The Year of The Ox

On January 26, we will be ushering the Year of the Ox...the ox being the second animal in the Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese Zodiac consists of a 12-year cycle with each year marked by an animal. The order of the cycle begins with the rat, followed by ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar.

The 0rigin of the order is steeped in folklore and one version has it that the animals were invited to a meeting at the emperor's palace and there was plotting and scratching and clawing amongst the animals in their bid to be the first to arrive - ala The Amazing Race!

The kindly ox agreed to carry the scheming rat and the cat on his back to cross a river. However, the rat pushed the cat off the ox's back into a swift current, so the poor cat never made it to the top 12. The rat then jumped off the ox' s back to claim the first spot. The cat and the rat were once good friends but became mortal enemies when the cat did not make it to the top 12 - wonder if the animals learnt from politicians or vice-versa?

Feng Shui masters and soothsayers have predicted that the turbulent Year of the Rat (2008), marked by a global financial crisis, will give way to a more stable Year of the Ox . However, the road to economic recovery is going to be a long one...why are we not surprised?

Feng Shui practitioners maintain the earth is made up of five elements (earth, water, fire, wood and metal) that governs the environment. 2009 will be a "pure earth" year which means that fire will be missing so there will not be a lot of drive to push up the stock market. Markets might rise in the first half but gains could peter out in the second half. The market is predicted to be quite low in the second half - a good time to get ahead of a recovery in 2010!

However, a Japanese research house, the Daiwa Institute, predicted that the Year of the Ox will be disasterous for the stock market as Japan's Nikkei Index saw a drop averaging 11.4% during the last five Years of the Ox.

The saving grace is that US President Obama was born in a "yin earth" year and this, according to soothsayers, should help the global outlook - dare we have the audacity to hope?