Feng shui might not be the obvious source of advice on business but with much of East Asia practicing yin and yang and the flow of energy, it might pay to be more attentive.

Hong Kong feng shui master Raymond Lo, who does readings for corporations, told ABC Online he expected industries connected to earth and metal signs to do well in the Year of the Rat, and advised investors to put their money into property, mining and gold.

“The rat is a symbol of money to the earth industry … Strong water element in the year indicates productivity and strong activity in the metal industries,” Lo said.

While it may be good news for resources on the first day of the Year of the Rat, the outlook for stock markets doesn’t fare any better.

“The water element affects the fire of the markets. I can see a lot of correction in the stock market,” Lo told the ABC.

While the sceptics among us are thinking that it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, regional broker firm CLSA issued to its clients its feng shui or “topical” research note.

The firm said it predicted the stock market would rise from May to August and the US dollar will remain weak.

“Be mindful of your speculations, especially in the third quarter,” CLSA was reported as saying in the newswire.

Meanwhile for those of us who need cold, hard numbers, another fall on Wall Street of 0.53% thanks to inflation and ultimately recession concerns, along with firmer base metals and closed Asian stock markets, provided mixed messages for the local bourse.

The S&P-ASX 200 index rallied early but gave way to the usual downward path of late, falling 1.8% to an intraday low of 5508.7pts, predominately weighed down by Rio Tinto which rejected BHP Billiton’s increased 3.4-for-one offer.

Shares in the takeover target dropped 2.5% to an intraday low of $124 before rallying to close at $127 – a dip of 14c or 0.11%.

BHP managed to dip 59c in the red to a low of $36.07 before closing at $36.92 – a gain of 26c or 0.71%.

The S&P-ASX 200 index closed at 5596.7pts, a fall of 0.23%.

Looking at the broader picture, resource stocks were mixed overall with gold and coal plays the better performers.

February delivery of gold managed to crack the $US900 per ounce mark – just – thanks to supply disruptions out of South Africa. The price climbed $14.80 or 1.7% to $900.70/oz while the spot price crept 0.01% to $900.50/oz.

Newcrest Mining added A65c (1.9%), Lihir Gold gained 10c (3%) to $3.4, Sino Gold climbed 16c (2.3%) to $7.06, Centamin Egypt firmed 9c (6.2%) to $1.54 and St Barbara rose 4.5c (5.4%) to 88c.

Shares in coal miners were generally positive thanks to stronger spot prices which could have a flow-on effect to coking coal contract prices. Goldman Sachs JBWere reportedly lifted its coking coal contract forecast for 2008 to $US200 per tonne, up 104% compared to last year.

Centennial Coal gained A28c (7.7%) to $3.90, Felix Resources climbed 76c (9.1%) to $9.15 and Gloucestor Coal closed up 23c (3.7%) to $6.43.

Looking at the top three movers in today’s session; Chameleon Mining jumped 1.3c (39.4%) to 4.6c, Austral Africa Resources – formerly New World Alloys – added 0.3c (33.3%) to 1.2c and Minemakers climbed 14c (26.9%) to 66c.

On the other side of the spectrum were Alchemy Resources, which lost 3.5c (26.9%) to 9.5c, Jutt Holdings dropped 3.5c (22.6%) to 12c and NGM Resources lost 3c (19.4%) to 12.5c.