SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Forget about graphs, charts and economicforecasts. Wary investors in Asia are turning to feng shui masters totell them which way the markets will head in the Chinese Year of theRat.
Perhaps not surprisingly for investors already burnt by recent stockmarket slides, feng shui experts are predicting a gloomy year forshares, not good news for those hoping for a rebound in global marketshit by worries over the U.S. economy.
"The rat will become aggressive at the tail end of the year and itsunderlying water element will cool the stock market," said Vincent Koh,a feng shui master at Singapore Feng Shui Centre.
Feng shui is popular across East Asia, where it is traditionallypracticed by ethnic Chinese. It relies on movements of the cosmos aswell as placement of furniture and arranging space to generate a "flowof wealth".
Believers say it can be used to improve wealth, health and personal relationships.
In Hong Kong and Singapore, it’s taken so seriously thatcorporations consult feng shui experts about everything from businessstrategy to interior design. Disneyland changed the angle of the mainentrance of its Hong Kong theme park after consulting a feng shuiexpert.
So great is the interest in feng shui, that CLSA, a regionalbrokerage house, issued a feng shui client note which predicted thestock market would rise from May to August and the U.S. dollar wouldremain weak.
"Be mindful of your speculations, especially in the third quarter,"said the note, which CLSA described as "topical" rather than a formalinvestment advisory.
Raymond Lo, a feng shui master in Hong Kong who does readings forcorporations, expects industries linked to earth and metal signs toflourish during the Year of the Rat.
"The rat is a symbol of money to the earth industry … Strong waterelement in the year indicates productivity and strong activity in themetal industries," said Lo, who suggested investors put their moneyinto property, mining and gold.
He predicts stock markets will be soft this year as the elements ofearth and water, which he says are strong in the Year of the Rat,weaken the fire element that influences shares.
"The water element affects the fire of the markets. I can foresee a lot of correction in the stock market," said Koh.
With stocks markets from Japan to New York cooling since the startof the year on concerns of a global economic slowdown, skeptics mayargue that you don’t need to be a feng shui master to make suchpredictions.
Yet Malaysian feng shui master Yap Boh Chu is optimistic withpredictions that Southeast Asian markets will be stable after atumultuous start.
"The whole concept we have for the year is the image of a seed sprouting from the ground ? the beginning is hard," he said.
RITES AND RITUALS
Lim, a dealer at a Singapore brokerage house, has his fortune readannually at the start of the Chinese New Year and he adorns his officewith bull figurines in the hope of a bullish market.
He is a big believer in Ba Zi or "four pillars of destiny", Chinesefortune telling that uses the date and time of birth to determine yourlife path.
However, despite his superstitious beliefs in bulls, Lim’sinvestments have taken a hit as Singapore’s benchmark Straits TimesIndex has fallen 15 percent since the start of the year.
"I can’t say that it works or it doesn’t work — when the market isdown, there’s not much you can do to not lose money," Lim said.
Terence Tea, chief executive of copper recycling firm Advance SCT,gets feng shui masters to vet his firm’s blueprints before constructionbegins on new offices, factories and other facilities.
But despite his devotion to the art, he admits that feng shui is not entirely responsible for his wealth and success.
"I think feng shui has helped my business, but being hardworking is fundamental," Tea said.
Many may be skeptical that feng shui or other fortune telling canbring in riches. And even the faithful in the financial communityrealize its limitations.
"Unfortunately we have no predictions on who will win Euro 2008 orwho will be the next U.S. president," CLSA said in its feng shui report.
(By Melanie Lee: Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Megan Goldin)
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