Coming Great Depression

FUTURE STOCK MARKET CRASHESAND THE COMING GREAT DEPRESSION

By Robert Gover

It's not news to astrologers that there are many and various ways to read "God's newsletter." As a stargazer with a long interest in the economy, I focus on the simplest and easiest to communicate: transits to the US natal chart which have repeatedly coincided with turning-point events: wars, great depressions, stock market crashes and social upheavals.

The primary transits I track are Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the slowest-moving, most distant planets. Secondarily, I keep an eye on Mars, Jupiter, the Moon's Nodes and Lunations.

I also take into consideration that the stars do not compel. We respond to planetary aspects according to what we believe. And that can be a problem because we tend to cling to old beliefs. Which, in turn, usually makes hard angles more difficult to deal with. I encapsulate this tendency in the phrase Belief Trumps Evidence. Too often we find evidence that supports our beliefs and overlook evidence that does not.

Belief takes on added importance as we proceed into the future under President Bush and his neo-conservative (pro-Israel) junta. It's their beliefs which now drive pre-emptive military attacks, tax cuts for the rich, huge trade deficits, corporate accounting fraud, record indebtedness, dependence on oil, a dysfunctional health care system, and a corporate-controlled press that "protects" us from information needed to make democracy work.

For this and other reasons, I view Bush and his inner circle as the unwitting agents of Pluto, bringer of the growing chaos that will lead to social disintegration preceding revolutionary change. The stock markets and whole economy are now being affected by that chaos and disintegration. Eventually, the new will arise out of the ashes of the old.

In Part One of this series, "Stock Market Crashes Past," I noted that every crash since 1857 has coincided with an affliction to the USA's natal Mars/Neptune square. I also noted that what is most unique about the first and second decades of the 21st Century is that Pluto hasn't been where it now is since the French and Indian War and years of growing chaos leading to the American Revolution of 1776.

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Financial markets today are vastly different from what they were one cycle of Pluto ago, for now huge sums of money can be made instantaneously by wire-transfer bets on currency ratios and a variety of derivatives. These trades make huge dollar profits but do not produce real wealth. The loss of the distinction between paper money and concrete wealth creates a few super-rich, many poor, and crumbling infrastructure. "Paper profits" evaporate in a wink when stocks crash. Concrete wealth--valuable things--endure though good times and bad.

Overall ProjectionThe dot.com bull market ended and a long, protracted

bear market began when Pluto came within a 10 degree orb of an opposition to the US Mars (April 2000) and this long bear market will segue into an economic winter lasting till 2019 or longer, depending on how wisely we respond to Pluto's demand for radical reforms. The Pluto-slow gradualness of this worsening economic situation will, I think, seem more like bringing water to a boil slowly--as compared to the last great depression which boiled quickly. The frog will cook instead of leap. Following the Saturnian Crash of 1929, the economy was wrecked in three years. I expect it will take from April 2000 till 2015 for this Pluto cycle depression to hit bottom.

The only previous time stocks dropped more than three years in a row was 1932, during the worst years of the last great depression. Pluto's orbit averages 248 years. It hasn't been where it now is since the 1750s-1760s.

It's not "written in the stars" that we'll have another great depression. What's likely is that prevailing beliefs will cause resistance to Pluto's inevitable change, and this will drive the economy into the first great depression of the new century.

I look for this to unfold in three stages: 1) a long bear stock market, 2) a deflation of real estate prices, and 3) the euro replacing the dollar as the currency of choice for international trade.

Gaps and BubblesHistorically, new record wealth gaps concurrent with

speculative bubbles have preceded great depressions. Bubbles don't burst in a day or a week; they usually take years to deflate. Since the tech bubble popped in 2000, real estate has been seen as propping up the overall economy. The bursting of the tech bubble "disappeared" $5 trillion of assets but housing prices have risen and interest rates dropped, and now around 60 percent of homeowners have mortgage indebtedness at or exceeding 80 percent of the value of their

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homes. Home prices are at record levels, creating a real estate bubble. The bursting of the stock bubble impacted mainly the wealthy few. The bursting of the real estate bubble will impact the middle class and working poor.

"The United States has had a real estate cycle of roughly 18 years, starting as early as 1800...Historical data from the US, Great Britain, Germany and other countries have shown that real estate booms have preceded major depressions." (1)

This 18-year real estate cycle, noticed in the US and elsewhere, corresponds to the cycles of the Moon's Nodes. When the North Node moves through Capricorn, real estate activity contracts. About 9 years later when it travels through Cancer (opposite Capricorn) real estate prices rise and sometimes boom into speculative bubbles. The backward-moving North Node left Cancer and entered Gemini in October 2001, indicating the boom has peaked and we're now in the early stages of real estate's down cycle. We can expect the housing market to deflate during this phase of the Node's 18.6 year cycle, bottoming by 2010.

Upside Down DowMy method of interpreting the astro-economic stock

market indicators suggests the first two decades of the 21st Century will appear, in retrospect, like an upside down Dow chart of the 1980s and 1990s. During those two decades, the Dow went dramatically up with but a few brief stumbles, most notably the crash of '87. My surmise is the Dow is now going to go down steadily, with a few sharp up moves that quickly peter out, much as the drops of the '80s and '90s quickly recovered. I foresee this downward trend continuing till at least 2015; beyond that it will depend on how we collectively react.

As I write this, the next danger season for the financial markets is February 24, 2003, give or take a week on either side, when stocks are likely to take a nose dive, followed by another in March. In Chart 1 for this date, notice that the US Mars/Neptune square is afflicted by a conjunction of transiting Mars, Moon and Pluto in Sagittarius, opposite transiting Saturn, stationary at 22 Gemini, conjunct the US Mars. The Saturn-Pluto opposition is triggered by Mars and the Moon. Pluto, by itself, can be expected to exert downward pressure on stocks. Crashes can be expected when Pluto's position is triggered by other transiting planets. In February, those others will be Mars and Saturn, and briefly the Moon.

By the end of March, (see Chart 2) the Saturn-Pluto opposition will still be afflicting the US Mars-square-Neptune, while Mars and Chiron in Capricorn (opposite the US Sun) will

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be squaring the Sun and Mercury in Aries (opposite the US Saturn) creating a brief grand cross with the US Sun-square-Saturn--it will culminate and part quickly this time because all the planets involved, except Chiron, move on quickly. Coming on the heels of the late February aspects, I think we can expect a mood of anxiety to continue, especially if there is war in Iraq. November through December, a Mars-Jupiter opposition will join Venus conjunct Pluto to depress stocks, while an opposition of Chiron and Saturn will "hit" the US Sun-square-Saturn: another danger time.

Autocracy Vs. DemocracyKeep in mind that the next two decades, as indicated by

Pluto's transit, will be about the worldwide struggle between old and new, autocracy and democracy: the imbalance created by top-down command-and-control corporate-dominated governments. Those who profit from the fruits of mankind's labors may feel compelled to perpetrate the most horrendous conflicts in history to protect what they believe is God's will, i.e. their wealth and power. It's guns at high noon between old and new, and high noon is likely to peak at the winter solstice of 2012, the Mayan 13 baktun or Great Cycle. I'll come back to this.

Driving occasional upswings through 2003 will be Uranus and Neptune in Aquarius, forming a 120-degree trine to Uncle Sam's natal Uranus and Mars in Gemini. Don't look for a sustained recovery, though, because Uranus will move beyond this trine in the spring of 2003, turn retrograde, then enter Pisces in January 2004 and be within orb of an opposition to Sam's natal Neptune by June 2004. The last time Uranus moved opposite Sam's natal Neptune, we had the crash of 1920 and a depression, although not a great depression. (It was when Uranus moved out of Pisces into Aries opposite Sam's Saturn that the great depression of the 1930s struck).

Corporate FiefdomsEven before Uranus moves opposite natal Neptune, the

predominant direction for stock prices is likely to be down because of Pluto's long affliction to the US Mars-square-Neptune, while the other planets, especially Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, periodically trigger Pluto's pressure. The efforts of bankers and bureaucrats to prop up stock prices will be foiled by Pluto opposite where it was during the 1890s and first decade of the 20th Century: Look for reruns of the Panics of 1893, 1903 and 1907. Maybe some audacious politician will appear to play the kind of role Teddy Roosevelt played earlier in the 20th Century, reforming the system, but don't count on it. An empire of corporate

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fiefdoms is much stronger today than it was back then. This corporate empire now owns and controls our politicians via campaign contributions and lobbyists. No longer does the US government control corporations; it now cooperates with them to plunder the public.

2004Jupiter will turn retrograde January 4, 2004 at 18

Virgo and by late February its conjunction with the US Neptune will be out of orb. At the same time, Pluto's affliction from Sagittarius will tighten its orb and by the end of February be almost exactly opposite the US Mars and thus also tightly square the US Neptune. By end of April 2004, Jupiter will be out of aspect but Mars will have moved into Gemini and be conjunct the US Mars with Pluto at 21 Sagittarius nearly precisely opposite, indicating another hurricane season for stocks. Jupiter will turn direct in May 2004 and form an exact conjunction to the US Neptune during the summer of 2004. Stocks can be expected to continue down this year, with brief up moves.

Tempestuous ElectionAs the presidential campaign of 2004 is turning into

its homestretch in August (see Chart 3) Jupiter and Pluto afflict Sam's Mars-Neptune, then in mid-September, Warrior Mars will conjunct Sam's natal Neptune. On the outer wheel of Chart 3 notice that Mars, Sun and Jupiter are conjunct the US Neptune, forming a T square with natal Mars and transiting Pluto at 19 Sagittarius. The presidential election of 2004 is likely to be even more tempestuous than the one in 2000. Will we be ready by then to investigate charges that computerized voting machines are being rigged by neo-cons? (2)

By elections in November 2004, Pluto is within 1 degree of a precise opposition to Uncle Sam's financially sensitive Mars. This will form a tight T square with Sam's Neptune in Virgo. The exactness of this aspect suggests intense trouble on Wall Street. Pluto is famous for dredging up corruption, so we can look for the second act of the Enron (et al.) scandals of 2001-2002. A bumper crop of rotten apples are ready to fall as Pluto's opposition to the US Mars tightens.

The Neo-Con BeliefThe neo-conservative belief was put succinctly by The

Economist Magazine (3): "Enron showed that there is no substitute for constant scrutiny and questioning. In the end, if investors are ready to suspend disbelief when confronted by companies with inflated numbers and implausible business plans, no amount of regulation can save

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them. For prudent investors, the price of the market place has to be eternal vigilance."

In other words, Mr. and Ms. Investor, your government is not going to protect you from predatory corporate executives and their good-old-boy accountant friends. Your government is not going to stop the plundering, it's going to facilitate it. The mission of corporate public relations experts is to misinform.

I call President George Bush an agent of Pluto because, serving a core constituency of wealthy conservatives, Christian fundamentalists and Israeli lobbyists, he facilitates the disintegration into social chaos Pluto's present position indicates. As I write this, it looks like Bush and co. may have our friends in the military mired in Baghdad fighting urban guerillas while we consumers further enrich oil companies by high prices at gas pumps during 2003. Bush is widely seen as one brick short of a full load, but he is surrounded by good church-goers with high IQ's and the ethics of cornered alley cats. What they have most to fear is the rising euro replacing the dollar. (4)

Iraq, besides being seen as a threat to Israel, switched to euros in November 2000 and made an extra profit on oil sales as the euro rose about 20 percent. Both Russia and China have recently switched some bank reserves from dollars to euros. If this trend continues, euros will replace dollars as the currency of international trade--which, in turn, will add greatly to the woes of falling stocks and real estate.

"Once the dollar has come to the end of its useful life, it will be cast aside without concern or care for your life savings, your well being, or the well being of any of your investments. This is a cycle that repeats itself over and over with governments and fiat currencies." (5)

2005-2006If our first and only court-appointed president wins

the election of 2004 (or his beneficiaries find reason to declare Martial Law), the social disintegration will accelerate dramatically. No matter who is in the White House by 2005, Pluto's sojourn through late Sagittarius into early Capricorn indicates a critical need for economic reform. Excess wealth creates hubris-caused brain damage, disabling wealthy sufferers from perceiving that money is the life blood of the whole economic corpus. Their greed is like a snake devouring its own tail.

In the last great depression, it was Saturn moving through late Sagittarius into Capricorn (and into a square with Uranus) which coincided with millions of Americans

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losing their life savings when banks went down. This time, instead of banks failing, investment funds will disappear trillions of pension dollars and life savings. By 2005-06, expect Wall Street insides to be doing that neo-con dance called, "Take the money and run."

Correlating with Pluto's affliction, we can expect the coming great depression to be more long-lasting than the previous four (1930s, 1870s, 1840s, 1780s) coinciding with Saturn in mid-Capricorn. Pluto's last trip through this area coincided with the chaotic years leading up to the American Revolution of 1776, and the one before that coincided with the chaos of imported diseases which decimated whole nations of native Americans in the early 1500s.

2007Pluto, Mars and Jupiter will be the primary stock

market influences. Mars will make exact hits in January, June and September. Jupiter will come within orb of an opposition to the US Mars in February and be precisely opposite by November 7. Pluto in late Sagittarius will probably bring squabbling among protectors of the status quo: the brightest may want to tweak the system in order to save it, but the bullies will probably prevail.

2008For all this year and into the summer of 2009, Uranus

will move opposite the US Neptune. Pluto, as shown in Chart 4, will briefly square Uranus, then separate and flirt. Uranus was opposite Sam's Neptune for the Crash of 1920; this time its effects will be made more powerful by its square to Pluto. Meanwhile Mars will make direct hits in August and December.

Notice on Chart 4 for August 1, 2008 that Uranus at 22 Pisces and Pluto at 28 Sagittarius are within orb of a square. Mars at 18 Virgo is conjunct the US Neptune, opposite Uranus, square Pluto. This creates a grand cross pattern affliction to the US Mars/Neptune square, which indicates a major wipeout for stocks.

Uranus and Mars Afflict2009: Retrograde Pluto will be temporarily out of

aspect to Uranus but transiting Uranus and Mars will afflict Sam's Mars/Neptune square for much of this year. Mars and Uranus are the most militant influences in the Solar System and, in our time, symbolize the mightiest military the world has ever known, pitted against individual saboteurs armed with weapons of mass destruction: a giant whacking a hornet's nest with a colossal sledge hammer.

2010

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Jupiter will move into opposition to Sam's Neptune in April, while Mars will be precisely afflicting in July and November. Pluto will again back out of its square to Uranus temporarily. This will also mark the nadir of the North Node's real estate cycle. The world economy is likely to be sunk in unexpected (Uranus) anxieties by 2011.

The Mayan Calendar cites the Winter Solstice of 2012 as the completion of a cycle lasting roughly 5,128 of our years, called the 13 baktun. The Lunation on this day will afflict Uncle Sam's Mars-square-Neptune. Some have interpreted this date as "the end of the world." Don't take that literally. It's more likely that we humans will begin the process of acquiring a new perception of our situation here on planet Earth. It was about 5,100 years ago that mankind developed the ability to communicate spoken language with written symbols, an advance over hieroglyphics.

Mayan Great CycleFrom a Western astrological perspective, what's most

fascinating is that the Mayan Great Cycle coincides with the Uranus-Pluto square and grand cross to the US Sun-square-Saturn. All three--the Maya 13 baktun, the affliction of the Lunation to the US Mars-square-Neptune, and the grand cross affliction by Uranus and Pluto to the US Sun-square-Saturn--portend radical changes.

In Mayan mythology, the Cosmic Mother gives birth to the Father of Earthly creation. The Maya symbolized the Milky Way's dark rift as the Cosmic Mother's vagina through which is born the First God of our world. John Major Jenkins points out that "the slow process by which the Winter Solstice Sun comes to conjoin the dark rift of the Milky Way is a function of a phenomenon known as the procession of the equinoxes. This involves the slow wobbling of the Earth's axis, which causes the stellar frame to slowly shift. To observers on Earth, it causes the position of the Winter Solstice Sun to slowly move in relation to celestial background features such as the Milky Way. A full cycle is completed in roughly 26,000 years."

Mayan AstrologersThe books and articles of John Major Jenkins are a good

source for more information about Mayan astrologers. "When it came to mathematics, time and calendars, the Maya were geniuses. Believing that time repeated itself in cycles, they devised two calendars, one ritualistic, which was used for religious celebrations and astrological predictions, and the other a solar calendar."

As shown on Chart 5 for Winter Solstice 2012, the Sun-Moon conjunction at 21 Sagittarius is within minutes of an

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exact opposition to Uncle Sam's Mars-square-Neptune. Mercury at 3 Sagittarius opposite Jupiter at 9 Gemini are both square Chiron and Neptune in early Pisces, creating a T square to the US Uranus. The big news, however, is that Pluto at 8 Sagittarius has moved into 7 degree orb of an opposition to the US Sun-square-Saturn. Uranus at 4 Aries is not yet within orb of an opposition to the US Saturn, but its forward motion will soon bring it there.

Whatever else the cyclical Uranus-Pluto square of 2012 brings, it's likely to have us collectively asking, What is the economy for? The enrichment of a few, or the well-being of all?

2014-2015By 2014, (see Chart 6) what I call "the great depression

grand cross" will be culminating. Mars and Jupiter will have become part of this grand cross, with Mars at 11 Libra conjunct the US Saturn, and Jupiter at 14 Cancer conjunct the US Sun. Note on the chart for this time that Pluto will be at 13 Sagittarius, almost precisely square Uranus at 14 Aries, putting both tightly opposite the US Sun and Saturn. Uranus-Pluto squares have marked major turning points in American history going back to the first colony at Jamestown in the early 1600s. More about this below.

By 2014 or 2015, expect the world economy to have gone through a radical reformation (along with other aspects of our lives, such as environmental awareness, religion and politics). Pluto's full range of effects usually manifest in its wake: it's after Pluto has moved out of a major aspect like this that the full impact is realized. So if the world economy has not been transformed by 2015, expect radical change to be underway.

In April 2015 (see Chart 7) an eclipse will join the Uranus-Pluto grand cross with the Sun opposite and the Moon conjunct the US Saturn. Also notice that T Saturn in Sagittarius is square T Neptune in Pisces, opposite and square the US Uranus in Gemini, impacting Uncle Sam's relations with the world community.

Specifically what radical changes will happen are not possible to predict because it depends on how we collectively respond, which depends on the prevailing belief by then. However, traditional astrology teaches that harsh angles bring changes that put into balance what is out of balanced. Economically, the big imbalance now is the horrendous disparity between the wealthy few and the starving many.

BlowbackThe two forces poised to clash are corporate autocracy

and political democracy. What we have now is really

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plutocracy disguised as democracy, for it is the rich few who control governance. Capitalism, as Karl Marx pointed out, makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Notice on the evening news that it's the poor who are slaughtered by militaries with weapons bought by US "foreign aid"--our tax dollars at work. From Palestine to the jungles of Colombia, it's refugees and impoverished peasants who are bombed, sprayed and gunned down. The message is clear: those who do not profit the American Corporate Empire are expendable. Action creates reaction: sooner or later we'll get the blowback.

A reformation and further refinement of democracy is the obvious answer to this imbalance. But that will bring what conservative protectors of the status quo fear most: a redistribution of wealth. Wealthy conservatives control politicians, who in turn control the military.

Uranus-Pluto HistoryI base this forecast on the past history of Uranus-Pluto

squares. The previous one coincided with the great depression of the 1930s. The one before that coincided with the great depression of the 1870s, and the one before that the landmark events of 1820-21. Pluto was in Sagittarius square Uranus in Pisces during the French and Indian War, which led to the social upheavals culminating in the American Revolution of 1776. During the Uranus-Pluto square of the 1670s, an event called Bacon's Rebellion occurred in the Colony of Virginia: African slaves and English indentured servants burned down Jamestown. During the early years of the Jamestown Colony, the Uranus-Pluto square of 1619 coincided with the introduction of African slaves into what would become the USA.

The Uranus-Pluto square upcoming will make seven direct hits between 2012 and 2015. Before that, beginning in 2008, it will move in and out of a 7 degree orb, then will linger within orb till 2019. Unless my research is faulty, one has to go back to before the birth of Christ to find a Uranus-Pluto square as long-lasting as this.

On Chart 8 for January 2019, notice that Uranus at 28 Taurus is parting from a beneficent trine to Pluto at 21 Capricorn. Meanwhile, Saturn has moved to 14 Capricorn square Mars at 15 Aries to form the great depression grand cross with the US Sun-square-Saturn. If we have collectively succeeded in reforming our economic system by this point, we'll breeze through this period without major angst, for Mars will move swiftly beyond this square. Because of the affliction to Uncle Sam's Mars/Neptune square by Neptune, Venus and

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the Moon on this day, one final adjustment may be needed to whatever new financial system has arisen by this time. On the other hand, if we have not addressed the wealth imbalance by 2019, we might experience the kind of great depression which followed the American Revolution, when the paper money paid soldiers became worthless.

SummaryWe are embarked on a stormy economic sea now, headed

into worse. How much worse depends on how we collectively respond to the symphony of synchronicities brought by, first, Pluto's long affliction of the US Mars/Neptune square, and then by the great depression grand cross formed by Uranus and Pluto to the US Sun/Saturn square. By 2010, the real estate cycle will be bottoming out, and the euro may have replaced the dollar in international trade, which could cause what one wag called "the Mexification of the USA."

We can avoid the worst by changing the economic system so that it spreads the wealth, but that's not likely. Suggesting to true-believer conservatives that the present economic system must change is like telling the Pope there was no immaculate conception. Belief trumps evidence: Protectors of the status quo aren't likely to allow the evidence to alter their beliefs, and they control our military. Silver-spoon guys are educated to glorify Empire. They like to compare modern America to ancient Rome. My point is that they have come to empire-building too late in the evolution of humankind.

The approximately 250-year Pluto cycle dooms protectors of the status quo in any case because change is the only constant. Pluto will have had its way by 2020. Let's hope that our collective common sense will take us swiftly through the worst.

Coming out of the last great depression, following W.W.II, an economic period called the Virtuous Circle was created, along with social reforms (unemployment compensation, social security, the GI Bill, etc.) which greatly lifted the well-being of the general population. It was called the Virtuous Circle because there was a balance between the competing interests of wealthy investors, management, and workers/consumers. There was an awareness of economic interdependence. Although harsh planetary angles formed during this period, stock markets didn't crash and the overall economy sailed on without major disruption. Now conservatives are undoing the socially-beneficial legislation created then, making us more vulnerable to the next cyclical economic downturn.

I have not touched upon such impending catastrophes as global warming and environmental degradation. But I would

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like to mention this: If we return to the beliefs of the original Americans and perceive the Great Capitalist as Mother Earth, we'll launch ourselves into a new level of peace and prosperity. If we all work for Mother Earth, she'll reward us with big paydays and plenty of time to party and philosophize.

Endnotes:

1. "Real Estate Business Cycles: Henry George's Theory of the Trade Cycle," by Fred E. Foldvary, Latvia University of Agriculture, Presented at the Lafayette College Henry George Conference, June 13, 1991.

2. See www.fingerfolk.com/fraudalerts.

3. The Economist Magazine, November 21, 2002.

4. "The Real But Unspoken Reasons for the Iraq War" by W. Clark, Independent Media Center, www.indymedia.org:8081.

5. "Pop Goes the Bubble - Part III. Sell Dollars, Buy Gold Now," by M. A. Nystrom, January 23, 2003, www.depression2tv.

Chart 1

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Chart 2

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Chart 3

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Chart 4

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Chart 5

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Chart 6

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Chart 7

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Chart 8

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