2009: Year of Bull?

The year 2009, according to the Chinese calendar, is supposed to be the Year of the Ox. But according to investment firm CLSA, which has a Feng Shui Index of its own, it’s more likely to be remembered as the Year of the Axe. After talking of the Axe, CLSA goes on to say 2009 could well turn out to be a Cow of a year, but there’s no cause for ‘udder despair’. The year, apparently, will begin with a ‘pair of horns’ which will take us through till May and the index will then bottom out into an ‘udder’ till September, after which it will climb “gradually but determinedly into a ‘cow’s gambol’ for a strong finish to the year.” Each month has a special prediction, but deciphering it is a bit like reading your favourite astrology column — you read what you want to. A sampler, for December, the month of the Fire Rat — “this Rat loves the water, which earth ordinarily shrinks from. However, both the Rat and Cow have strong earth attraction this year, so the result is beneficial. In a nutshell: The market will continue to rise.”