Bradley Siderograph

Manfred Zimmel

(http://www.amanita.at/e/faq/e-bradley.htm; 2002)

The Bradley siderograph was developed in

the 40ies by Donald Bradley to forecast the
stock markets. Bradley assigned numerical
values to certain planetary constellations
for every day, and the sum is the
siderograph. It was originally intended to
predict the stock markets. The noted
technical analyst William Eng singled out
the Bradley as the only 'excellent' Timing
Indicator in his book, "Technical Analysis of
Stocks, Options, and Futures" (source:
Astrikos).

It is crucial to understand what the

siderograph is about since almost all
traders (and even and even financial
astrologers!) misunderstand it. Over the
decades it has been observed that the
siderograph can NOT (!!!) reliably predict
the direction but only turning points in the
financial markets (stocks, bonds, bonds,
commodities) within a time window of +/- 4
calendar days. Inversions (i.e. a high
instead of a low and vice versa) are quite
common. Also, it is not a timing tool for
short-term trends but rather for
intermediate-term to longer-term trends
because the turning window is +/- 4
calendar days.

The first chart shows the siderograph

based on the original formula as applied by
Bradley himself ("geocentric" means earth-
centered, i.e. from our perspective)

The second chart depicts the siderograph

from a heliocentric perspective
(calculations based on the position of the
sun instead of the earth).
The 360° siderograph distinguishes
between applying and separating
astrological aspects, i.e. between 120°/
240° and 90°/ 270°.

The last chart is the 360° heliocentric

siderograph.

Perhaps you want to know now which one

is the "correct" siderograph - the answer is
easy: none. Since Bradley's time dozens of
similar models with different paramaters
have been created, partly optimized with
the aid of artificial intelligence and for
specific markets (oil, currencies etc.). A
date which occurs in several different
models is probably important.
http://www.tradingtutor.com/newsletters/2-21-03.html
 Validating Donald Bradley's work on the Siderograph
Steven J. Williams

(http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/Exchange/9807/Charts/SP500-Articles/SideroWork.htm, 1999)

Validating Donald Bradley's work on the Siderograph¹ was no minor undertaking. For my initial process, I
am skipping through all of the detailed descriptions of why planetary alignments appear to have influences
on human beings. Astrologer's believe the planets hold mystical and spirtual powers that combine
together to uniquely influence individual personality and character traits. What is really missing, is hard
scientific evidence that shows what, if any, influences the planets in our solar system have on our
individual psyche. One of the features of Bradley's work was the discussion of the 3 1/2 year Business
Cycle (41 1/2 months), for which he attributed to the Jupiter-Uranus Aspect Cycle. His claim was
whenever Jupiter and Uranus formed specific aspects (or angles) with each other, a specific psychological
influence would befall the Earth and affect all human beings to some extent. These influences, Bradley
believed, were manefest through ups and downs in the economy as measured by bull and bear
campaigns in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).

Isolating the 3 1/2 Year Business Cycle

The following chart is my reproduction of Bradley's where the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) from
1903 to 1940 is displayed as the oscillation between a 9 month simple moving average and a 41-month
simple moving average.

The idea behind this chart is when the U.S. economy is doing well, the oscillator will be above the
centerline and when the economy is doing poorly the oscillator will be below the centerline. The magenta
symbols show when Jupiter and Uranus form aspects of 120° (trine, triangle) or 60° (sextile, 6-sided star).
These aspects are thought to cause positive influences, thus a rise in the economy as reflected in the
DJIA. Below the centerline, the blue symbols show when Jupiter and Uranus form aspects of 90° (square,
right-angles), 180° (opposition, planets on opposite sides), and 0° (conjunction, both planets are lined up).
These aspects are thought to cause negative influences, thus a fall in the economy and a fall in prices on
the DJIA.

The main difference between Bradley's published chart and mine is that his was drawn by hand and he
emphasized some of his oscillation peaks -- mine was done with a charting program, so the information is
presented exactly. The charts are similar enough that any minor visual discrepancies should not deter
from the intended message.

Therefore, Donald Bradley concluded (after much more explanation than what I have presented here), that
the Jupiter-Uranus aspects are responsible for the 3 1/2 Year Business Cycle.

Do Planets Influence The DJIA?

Bradley displayed charts that showed the Observed Effects of Venus-Uranus Aspects relative to the DJIA.
The following are a set of charts made by tracking the historical locations of the 2 planets: Venus and
Uranus, and plotting what happened to the DJIA during specific aspects from 1900-1940. I have created
composite charts showing, for example, what happens to the DJIA each time Venus and Uranus are within
12° either side of each major aspect (ie: 90° and 270°, 120° and 240°, 0°, and 180°. All occurances of
these aspects are then composited together to show the average of all occurances.

These charts show the effects when these two planets for "square" aspects (90° and 270°). I have shown
the times when both planets are moving in the same "direct" direction and also when Uranus is move in
the retrograde² direction. I find it interesting how the 90° charts are almost identical even though
completely different sets of data were used. But, the 270° charts are quite different -- I do not offer an
explanation why this is so. Three of the 4 charts have almost identical chart patterns, yet each was
created from disjoint sets of data.
Planetary Aspects
Why do certain planetary aspects cause psychological changes in humans? There are many theories
about this subject, far too deep to discuss in much detail here. For my own visual aid, I think of these
aspects in a similar way as I would view 2 overlapping window screens (wire or mesh mosquito netting).
When they are lined up perfectly (0°, conjuction) the pattern is very stable. When one screen is turned
exactly 90°, the pattern is different, but again very stable. When one screen is moved at a very slight
angle from these otherwise stable aspects, the pattern becomes very unstable and you begin to see moire
patterns.

People who work in print shops are quite aware of this problem when they compose color "negatives" for
the printing presses. Color photographs must be created in the darkroom such that each separated color
(cyan, magenta, and canary) have its own master negative and its own pattern of "dots". If you look very
closely at a printed color photograph, you should see these very tiny dots. The printer must decide how to
overlap these 3 color images so the dots will not cancel each other out, but also form a stable pattern. The
pattern that works best for printing is one where tiny rosette patterns are formed. The normal angles are:
15° cyan, 75° magenta, 0° canary, and 45° for black. Any moire effects from most other angles would be
very undesirable and the printed photograph would appear fuzzy, out of focus, or have noticable moire-
waves.

Constructing The Siderograph

The basic construction of the Sideriograph requires a complete list of planetary positions for each day (or
week, month, etc) to be charted. The angles for all combinations of one planet with each of the others is
assembled. If any angle for any combination (except 0° conjunction, discussed below) is within 15° either
side of the primary angles (60°, 90°, 120°, and 180°), we would build a composite for each day that would
portray each angle as having maximum influence when it is exact and tappering off in strength as it
approaches the 15° limit on eaither side. All squares (90° and 270°) and all oppositions (180°) are all
considered negative. All sextiles (60° and 300°) and all trines (120° and 240°) are considered positive.
Conjunctions are handled separately because this time each planet in combination with another has
different influences, as follows:

Valency Of Conjunctions

Moon Sun Mer Ven Mar Jup Sat Ura Nep Plu
Moon + + + - + - - + -
Sun + + + - + - + - -
Mercury + + + - + - + + -
Venus + + + - + - + + +
Mars - - - - - - - - -
Jupiter + + + + - - - + -
Saturn - - - - - - - - -
Uranus - + + + - - - - -
Neptune + - + + - + - - -
Pluto - - - + - - - - -

Before we can begin to assemble the plot data for the Sideriograph, there is one more piece of information
needed. This is the combined angle of declinations of the planets Mars and Venus. No other planet
declinations are used.

Once all of the data is assembled for each day, you separate the long-term aspect from the medium-term
aspects. Any combination of slower moving planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in aspect
to another from this same group of planets, are collectively referred to as "long-term". All other planetary
aspect combinations are referred to as "medium-term". The final algebraic formula is as follows:

S=W(L+D)+M
Where: M is the average of the (m)edium terms, L is the average of the (l)ong terms, D is the
(d)eclinations, and W is a factor used to add extra (w)eight to the long-term planets (Bradley suggests
W=4).

Perform this computation for each day on a chart and plot the connection of all points into a continuous
waving line. I highly recommend doing this exercise with the assistance of a computer -- Bradley did all of
his research work using mechanical adding machines and pencil & paper.

When Bradley presented his work, he demonstrated how the final Siderograph chart would closely track
and forecast the DJIA for any time and any timeframe. He used the DJIA chart from 1946 as an example,
as follows.

One problem with Bradley's conclusion, was that 1946 was coincidentally a good year to compare the
DJIA along with the Siderograph. When the same formulas are applied to other years, the correlation fails
to perform as well. In the chart above, the blue box area is the year 1946 which was the example Bradley
used as "proof" that the Siderograph could be used to forecast the DJIA. However, as you can see 1945
and 1947 did not track as well.
Useful Application Of The Siderograph
Just because rising lines of the Siderograph do not necessarily reflect rising prices in the DJIA, there is
one very important benefit in the Siderograph that still remains effective. When the Siderograph makes a
change in direction, however minor, it appears that the DJIA also sometimes changes direction exactly at
the same moment (+/- 1 or 2 days in most cases). One very good recent example was the mini-crash on
October 28, 1997 -- the siderograph correctly predicted the bottom of the sell-off, exactly to-the-day.

In his book The Technical Analysis of Stocks, Bonds & Futures³, author William F. Eng considers
astronomical cycles as "excellent" in dertrmining turning points in changing markets. Mr. Eng devotes 3
pages to Donald Bradley's Siderograph and provides more descriptive instructions on assembling the
calculations of the Siderograph chart.

Notes:
¹Stock Market Prediction - the Planetary Barometer and How to Use It by Donald A. Bradley, 1949. No
ISBN available.
²Retrograde: the apparent "backward" motion of a planet, an illusion caused by a geocentric (earth view)
of the planets when the elliptical motion of the Earth appears to move faster than another planet, usually
while the planet appears to be crossing behind the sun.
³The Technical Analysis of Stocks, Bonds & Futures by William F. Eng, 1988 ISBN 1-55738-003-1.

(http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ellsann/Bradley.html)