SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — A top-performing letter is not starry-eyed about stocks—at least in the short run.

That’s sort of an in-joke, actually. Veteran Bill Meridian of Cycles Research Early Warning Service is one of the very few editors who will say frankly that he’s interested in astrology, although surreptitious attention to the subject is actually surprisingly widespread on Wall Street. See May 14, 2008 column.

But at the moment, to my disappointment, Meridian doesn’t seem to be in a quotably star-struck mood. His last few monthly letters have focused on conventional charting patterns and cycle-counting, much more respectable on Wall Street although arguably no more scientific.

Cycles Research was, however, the eighth-best performer out of the 180-plus letters followed by the Hulbert Financial Digest over the past 12 months through January, up 12.3% versus 3.72% for the dividend-reinvested Wilshire 5000 Total Stock Market Index.

It’s true that Cycles Research hasn’t done as well over the relatively short period that the HFD has been monitoring it.

Over the past five years, the letter was down an annualized negative 2.39% versus 0.71% annualized for the total return Wilshire 5000. Nevertheless, it seems to have a hot hand right now.

And it’s a fact these arcane methods seem to tend to turn-calling rather than trend-following. They’re like canaries in a coal mine: you don’t want to ignore them….completely.

Thus another astrology-friendly letter, Crawford Perspectives, and another cycles letter, Peter Eliades’ Stockmarket Cycles, were triumphantly among the very few to make money in the Crash year of 2008. See Jan. 9, 2009 column.

Right now, Editor Meridian’s cycle count suggests that the stock market surge is coming to an end, at least short term. He wrote in the last issue of Cycles Research:

“In 2012, the market is likely to rise into the second half of February followed by a decline into late March-early April. The next rally will likely take the market higher into July. A decline that resembles that of 2011 will likely ensue into early October. The upswing in the cycles will probably create a rally into year end.

“The Bottom Line: The stock market will likely move higher into the second week of February and then fall through March.”

This has to be put in context of Cycles Research’s overall bullishness on stocks. Its current holdings:

ProShares Ultra Gold UGL, +1.76%

Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO, -0.17%

ProShares Ultra S&P500 SSO, -1.07%

Similarly, Cycles Research has been on a gold buy signal since April, 2009, but has recently been expecting a short-term break.

However, in its most recent issue, it bailed out: “It appears that the cycle is in the 30% to 35% phase in which it is simply incorrect at present’.

Cycles Research also offers acerbic observations on the passing economic scene, leaning more heavily than I remember on Austrian economics and the somewhat apocalyptic commentary provided by the Auburn Alabama-based Mises Institute. See website.

Interestingly, Meridian’s recent visit to his native New Jersey (he’s lived in Vienna, Austria, for many years) has caused him to wonder if residential real estate is bottoming.

He writes: “In 1969, at the housing peak, 660 ounces of gold purchased a house at the median price. At the low in 1979, the cost of such a dwelling was 80 ounces of gold. In 2001, the cost was 610 ounces. Currently, a little over 100 ounces buys a home.”