BIG UNIVERSE is a collection of heavenly bodies that impact human behavior, as explained by physics, astronomy & astrology.
Big Universe, Human Behavior & Financial Markets
on Humans/Behavior page, i have shown that a behavior based model is a better predictor of financial markets & your personal returns than its counterparts like fundamental or technical analysis, although i use all of them in my practice
being a curious mind, now i wonder what drives the humans behavior [toward their investments] ..? & if i can find the driver of human behavior then i can predict the market behavior .. like any person who believes in God looks up (i.e in the sky) for a solution to all his problems, so did i … & fortunately, i found my solution looking up ..!
& my conclusion is that the universe plays a major role in how individuals behave & hence how do they deal with their investments.
first, the reason i call it the big universe is to distinguish from little universe, which revolves around a person (discussed on next page under same Humans).
Big Universe
the universe we all live in consists of a large number of heavenly bodies around us, which is same for all of us but is different when we look from an individual’s perspective; i.e. our coordinates are 0,0,0,0 (x,y,z, time) where you are right now & changing as time is progressing, while your location coordinates remain fairly fixed in the context of big universe … contrast to yours, i have my own coordinates (as 0,0,0,0) based on my location, but changing with time … both of us are facing a different universe – make sense ? … i may add a picture in future to explain this further … the big universe is what we typically call as physical universe.
the key aspect of big universe is that there is not much you can do about it except understand it and be prepared to deal with it (more on this below) … & there are developed branches of science – Astronomy & Astrology – to understand the physical universe.
similar to human universe, the physical universe also has various factors that affect your behavior
first a few examples from your personal life, where human behavior is driven by the universe and, in general, we have no control on it, unless you seriously go after it to fight it
A. let’s say i live in Vegas and wake up at an hour before Sunrise, so my wake up time has two variables – sunrise & a delta to which i have adjusted my body – now, if i visit Germany at some point … after having a couple of days of jet lag, my body still wakes up at an hour before Sunrise; so, my body is directly influenced by the Universe – in this case, Sun – without any help from a clock, even though the two times are different in absolute sense, but my body and hence my behavior follows certain cycle dictated by the universe
B. a women menstrual cycle (the process of ovulation of 28 days) follows the moon’s cycle and humans, in general, have no control on it … unless they really disturb it using artificial hormones .
here are a few examples of factors which come from physical Universe & impact your investment behavior:
a. the hour of the day (e.g. how traders behave at NYSE market open or close)
b. the time of the day (e.g. NYSE opens @ 0630PST and closes @ 1300PST on weekdays)
c. the day of the week (e.g.: how many people look forward to going to work on Mondays ..? … how many projects @ your workplace were started on Fridays, i.e. right before weekend – hopefully none … when did you start a new project @ your home – weekdays or weekends ?
d. the seasons (e.g. how markets typically behave post Q2 and Q3 earnings?), etc.
e. the economic news that you listen to is already scheduled ahead, based on time (day of he week/month) … & time is controlled by universe.
the interesting thing about non-Human factors/events is that they are scheduled ahead of time on certain day/date, although we may not their know their outcome … hold on to this thought for few minutes.
Astrology
astrology, physics & mathematics; mix it with psychology
are you wondering, why there is a picture depicting Newton’s law of Gravitational forces in this section …? it is because both Astrology and Newton’s law are based on the concept that any two bodies impact each other due to the gravitational force between them … however, the limitation of Newton’s law is that it only gives you the force between two bodies & that too dead bodies; i.e. physical bodies;
on the contrary, astrology gives you the interaction between 7 heavenly bodies, which are close to us and an individual [living on earth & not a physical/dead body] & how does the interaction of forces vary with time .. & most interesting part is that rather than using some complicated partial differential mathematical equations, they used a [two dimensional] piece of paper, and designed a chart also known as Kundali … now both these things are known to many of you; so, what the hell is my contribution ..?
well, i am using both Newton’s law and Astrology, and further extending these concepts with addition of psychology & emotions – yours and people around you – and using two sets of universe – the little universe and the big universe … which i don’t think has done by anyone before … got it ..!
astrology is based on cycles & statistics … it simply says that heavenly bodies (planets / graha), as they rotate around Sun, generate certain patterns over time; similarly life of humans on earth follows certain patterns & there is a statistical correlation between the two .. even though the correlation is not proven scientifically yet, both share the same concept which is gravitational forces and hence worshiping the planets (Graha pooja) is followed in Hindusim, which is based on the concept that planets influence human behavior and life cycle.
Vedic astrology is developed thousands of years ago in India, however, in contrast to common belief, it has nothing to do with predicting one’s future which is what psychics and taro card readers do … rather astrology is a combination of physics, mathematics & statistics to predict human behavior .. & that’s why it is relevant in this context.
let me give you a simple example … as per astrology, Sun, Moon & other planets affect our behavior .. well, according to Newton any two bodies affect each other with the law of gravitation force between them as described in the picture on the right – Sun is most important to us not only because it is the source of energy, but also as it is the heaviest body in our planet system and moon is closest to us (its impact is high due to rSquare under the line) although not the heaviest & then you apply the Newton’s law.
what about my free will ..?
for science dudes, who don’t understand and believe in astrology … as described above, the influence of graha/heavenly bodies is per Newton’s law, so you don’t have a choice .. just like you don’t have a choice of gravity, when you live on earth .. everyone experiences it, & just about the same, except if you choose to live high up on a mountain or deep inside the sea, & even in those cases difference is about iota ..!
so, what about free will ..? of course, you have the free will & can do whatever you like to do, but the question is alignment vs non-alignment with nature’s forces ..?
& the difference is .. that you can choose to jump from the 20th floor of a building .. that’s you choice / free will, but you are acting is non-alignment of gravity & the consequences will be yours only … on the contrary, earth’s gravity holds you while rotating at about 1000 miles / hour around its axis and 67,000 miles / hour around Sun & you still don’t feel unsafe, while walking on the street or hiking in the mountains, as long as the center of gravity of your body stays within .. that’s alignment.
why/how do the physical universe factors occur ..?
the answer is that many physical universe factors occur because of certain time (i.e. a day, week, month, year) … a concept that we have invented to relate with objects that are present in the Universe.
ok, it is getting bit complicated, so let me simplify … the physical universe factors like the day of the week, month of the year & days in a year are created by us (!), using bodies that are hanging in the Universe around us, like each time Dear Sun shows up, we call it a new day … each time ms. earth completes a cycle around mr. Sun, we call it an Year … then there are cycles and positions of other planets in the solar system and the baby moon, which keep on changing on daily basis … since we know how these physical universe factors are structured and scheduled in future, things happen in our lives or we behave in certain way because of time, which repeats in cycles giving us days, weeks, months, year etc. … therefore, following time (and other physical universe factors), we can predict Human behavior.
so, financial markets follow cycles (see Markets page), and Humans follow cycles based on objects in the Universe (this page) … and the human behavior impacts financial markets (see Humans Page) … do you see a connection here ..?
however, it’s a tall order to aggregate individual behavior and arrive at something at macro level, but, whatever little i have learned so far, it seems promising … and i am working on it, among 512 other things & part of my 50 years plan.
let’s take a few examples related to financial market: many of our actions are planned & executed based on the day of the week; the stocks and indexes are measured on a daily basis (among other ways); the economic indicators are measured and released on weekly/monthly basis; companies report their earnings on Quarterly (10Q) and yearly basis (10K).
the above paragraphs describes abstract concepts that literally come from sky (i.e. the universe we live in … remember star trek & star wars .. i grew up with them in 1970s) … now imagine taking the concepts of day/week/month/quarter/year out of your financial life … and see what can you do without them ..?
there won’t be much left .. huh? .. so, astronomy & astrology (A&A) impact human behavior, and human behavior impacts financial markets; therefore, by association, A&A impacts financial markets … plus, i plan to interpret A&A using physics, maths & statistics (my favorite trio) … so, i only plan to present the facts here which are supported by science and not some religious argument … and that’s how i developed my interest in Vedic Astrology, which has been used in India for thousands of years, and involves serious mathematical stuff to predict individual Human behavior … so, let’s start with understanding solar system where we live (or literally hang) in this Universe.
AND the Newton’s law of Gravitational forces tells us how other heavenly bodies around us exert forces on us.
technically speaking, all celestial bodies have an impact on us – according to Newton’s law of gravitational forces; however, it is not practical to consider all of them … additionally, the gravitational force between two bodies is inversely proportional to the square of distance between them; so, farther they are, much less impact they will have.
Uranus & Neptune are not only farthest from us, but also much smaller in comparison to Jupiter or Saturn; therefore, not considered in VA … the key is that moon, although small in comparison, is closest to us & hence has the most impact – a key difference between Vedic and western astrology (which is oriented around sun).
our solar system – we and our closest neighbors
look at the relative size of earth compared to other planets, and we all fight for a small piece of EARTH even when we know that it is NOT going to stay with us forever.
the Sun rotates around the Earth …
this line will raise some eyebrows … in fact, based on people’s interpretation this is how it is written in Bible … first of all, both Sun & Earth are hanging & moving in space so their motion is relative & you can not say in absolute sense who is moving around whom … it all depends upon from your perspective; i.e. a reference point.
so let me share a relevant and practical perspective – here is how a meteorologist tells you on TV .. that a sunrise will occur at 0600AM & sunset @ 0630PM … see the words the sun rises and sets around you, so Sun is in motion and not Earth; & if the situation is opposite, we will describe Earth’s movement in reference to Sun, which would be like, today we will be facing Sun at 0600AM & opposite to it at 0630PM … you got the point.
this is really important to grasp if you want understand the stock market’s behavior – as i see it – a sunrise in Japan/Australia starts the market day, and as Sun moves throughout the day, people in various regions wake up and react to the news in current as well as past regions – i.e. the Japanese & Australian markets will react to what happened in China earlier; & when Europe wakes up (because Sun shows up there!), they react to the news from Asia and there own; & finally it’s NY, which reacts to the rest of the world news along with its own.
so who is moving .. you decide ..!
what is the significance of date of birth in astrology ..?
in astrology, your birth chart is formed based on the date, time & location of your birth … now, why are these variables significant in anyone’s life … let me try to explain using a different universe – marketing.
below are a few high level main generations [definition] used by marketers, as people born in:
1) 1928 – 1945 : Post-War/The Great Recession Cohort (Warren Buffett is from this generation)
2) 1946 – 1964 : The Baby Boomers
3) early 1960s – early 1980s: Gen X
4) early 1980s – 2000: Gen Y – Millennials
marketers categories us using the year we are born (in a 10-20 year cycle) and predict our purchasing and even investment behavior (liking of stock market or not!) based on that, as we all are going through similar circumstances (based on economic cycle) … so, why astrology, a statistical process based on so much data that goes out thousand of years, and goes so deep that it uses the date, time (in milliseconds) and location, can’t predict an individual’s behavior / life cycle ..?
think about it ..!
how can the position of garahas (ग्रह) be used to predict a person’s behavior or life cycle ..?
if you attended a business / marketing class, you know that marketers divide us (Humans) based on our psychological profiles … e.g. Myers Briggs (MBTI) and other psychological indicators are based on a set of questions whose answers are interpreted based on statistics … each system defines a finite set – like Myers Briggs Type indicator divides all of us under 16 categories … meaning, as much as we are different, we follow behavior patterns in certain categories … and these categories have associated statistics (including, given a random sample, we can predict % of people that would fall in a category) …
i happened to be an INTP (introversion, intuition, thinking & perceiving) – seem to be rare breed (that’s what my analyst told me, plus how can someone work with me!) and on top of that my answers were so out of line that i fell into 1% category among INTPs … here is a description of INTP from myersbriggs.org site:
Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable; Have unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical.
that pretty much sums up my behavior, and interestingly, the above paragraph is derived based on statistical data, as other people, who have answered the MB questions similar to me, showed such behavior … why such things work statistically …? mainly because most of the things/observations in this universe can be categorized using a bell curve – a statistical phenomena.
now, let’s review this using astrology … our ancestors observed a pattern that humans can be categorized in certain behavioral categories and follow certain life cycle … since these guys were mathematicians; therefore, studying the planetary cycles & predicting their path, found out that there is a statistical correlation between planetary positions & their movement, and the behavior and life cycles of individuals, then why not use it … just like Myers Briggs.
think about it ..!
what’s the significance of a kundali in Vedic Astrology ..?
a Kundali (कुंडली) is one of the mathematical instrument used in astrology describing the relative position of Graha (ग्रह) at the time of the birth of a child – a complex three dimensional data set onto a piece of paper … a good astrologer can tell you a lot about life cycle and a number of behavioral related questions about the person, given you have the correct date, time & place of birth … BTW, the Hindu system can handle seconds and milliseconds as input, but the fact is that it is almost impossible to know an exact time of birth even in this age, unless you are well prepared ahead of time.
imagine a child is born in front of you … how would you describe the absolute & relative (between two ग्रह) position of nine ग्रह in the sky at the time of birth … our ancient astrologers ऋषि (Rishi) were genius to arrive at a presentation chart shown on the right.
first, the sky is divided into 12 sections known as zodiac (राशि) … each राशि represents 30 degree in the sky (360 degree / 12) … the Kundali (कुंडली) is a collection of 12 houses, each representing a section in the sky … the numbering of these houses is based on the राशि sequencing … and, based on the राशि that sun is residing and how each ग्रह is positioned relative to sun … one-on-one mapping of three dimensional (3D) picture into two dimensions (2D) … marvelous & amazing astronomy & geometry skills … transforming something which seems asymmetrical into symmetry … developed thousands of years ago … now, that’s beauty.
and then the planets (नवग्रह) are placed in various houses based on their location in the sky (राशि ) at that point in time … since planets (ग्रह) move in three dimensions, two or more of them can be aligned in such a way that they reside in the same section (zodiac, 30 degree) in the sky; hence sharing a house in the Kundali (कुंडली) … beyond comprehension, how this simple picture shown in above section combines such a complex data set in two dimension form.