THE TRIQUETRA OF LIFE: Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness

On February 12, I warned of the “Ides of March” Blood Moon effect. Pundits sniff at any correlation, but eclipses and moon phases tend to have an effect on human behavior, and for whatever reason, asylum lunatics rattle their chains, predator criminals prowl and wolves howl, as witches silhouette a moonlit sky. 

​A physiological psychologist like Henry James would speculate about its tidal effects on aqueous brain matter, shifting human perception to hysterics and lunacy.

Blood Moons, which occur during total lunar eclipses, have been linked to market volatility in the past—whether due to investor psychology or just coincidence. Historically, March has also been a rough month for markets, with crashes like the 2000 dot-com bubble burst beginning in March.

The Ides of March and the surrounding days have indeed been a hotspot for major historical events. Here’s a list of significant occurrences around March 15:

Chat GPT assisted:

Ancient & Medieval History

• 44 BC – Assassination of Julius Caesar (March 15): One of the most famous betrayals in history, Caesar was stabbed 23 times by senators, leading to the fall of the Roman Republic.
• 933 – Battle of Riade (March 15): King Henry I of Germany defeats the Magyars, securing Germanic lands.
• 1311 – The Catalan Company’s Sack of Thebes (March 15): A mercenary army destroys Thebes, a key Greek city.
• 1360 – Pillaging of Southern England by a French raiding party
• 1493 – Christopher Columbus Returns to Spain (March 15): After his first voyage to the New World, Columbus arrives back in Spain, changing world history.

Geopolitical Shifts & Wars

• 1917 – Russian Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates (March 15): The end of the Romanov dynasty, leading to the Bolshevik Revolution.
• 1938 – Germany Annexes Austria (March 11-13): The Anschluss, Hitler’s first major land grab, marking the lead-up to WWII.
• 1939 – Germany Invades Czechoslovakia (March 15): The complete occupation of Czechoslovakia, proving Hitler wouldn’t stop with the Sudetenland.
• 1945 – Bombing of Osaka (March 13-14): A massive U.S. bombing raid devastates Japan’s second-largest city.
• 1950 – Nationalist Chinese (Taiwan) invade mainland China.
• 1952 – First Hydrogen Bomb Deployment (March 15): The U.S. tests high-yield nuclear weapons during the Cold War.
• 1988 – The Halabja Chemical Attack (March 16): Saddam Hussein gasses 5,000 Kurds, one of the worst war crimes of modern history.
• 2003 – Start of the Iraq War (March 19-20): The U.S. invasion begins, toppling Saddam Hussein.

Financial Crises & Economic Events

• 1907 – The Panic of 1907 Begins (March 13-14): A major financial crisis that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.
• 1920 – The Stock Market Peaks Before 1921 Depression (March 15): A prelude to a sharp deflationary crash.
• 2008 – Bear Stearns Collapse (March 14-16): One of the first dominoes in the 2008 financial crisis, leading to the Great Recession.
• 2020 – COVID-19 Stock Market Crash (March 12-16): One of the sharpest declines in stock market history as the world shuts down.

Natural Disasters & Space Events

• 1889 – Cyclone Mahina Strikes Australia (March 4-10): The deadliest tropical cyclone in Australia’s history.
• 1933 – The Long Beach Earthquake (March 10): A magnitude 6.4 quake devastates California.
• 2011 – Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (March 11): The tsunami causes one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in history.
• 2024 – Blood Moon (March 15): This year’s eerie lunar eclipse.

Notable Deaths & Cultural Events

• 1965 – LBJ Sends Troops to Vietnam (March 8-15): Marking the escalation of U.S. involvement.
• 1978 – Aldo Moro Kidnapped (March 16): Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is abducted by the Red Brigades, later assassinated.
• 2019 – Christchurch Mosque Shootings (March 15): A tragic terrorist attack in New Zealand.
• Lesser known incidents:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_15

Stock Market & Economic Timing in March

• 1929, 2000, 2008, and 2020 Market Crashes: While October is known for crashes, March is often the setup month before financial collapses.

There’s an undeniable pattern of upheaval, war, financial crises, and political assassinations around mid-March. Given the current global instability, the rare Blood Moon this year, and the broader economic environment weak (rising debt, geopolitical uncertainty, central bank policy shifts), a sharp decline in the stock market, accompanied by a major depression with lower interest rates, wouldn’t be ​at all surprising.​

That said, while technical indicators and historical cycles may suggest risk, markets tend to move based on fundamentals, liquidity, and investor sentiment. ​The stars and cycles may align, but the real question is whether major investors take action based on these signals.