Zodiac signs in a horoscope circle.
Sarayut Thaneerat | Moment | Getty Images
When Mercury is retrograde, how much money should you invest in certain stocks?
That’s the kind of assessment 25-year-old Stefaniya Nova makes on a daily basis—and she claims she’s made $31,000 in profits using astrology to pick stocks in the past three to four months. (Overall the stock market got off to a strong start in 2024.)
About 62% of Gen Zers survey by Harris Poll in 2024 they said they believe in astrology. The global astrology industry is expected to grow 78% from 2021 to $22.8 billion by 2031, according to a report by Allied Market Research.
Nova, who goes by the TikTok handle @blonderichwitch, is one of them many astrologers where is go to TikTok to give advice on where to park one’s money and how to create more wealth based on birth charts and other astrological signs.
Every morning he scans the market to find the stocks he plans to trade for the day. She then pulls out a tarot card to guide her strategy, keeping in mind the placement of the stars.
That process has helped Nova raise more than $30,000 in the few months since she quit her job as a tarot reader to become a day trader, she says.
“I don’t rely too much on the news. It creates a buzz in my head… I look at the stock. I try to see what my intuition tells me: What do I expect to happen? I rely more on myself.” she adds.
That said, disadvantages and risks abound.
While using astrology for investing may have worked for Nova so far, it may not be in your best interest to follow suit, especially in an age where there has been a proliferation of “experts”. offers financial advice on TikTok and Youtube.
While you may find tips for, say, using lunar cycles to measure when to buy bitcoinsit is best not to get carried away by it.
Take the 24-year-old astrologer who goes by the name Doctor Racso. He supposedly lost $440,000 and charged after trading based on his astrological analysis, according to a video interview published this year. Racso, whose real name is Min Khant Thawdid not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
I look at the inventory. I try to see what my intuition is telling me: What am I expecting to happen?
Stefania Nova
25 year old day trader
Turning to the stars for stock advice isn’t ‘optimal’
More than 70% of Gen Zers — those born between 1997 and 2012 — in the U.S. invest in stocks, making it their preferred investment assettherefore it becomes even more important to resort to sound investment strategies.
Relying on astrology for financial decisions is “neither optimal nor ideal,” says Natasha Knox, founder of Alaphia Financial Wellness.
“There are other ways of self-awareness where their effectiveness is proven [more] robust,” the behavioral finance expert tells CNBC.
Confirmation bias, or the tendency to attribute new evidence to confirm one’s existing theory or belief, can often be present. Luck often plays a role as well.
Even if divination doesn’t work, with enough people trying it, some will have impressive results purely by chance.
Byung-Hyun Hwang
associate professor at NTUA
“If you have thousands of people flipping coins, some are bound to achieve the ‘impressive’ feat of getting heads 20 times in a row,” says Byoung-Hyoun Hwang, an associate professor of economics at Nanyang Technological University.
It warns against relying on it for investment decisions. “I have yet to see any hard evidence that divination can reliably predict the future, let alone the future performance of a company,” he says.
Nova brushes aside the naysayers: “Everyone finds their own method [and] what works for them. It all depends on finding what speaks to you.”
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