We have exactly two weeks to go to Chinese New Year and lots of people must be waiting with bated breath to see what this coming Year of The Earth Ox holds, especially after the doom and gloom of 2008.

Will the Ox bring with it a good year?

Read on for a feng shui summary of the 2009 Year of The Ox ahead by the renowned Feng Shui master, Joey Yap.

“2009 will see the year of the Earth Ox in an earth cycle. As it is earth, what we see is stagnation, and the image is one of a pile of mud,” says Yap.

“It will be a daunting year. We haven’t really reached the peak of the problems yet. We are probably one third through this difficult cycle. It will get worse, but it won’t be bad for everyone. It’s not good for things which have metal elements – financials being the main theme. Metal is seen to be covered by earth, with a lot of dirt piling on it. Therefore, the financial industry won’t prosper this year.”

What will this then mean for financial investors? Read below for Joey Yap’s advice on financial investing in the Year of The Ox.

For investments, Yap advocates going long term. “Look three to four years ahead. In times like these, you cannot make quick gains. My advice is to hold on to cash.

Yap cautions that there will be a little spring appearing in mid-2009, which is in actual fact, a false image. “People will think this spring marks the start of a rally, but no. Things will in fact go down after that. My advice is for investors to ride on the wave of this little spring when it happens. Use this opportunity to sell,” says Yap.

Sectors that are seen able to preserve cash are the wood-related sectors such as academic related, printing, self-help, teaching. The health industry will also do well. As plantation is wood related, crude palm oil may see a chance of going up again.

It won’t be great for oil, however. Oil is of the fire element. Earth dampens fire. So Yap says its difficult for crude oil to appreciate. Construction prices will also go down. Currencies, which are defined by the water element is seen to be contaminated by dirty earth.

It is a tough year ahead in general for investors. Hence, it will be wise to save cash, invest carefully, hold on tight to your jobs and look forward to a recovery in 2010, Year of the Tiger!