of the day has fallen a bit by the wayside. But the good news is that I'm back - and I've got afew things to post up to prime the pump a bit, if you know what I mean.

Over the Summer, I've had the good fortune to spend a bit of time over at the Evolutionary Astrology forum on MySpace, and the moderator there, Cristina Smith, a grand lady, has been very nice and kind to me. Please go and check her forum out if so inclined, lots of really good discussions going on there.

Anyway, the next series of posts will be taken from wider discussions that I sparked off that happened there at EA. I'll post up the links to each one so as to enable th reader to go there, see the whole discussion and chime in if they so choose.

Stand By...

Salaam
Mu