Feng Shui Experts: Hold Off On US Investment
Posted by Sean on March 24th, 2009
Hong Kong based Feng Shui consultant Alion Yeo had 170 investors, all worth millions, come to her seminar to ask questions about finance and the economy. And from a reply he gave to a question asked from the audience, it's not looking good for the United States:
“The incoming U.S. president and [Treasury] secretary were both born in the Year of the Ox,” said one client. “Is that a problem?”
Mr. Yeo's answer: Yes. The pair of oxen in charge of the U.S. economy could be an accident waiting to happen. Hold out until after January 2010 before investing in the U.S., he advised.
Feng Shui Experts and Financial Astrologers have been growing in popularity since the recent economic collapse as people all over the world start to lose trust in traditional financial institutions. This trend is particularly marked in China where Feng Shui originated. According to the Wall Street Journal article:
Raymond Lo, a well-known Hong Kong veteran of the feng shui business, says he has seen a steady stream of bankers and high-powered money managers seek out his stock picks and “destiny consulting” in recent weeks, making this Chinese New Year — the celebration of which ends Monday — his busiest in a quarter-century. Cosmos Books, one of the city's biggest publishing houses, says sales of feng shui books at its retail stores are up 20% over last year.
The trend is clear. The more desperate people are, the more likely they are to turn to the services of alternative economic practitioners. Even CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets are bringing back their “feng shui index” and mailing a feng shui investment guide to Financiers all over the world. The rational seems to be: When economists and investment experts are making such stupid blunders and mistakes, people will grasp for advice from any figure who appears to speak with authority. But should people be asking feng shui experts and astrologers for investment advice, or would they be better off asking four year olds?
In a 2001 London experiment designed by psychologist Richard Wiseman, a financial astrologer, a seasoned private and investor and an adorable four year old girl named Tia were each given a fictional £5000 to invest for a week as they saw fit. The astrologer relied on star charts and companies birth dates to make her predictions, the seasoned investor relied on his financial expertise and little Tia chose companies to invest in at random. By the end of the week everyone had lost money, but Tia lost the least money of all three making her the winner of the experiment.
It will be interesting to see in the coming year whether the fact that America has two leaders born in the year of the Ox at the helm of its financial future will come into play or not. We're tempted to think that the coming year won't be so hot for the US economy regardless of how many Oxen are, or are not in office. But in case you're still nervous about Presidents' and Treasury Secretaries' animal signs clashing, don't despair. We have created a Politician To Beast Pocket Conversion Guide for you that charts the last few Presidential Administrations and their first picks for Treasury Secretary:
What does this tell us? We don't know, except that the last two Presidents before Obama were a couple of dogs, preceded by a rat and a pig. But I think we all already knew that.
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