Year of the Rat and The Use of Technology to Get Lucky

What kind of luck will the Year of the Rat bring to us?

According to the Chinese Zodiac, which has a twelve-year cycle, the Year of 2008 is Year of the Rat (Earth), which officially begins on February 7, 2008 (a week before Valentine’s Day) and ends on January 25, 2009. This year should be a time of renewal in so many ways. A Rat Year is a time of hard work and activity, just like what the rats do. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married (or get a new boyfriend or girlfriend or both, depending on your preference), launch a product or make a fresh start. Although ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way to succeed, according to the Chinese, is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find. People born in an Earth Rat are said to be logical realists, shrewd, charming, ambitious, and inventive. Of course, the entire horoscope must be considered when making any personality assessment.

Since we know now that the Rat Year, is a year of plenty, bringing opportunity and good prospects, we can try observing and speculating out of fluctuations in the prices of commodities and the stock market. Hopefully, the world economy in general will boom. Businesses could be on the upswing and fortunes can be made, meaning, it will be an easy time to accumulate wealth. But we should not take chances or unnecessary risks because the Year of the Rat is still ruled by the cold of winter and the darkness of night. What does that mean? Those who speculate indiscriminately and overextend themselves could end up really sad.

So what do Americans think about the Year of the Rat? With the oil prices at its highest to start the year (USD 100 per barrel) and the American dollar at its lowest in almost seven years, the U.S. could very well head into a recession soon. The U.S. Federal Reserve has already slashed borrowing costs by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent to try and shore up the world's biggest economy and is widely expected to lower interest rates again. Remember the saying, “When America sneezes, the whole world catches flu.” I’m not sure if this is still true.

What do the Chinese think? Well, to them, there’s no turning back. The Shanghai Composite Index was trading at 1800 points around this time of last year. Today, I just checked and it’s 5361.57. My goodness, surging Chinese equities had formed a bubble. But bubbles always grow too big just to explode badly.

And what do Filipinos think? President Arroyo recently called for a summit on oil price change. And who is organizing this summit? Of course, the Secretary of Energy – General Angelo Reyes. I will not comment on that. Just check this out. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=110378
Likewise, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is believed to have been intervening in the currency market in early trade today (Friday) when the peso hit its best level against the US dollar since year 2000. Why? Too strong a peso can cause a sudden surge in our trade deficit by encouraging more imports. Please see this:
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=110356

In any event, our technology today allows us to monitor these financial matters at any time. So my advice? Make a fresh start. Don’t count on your dollars (especially not with your old lover). Bet on our peso. It’s the Year of the Rat – the year to make fortunes out of calculated risks.