Rogue Traders & Wall Street Wolves - Adoboli/Leeson/Belfort

Ewan McGregor as Nick Leeson in Rogue Trader

On 20th November, 2012 Kweku Adoboli was convicted of the biggest fraud in British history and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. Adoboli is the latest rogue trader 'to go feral', bloodshot eyes firmly fixed on a computer screen long into the night praying for a miracle. The Swiss global financial giant UBS's U.K investment banking arm was taken to the brink of collapse by this out of control, inexperienced City trader who was recklessly trying to recoup the losses he had incurred by using precious little financial rigour, insurance or safety nets. 

Kweku Adoboli 'wept copiously' during his testimony, 20th November, 2012

This was no ordinary financial deception, this was a chaotic play with money as if it were a board game of Monopoly. Money was being badly juggled with on a enormous scale. UBS money was being shuffled about frantically for two to three years in 'off the books' trading. However, this was real money, in real time, figuring out at £7 billion at one point and ending up as a final loss of £1.5 billion in the courts. His actions also cost some of his fellow traders their jobs, accounted for the resignation of the Chief Executive and the wipe out of £2.7bn ($4.5bn) from UBS share prices. The Judge, on delivering the sentence said that he found Kweku Adoboli to be 'profoundly unselfconscious of his failings'. 
From Adoboli's date and place of birth, a ‘flat chart’ (no birth time), there is a very descriptive picture in place, especially the telling planetary configuration of the T-square involving Mars, Jupiter, possibly the Moon, Sun and Uranus.

Kweku Adoboli Astrology birth chart (source wikipedia/BBC News flat pm)

The Sun is in the sign of the ‘The Trickster’ or ‘The Trader’, namely Gemini. This solar Gemini, the slight-of-hand sign is placed on the critical zero degree. Planets at zero appear to be fresh out of the trap and as such express themselves in a raw, uninhibited, undiluted and unmodified way. It is as if the ‘owner’ of that energy is unsure how to steer all that power, rather like a toddler at the wheel of a Ferrari. The prosecutors had seen Adoboli as an out of control gambler that did not use the financial safety procedures and requirements. One, Sasha Wass told Adoboli that he was an 'accomplished liar; after his explanations on the recorded phone call with the UBS accountant who later also got his reluctant e-mail. 

This Sun is also opposed by Uranus, Lord of the unexpected and master of surprise. This Uranus 'shocker' forms an out-of-sign opposition since it is in 23 degrees of Scorpio. Only a few days before Adoboli’s sentencing there was the Total Eclipse of the Sun at 21 degrees Scorpio, exactly conjoined, his personal Uranus fused with the Eclipse, things would never be the same again for this young man. (Scorpio Solar Eclipse - The Path of Totality). The rising City trader star with the big life style came crashing down to earth in financial chaos despite his big salary and mighty bonuses it was found that he was leaking money all the time and taking out serial payday loans to try and cover his own personal trading losses as well. Before his arrest Adoboli had changed his Facebook status to 'I need a Miracle'. The day he had to confess after being pressed by the UBS accountant Adoboli went to a church near his office to pray.

Adoboli's Sun/Uranus opposition registers his inner restlessness and willful nature, convinced of it’s own ‘Truth’, regardless of what society may think, or say or believe. 

A collegue described him as being 'unfriendly, unpleasant, superior.. with a rule that he should never be asked the same question twice.' This Sun/Uranus line of tension is also aggravated by Mars, Jupiter and possibly the Moon (no birth time), forming a pressuring square aspect to both the Sun and Uranus. His Sun/Uranus opposition is also an indication that for a significant period of his life, Adoboli could have felt like the odd one out. It is possible that he could have felt alienated or even rejected deep down and may have never really felt included. At heart he knew himself to be different. He was born in Ghana, whose annual GDP is £1,000, to a Ghanian U.N official who put him through a £20,000 a year British private education as an overseas boarder and University, where he studied e-commerce and digital business. Recruited by UBS and picked out as a potential 'rising star' he had also come with a need for showy, wild parties and call girls, apparently emulating 'The Wolf Of Wall Street', Jason Belfort.

'The Wolf of Wall Street' and a second book 'Catching the Wolf of Wall Street' are financial trader's, Jordan Belfort own account of his 90's life of drugs, women, yachts, fast cars and earning tens of millions before being sent to prison for defrauding investors. 
                                           
He literally earned thousands of dollars a minute at one point and who then went on binges that ran up $700,000 in hotel bills. His omnipotent and cavalier attitude sank a 170 foot motor yacht, complete with seaplane and helicopter, originally built for Coco Chanel, he overruled the captain and headed into a Mediterranean storm. Belfort has a Grand Trine in Water connecting the Sun, Jupiter and Neptune

Jordan Belfort Astrology birth chart (flat pm)

Grand Trines are an astrological configuration that describes 3 planets all linked together by aspects of 120 degrees. Considered to be 'lucky', mainly they can indicate a spectacular talent but one that is also often prone to misuse. The Grand Trine owner can get so self-absorbed or locked into their own perspective that they can miss or choose to bypass other crucial aspects of life. Whilst having an abundance of gifts these gifts can be squandered, ignored or considered ‘too easy’ to even develop. Consequently, through laziness or sloppiness they can try to take ‘the easy way out’, not wanting to struggle and so progress the aspect. 

Jason Belfort about to hit his own storms

In the water element Jordan Belfort would have an ability to ‘play his hunches’ to intuit or sense the lie of the land, to pick up on themes and grab information as if 'out of nowhere'. Interestingly two of the planets involved in this planetary combination are also 'implicated' in the more challenging T-square aspect possessed by Adoboli, namely the Sun and Jupiter and the other planet in the trio here is Neptune. It is rather like a train going round in a permanent loop refueling at 3 stations, the Sun (his mission, his identity) Jupiter (expansion, amplification, superiority, confidence) and Neptune (yachts, addictions, glamour, fashion, glitz, deception, illusion and delusion). Involved in Adoboli's major configuration, the T-square, is Mars and Uranus (rash action) and shared with his hero Belfort, he also has Mars square Uranus, also conjunct (holding hands) with Venus (love and money).

(2013 Martin Scorsese new film on Belfort with Leonardo di Caprio playing Jordan imbd)

Nick Leeson Astrology birth chart (flat pm) 

Before Adoboli the biggest British banking fraud was committed by another rogue trader Nick Leeson. 

Nick Leeson, broke Barings Bank founded in 1762 subsequently bought by Dutch bank ING for a nominal £1 while Leeson's trading jacket went for thousands on ebay 

He caused the collapse of Barings Bank, then the oldest U.K investment bank by losing £827 million. Nick Leeson also has a Grand Trine in Water, involving Jupiter and Neptune, the third pivot here is Saturn conjunct his Chiron.
                                      
Adoboli's Sun/Uranus inner conflict would have found some release through the square aspect to Mars/Jupiter. His would have discovered his route out of feeling upset and destructive by his alienation could come about by creating an exaggerated, extravagant, overconfident, self-assured persona. The 'Really Big Hot Shot'. Part of this release also included his addiction to gambling, playing the numbers, rolling the dice and testing out his God. Alongside his fraudulent trading life with UBS he was also obsessively 'playing the market' with his private betting account. Mars conjunct Jupiter is one of the classic astrological signatures for the gambler. Such a combination will not easily hear the word ‘No’. It is future orientated, overconfident, and has absolute and total believe in itself. In court one of the prosecutors described Adoboli as a 'narcissistic status-chaser' who tried to to 'claw back his losses with ever more reckless bets'...like most gamblers, he believed he had the magic touch, like most gamblers, when he lost, he caused chaos and disaster to himself and all of those around him.' This could be Mars the risktaker, the initiator, the imperative 'NOW!!' prodding Jupiter the E-X-P-A-N-D-E-R…the stretcher, the planet which sings 'lets-take-it-to-the limit' if there is a limit or 'nothing gonna stop us now' or ever and ever until the end of time. Sure Jupiter will keep on keeping on, that is, until it meets Saturn. In this situation Saturn came looking for Kweku Adoboli dressed in the dark gown of Scorpio. After a two minute phone call, when an subdued, awkard Kweku Adoboli was questioned by a UBS accountant and asked to explain certain strange entries on his trading record everything changed. Adoboli promised to 'come back to you in a few minutes' but walked out of the bank instead. He headed for his £1,000 a week rented loft apartment where he wrote a 'bombshell e-mail' 'I take responsibility for my actions and the shit storm that will now ensue' 

Adoboli is facing 7 years in prison (7 is a Saturn number). Saturn has appeared in the form of a transiting sextile, usually regarded as an ‘easy’ aspect and in fact many believe Adoboli's sentence is a very soft one and much too lenient. He was charged with only two counts of fraud and cleared of four counts of false accounting. Having to do his time may be an imposed opportunity for Mr Adoboli to reflect and reassess his addictive behaviour. His persistent need to roll the dice has cost him his freedom but he has made himself stand out from the crowd by committing the largest fraud in British history and the third largest fraud by a rogue trader of all time. He was also arrested on September 15th, also the 3rd anniversary date of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapse and just a few days after an independent report called for tighter regulations of British banks in order to stop other potentially catastrophic ‘casino’ banking crimes.
Detective Chief Inspector Stokes of The City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate does not see Adoboli as someone led astray, 'He was the star. He believed he would reach the height at UBS. He is one of the most accomplished fraudsters I have seen in my time in the force. This is not someone who made a mistake. This is someone who has chosen the path he has gone down.' If Kweku Adoboli is giving himself any consolation at this time it may be by remembering that both Nick Leeson and Jordan Belfort are both back in the public arena with box office movies being made about their exploits. Perhaps Kweku Adoboli is wondering who can ghost write his autobiography and which actor he would choose to play out his life on the big screen. 
             
credits: the guardian & nickleeson.com & jordanbelfort.com & sky news & newsecuritylearning.com astrotheme & bbc news & CNN & observer
posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs

Uranus the Awakener Does An Olympian Back Flip

Uranus, the planet which astrologers say symbolises maverick behaviors, upside downs and inside outs, turnarounds and strange backflips, actually ‘does one’ and appears to go backwards in the sky. Uranus is in the sign of Aries that wants to go forward. 

From the 13^th of July 2012 Uranus will go 'Retrograde' and will continue in this vein until 13th December 2012. 
Uranus is certainly not the only planet to do this, they all get their turn, see posts on Venus, Retro Review, Saturn, Chiron 1 & Chiron 2 and Mercury. Uranus entered Aries initially in May 2010 briefly going back into Pisces in August of the same year, before finally settling into Aries in March 2011 taking with it the seeds of change and discontent stirred up in Pisces. There was an oil crisis exacerbated by revolutions in the Middle East, the banking crisis having a domino effect and jump starting a continuing global crisis.

What is going on when Uranus goes back on itself, what can we expect from this planet which already symbolises the unexpected? 

Uranus has been called 'The Awakener', as its arrival or departure can signal a time of shocks and jolts. These 'bolts from the blue' can serve to illuminate, like a flash of lightning, what exactly needs changing. Uranus has a reputation for upsetting the status quo and for being pretty wilful, quite pig headed and in fact downright perverse.

Uranus is currently occupying Aries territory, and Aries territory can sometimes be likened to a military zone.

Aries atmospheres can also include a meeting of C.E.O’s, a hot desert, a pioneering fleet or singular craft setting off probably into some unknown. Aries arenas also include the sports field. Aries could simply be an adrenaline junkie’s haven. 
Then, along comes Uranus through this territory, blasting its lightening bolts and rattling the cages, even sticking out its tongue and throwing a few rude signs at the Establishment and what is established. This Rabble Rouser, this fly in the ointment, this 'flipping the bird' has just started it's journey through Aries territory and is already making its presence felt in those specialist Aries fields. 

Aries rules the head and Uranus presence here has already brought its own massive headache to heads of state (Egypt, countries in the Eurozone) and to heads of business (Barclays Bank). Heads have gone and will continue to roll. 

Aries is highly competitive and loves to move muscle, tighten sinew and revels in getting the blood pumping. During this Uranus Retrograde in Aries sporting men and women, whether participating or spectating, are gearing up for the London Olympics. At the same this has necessitated an increase in military anti-terrorist measures and is a palpable presence in the city and throughout the whole country. As Uranus travels through Aries it also pulses out an electric charge and brings fresh new life, fresh new energy and excitement. Things that already bring a challenge and competition are currently getting a further adrenaline shot. 

From the 13th July 2012 then, from our perspective here on Earth, Uranus will appear in the sky to go backwards or to go into reverse gear. Just as it seemed to get started in this new phase it is now going back on itself. Odd already, Uranus is appearing to go backwards in Aries which is possibly the sign that is completely hard wired to move forwards. Potentially this is not the most comfortable combination. The last time Uranus was in Aries the world economy collapsed due to out of control speculation in the stock market and the bubble bursting in 1928. This period of time became known as 'the Great Depression' and witnessed unemployment on a enormous devastating scale. It also saw evidence of greed and get rich quick schemes showing no concern for the resultant mismanaged calamities. Sound familiar? 

The six months duration of Uranus Retrograde will not be the most comfortable of times. 
Let's see what we can do here - it does give us all more time to reflect on the changes that we have recently implemented. Rather like before we move any further along we must take stock and check whether or not the path we have chosen is in fact the right one or at the very least, in keeping with what we want to achieve. We may need some wiggles and jiggles, some pinches and tweaks, time to sort out what could do with a nip n' tuck. 

Just as we have been surging forward, hopefully, high on our own supply we will turn round and wonder hmm...We will start to question and reconsider.

Look to your chart, the Aries zone is the one where the upsets and hiccups may come from but rather than scowling and frowning at the turbulence see it as a wake up call to test whether you are in alignment and haven't run away with yourself.

Our newly found head of steam may fizzle out a bit, but it will still crackle and pop - As will those planets in the early degrees of Aries, Cancer, Capricorn or Libra.  
Most notably I think it will be felt acutely by those of us with planets or angles in the middle degrees of those Cardinal signs, because they will have been feeling the anticipation of the actual arrival of Uranus. These degrees bought their season tickets for the train expecting BIG changes on their journeys. They have been subtly sensing it's arrival on this track hearing the whistle blow and been quivering with excitement on the platform as they contemplate the adventures ahead. You may be anticipating an exciting job prospect if you have MC in mid-degree Aries, or the sweet thrill of a new romance with Venus in mid-degree Aries or the home of our dreams if Aries is in a mid-degree at our IC. This adventure had begun in all our psyches and we imagined it getting closer, nearer.........only to disappear or appear to disappear! 
Remember, come December of this year the Uranus train will begin it's forward momentum again, picking up passengers along the way, passengers it appeared to have dropped off earlier.

In 1781 William Herschel in his garden in Bath, Somerset initially tracked Uranus as a comet but had in fact recorded a major planet in our Solar System -  the first to be found in modern times and has led to further innovation and discovery. Uranus has only been visited once in our history of space exploration when it was passed by the space probe Voyager 2 in 1986. Already spinning on its side Uranus has since changed its stats to 13 known rings and possibly over 27 moons! It is a planet still full of surprises.

With an orbit of 84 years Uranus spends about seven years in each sign so we have now got a new cycle for growth and invention with Uranus in Aries. Just as we get used to going forward, thrusting and urgent in our efforts to initiate plans and change things, suddenly we appear to be strangely thwarted by this Uranian backtrack. Obviously we would do well to be very creative and reconfigure some of our more unrealistic plans. Perhaps the energy that may have been used rushing around chasing will o' the wisps can be re-used and re-cycled elsewhere.
The real point is whatever we astrologers say Uranus is about the most unexpected planet there is and so by its very nature UNPREDICTABLE! Perhaps that can be re-invented. Let's surprise ourselves and let some of our more original ideas 'take off'. 

Well, I have told myself 'good luck working that one out', as Uranus does a backflip with fireworks in hand whilst singing the Hallelujah Chorus......or is that in store for me?...... (NB dont try this at home and no this is not an Olympic event just yet) 

Within this retrograde period Uranus the Awakener will want you to 'be aware' and 'wake up' to the ideas you have been germinating but be awake to what might need revision and attention. Aries wants you to 'just do something' but  we will all have to remember the lessons of the past and try harder this time around to make it good........

posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs

credits nasa

The 'Goddam Particle' Article

When Astrology and Science Collide and  Uranus Provides the Spark 

This week in the midst of  tumultuous astrology Venus Direct, Uranus Pluto square to name but two, there has also been a landmark announcement from the scientific community. It is at the point of revealing the existence of the much dubbed ‘God Particle’ or ‘Goddam Particle’ by Leon Lederman. 

This concept was first postulated by Professor Higgs born on 29^th May 1929 Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. (no time) One of the most immediate things to note in his chart was that apart from Mercury starting its Retrogarde motion in Gemini (he missed ‘normal’ school and was home schooled by his mother) there was Uranus sitting at 10 degrees of Aries. At the time of writing this particular degree of vibration is headline news all by itself. It is being caught up in the Uranus Pluto square at 8 degrees Cardinal. Uranus is at 8 degree Aries colliding with Professor Higgs natal chart. 

Astrologers taking note of the big patterns are well versed in the astrology concerned with our cheerfully labelled ‘Midlife Crisis’ -  the Uranus to Uranus opposition is just one part of that pattern. Uranus does its complete round of the zodiac in 84 years. It takes its time in contrast with the Sun taking one year and Jupiter taking 12 years. Saturn takes 29 years when it comes back to the exact place it occupied in a persons birth chart this is called a Saturn Return. This first Saturn Return signals a time of maturing, a spurt of development which will involve struggles and adjustments. Due to Uranus taking a longer time, usually at its opposition, when we are about 42 years of age, is when it first registers. Ping! 1st hit on Peter Higg's chart. 

Peter Higgs really developed his idea in 1964

The full Uranus Return for all of us occurs when we are 84. With more and more of us living longer, the greater will be our awareness of  the effects of this Uranus Return, what it means and how it is experienced. One such example is Prof. Peter Higgs, who is alive and thankfully kicking, as is his work on 'the God Particle' it appears. He is 83 years of age this year and Uranus hits his chart at 10 degrees next year, when he is exactly 84 years of age.

Astrologers work with both very slight movements as well as the large sweeps and by exactitude Uranus will not ‘hit’ 10 degree Aries until April 2013, due to its Retrograde which starts this month on 14^th July 2012. Literally it gets close by only ‘appearing’ to move backwards, comes into view again, then COLLIDES.

'Big Bang' 2012 London Paralympic Opening Ceremony

The Higgs Boson made another huge entry onto the world stage at the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Paralympics. (Super Humans Show Of Strength) 'Seeing such a discovery makes it into festivities like the opening of the Paralympics shows that science might get back more into society' Prof Rolf Heuer, Cern.

The Large Hadron Collider at Cern is the largest, most complex machine in the world, and possibly the universe … The recent discovery of what looks like the Higgs particle is a triumph of human endeavour and international collaboration. It will change our perception of the world. Stephen Hawkings (narrator for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony)

posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs
credits nasa & wikipedia

Capricorn Full Moon - Fulfilling Ambitions

On the 3rd July, 2012 we will see a Full Moon in the Cardinal  earth sign of Capricorn a time to take stock in a full moon time of folklore, misty myths and mystical significance. Astrologers are not alone in their reverence and attraction to ‘that time in the month’ when the Moon ripens and shines, when she shows herself off at her peak. 

Even on cloudy nights (more than usual here in the U.K) her presence is obvious. 

The Moon permeates…..she filters through the clouds or curtains. She beckons to some and frightens others. She is FELT... She is Sensed.

Whether in Myth or Fact, Full Moon times have been closely charted and effects noted from hospitals, mental institutions, police stations, zoologists, farmers, biologists, to gardeners and sailors. 

Her swelling and obviousness pulls us, it draws our gaze and imagination ‘her way’.
Her way is sometimes seen as weird and ‘loony’, linked with women, were wolfs, fluids, hysteria, tides and generally being out of control.

‘News Alert - Solar Consciousness loses its dominant grip’.

We have used The Moon to tell us how to get home, we used the Moon as a timing guide telling us when to sow, hoe and harvest our crops. Well now, under the Full Moon, it is time to harvest. 

Today’s Full Moon’s action takes place in the Earth sign of Capricorn time to take stock and review our ambitions. It is also time to gather in your goodies. Accept our rewards. Identify and scoop up the good stuff you have earned after all the effort you have put in the last couple of weeks. Let us see what have we got at the end of this journey.

Gather and pick up every gift given and look for the traces, even if faint, they will be there. Chances are that you have spent the last couple of weeks working very hard indeed at something, wondering whether or not you efforts have been worth it. Well you may just find out in these next few days. 
This work may still be in the early stages, work in progress, work very few people have noticed. This work maybe in the planning stage or ready to go, but what ever stage it is, for these few days you should be able to see tangible results, pointers, markers or clues as to your progress. 

Look closely; use the Lunar light, both inner and outer. These tangible pockets of information are invaluable, even if after examination you decide to reframe, ‘re-jiggle’ or just jettison. What you reach out for now you can store and use for the next couple of weeks until the New Moon comes and you can start a new project/idea, or start a new phase of your project.  

This Full Moon does pack an extra ‘punch’ as it ‘inks out’ it metaphorically bleeds into the stressful/challenging Cardinal activity currently playing out between the juggernauts of Uranus and Pluto.

Like the chimes of Big Ben as the big hand reaches the number 12, the Full Moon will reverberate and will be heard through many levels. 

It may be alarm bells or the peeling bells of celebration….here’s hoping for the latter.
 
posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs