Manfred Zimmel studied business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and at the University of Kentucky (MBA program), with coursework spanning human resources, organisational psychology, philosophy, and astrology. His diploma thesis was titled "The Metaphysics of Saturn: How to use esoteric and new age concepts in business, especially business astrology." He has been trading financial markets since 1990 and focusing on business and financial astrology since 1996. He founded Amanita Market Forecasting in December 2000, a premium subscription service combining astrology, numerology, biorhythm, and cycles analysis. Until 2011 he served as international vice-president of ISAR for Austria and as representative of the International Society of Business Astrologers (ISBA) for the German-speaking countries. In 2008 he was a founding member of CORA (Center for Objective Research in Astrology), and has served as head of the scientific advisory board at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber since 2007. He has lectured at conferences in Europe and the United States and published in both English and German. Since 2022 the scope of Amanita Market Forecasting has broadened significantly to include geopolitical, military, health, spiritual, and earth-change topics alongside financial forecasting.