On January 1, 1987 Uranus in the sky moved into orb of a conjunction aspect with Neptune; and the in-sky merger of Uranus – the planet of technology – and Neptune – the planet of corporations, investors and bubbles – scripted a sensational chapter in humanity’s story – online business and investing.
Thirteen years later on March 10, 2000 the dotcom bubble bursts and Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune explain what happened when it did. Here’s the story.
The Uranus-Neptune conjunction reached its end date in January 2000 and was at peak power in 1993 – on February 2, 1993, August 20, 1993 and October 24, 1993 – and that year two significant events directly related to the online story occurred.
The world’s first web site and server had gone live in 1990 and on April 30, 1993 the European Organization for Nuclear Research placed its World Wide Web technology in the public domain; and on July 27, 1993 Microsoft began manufacturing Windows NT operating systems. The curtain was rising on a new and amazing world of technology, commerce and investment.
1995-1997
In 1995 eBay Inc and Microsoft Corporation were founded; Amazon.com Inc opened its doors; and Microsoft released ‘Windows 95’. It included the first version of the Internet browser ‘Internet Explorer.’
On August 9, 1995,Netscape Communications, whose primary product was the Navigator web browser, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, launching the eCommerce age. The stock was priced at $28.00 per share, but quickly soared to $75.00 before closing at $58.00. The age of online-investing had arrived. Uranus was conjunction Neptune and Saturn was sextile Neptune in the sky.
In late 1996-early 1997 Jupiter – the planet of commerce – fuelled the commercialization of the internet and the stock market euphoria.
On January 9, 1997 Jupiter was conjunction Neptune in the sky > start date was November 3, 1996; and on February 16, 1997 Jupiter was conjunction Uranus > start date was December 9, 1996.
On April 12, 1996 Yahoo trades as a public company and its stock price more than doubles to $33.00: And on May 15, 1997 Amazon.com goes public at $18.00 a share.
1998-1999: Euphoric investors are flying high
In 1998 stock prices soared and in 1999 hysteria engulfed the market.
On September 24, 1998 eBay went public at $18.00 per share, but quickly climbed to $53.50 before closing at $47.35 – a one-day gain of 163%; and in March, 1999 Priceline.com, a travel discount website, went public and on its first day of public trading its share price soared from $16.00 to over $86.00.
But the speculative euphoria was driven by Neptune discord.
On April 2, 1998 Saturn in the sky had moved into orb of a square aspect with Neptune and from then till June 25, 1999 Saturn and Neptune formed the perfect square aspect three times – on June 25, 1998, November 1, 1998 and April 6, 1999.
Then in April and May 1999 a precarious in-sky situation turned ominous.
On March 1, 1999 Saturn moved to Taurus – the sign of money; and after some toing and froing Saturn, on April 25, 1999, moved into orb of a square aspect with Uranus. It was exact and at peak power on July 18, 1999 and reached its end date on May 13, 2000.
And on May 28, 1999 Jupiter in the sky moved into orb of a square aspect with Neptune and their three square aspects were perfect and at peak power on July 21, 1999, October 11, 1999 and March 16, 2000.
Then on February 9, 2000 Jupiter moved into orb of a conjunction aspect with Saturn and their in-sky merger reached peak power on May 28, 2000.
March 10, 2000: The technology dotcom boom busts
On Friday March 10, 2000 the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index hit an all time peak high of 5132.52 – it signalled the end of the dotcom boom. On Monday March 13 it opened 4.5% lower. The dotcom bubble had burst. Jupiter was conjunction Saturn and square Neptune in the sky.
An inflation (Neptune) report in April 2000 made matters worse and over the following months a majority of the dotcom companies which were way overvalued (discordant Jupiter) became worthless (Saturn).
On May 13, 2000 Saturn was square Uranus in the sky; and on May 20, 2000 Jupiter was square Uranus in the sky.
The Nasdaq goes up then down
On January 1, 1995 the Nasdaq stock index stood at 743.58.
On January 1, 1999 it had reached 2208.05 and 15 months later – on March 10, 2000 – it had boomed to 5132.52.
Nine months later it ended 2000 at 2470.52 – a 52% drop from its March 2000 high. In December, 2000 eBay shares hit a low of $2.81.
On October 9, 2002 the Nasdaq hit a bear market low of 1114.11. It took 15 years to recover.
A brief synopsis of the 1990s dotcom bubble
In the mid-to-late 1990s internet-based companies were seen as the future of commerce (Jupiter); and Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune scripted the commercialization the internet.
By 1995 investors (Neptune) – high on speculative euphoria – were dreaming of untold riches; but Neptune’s dotcom bubble was destined to burst in spectacular fashion.
The bubble occurred in 1999-2000 when an abundance of investment capital (Jupiter) and valuations based on unrealistic metrics (Neptune) and frenzied speculation (house 5) became a recipe for disaster. Jupiter and Saturn were square Neptune in the sky.
The Nasdaq crashed on March 13, 2000 and by May 2000 many promising dotcom companies had gone out of business. Jupiter was conjunction Saturn and square Neptune in the sky.
By October 2002 the market had lost more than 75 percent of its value.
The busting of the dotcom bubble precipitated the 2001 stock market crash that cost investors a whopping $5 trillion.
The Nasdaq goes up and down but has steadily risen since 2015 and on January 1, 2020 it opened at 9,092.19. On July 9, 2020 it closed at 10,547.75 – a record high
On December 21, 2020 Jupiter is conjunction and parallel Saturn in the sky; and Jupiter and Saturn are square Uranus (tech-stocks).
So from now till then the stock market’s chief antagonists aren’t Neptune’s irrational, euphoric exuberance and wishful thinking they’re Jupiter’s careless optimism, Saturn’s fearful pessimism and Uranus’s ability to produce unexpected shocks out of the blue.
Related reading
- Saturn and the 1980 and 1982 recessions
- Jupiter conjunction Saturn: December 21, 2020
- More about the in-sky Jupiter-Saturn conjunction
Astrology for Aquarius – sharing our knowledge
