Sample Reading

1) The one-card method (forecasting the stock market)
It was May 2000, and I was having lunch with Mr. Luk, a long time acquaintance. We talked about the stock market and noted that the Hang Seng Index has soared by more than 300 points (more than two percent) during its morning trading. Mr Luk wondered whether this up-trend would continue into the afternoon as he talked about wanting to buy into a blue chip for the short term. So I asked him to get quiet and focus his thoughts on the market while he shuffled my I-Ching deck. The card he picked was no. 9 (Gentle Restraint). It's meaning: Small accumulations, holding back. Actual outcome: THe Hang Seng closed by only a 0.5 percent rise in the afternoon.	No.9 Gentle Restraint
2) The two-card method (forecasting recent developments )
Mr Chan was having a set back in his career recently. His 'luck' wasn't going smoothly and had come to ask for advice about his future development in the next six months. I used 2 cards method. (The present: cause/ the future:outcome). He drew card 3 (difficult beginnings) for the present and card 63 (after completion) for the future. The "difficult beginning" depicted Mr Chan's problems at that time (he was just starting his business). However the card also depicted a resolution of his difficulties in time. The future card "after completion" implies an auspicious picture of success. It also showed a need to be aware of decline or competition soon after. Overall, Mr Chan was having much difficulty at the time which was natural for someone just starting a new business. However, it was apparent from the two cards that the situation would improve in six months, the time frame that he specified and will attain success. The actual outcome: Mr Chan's company was able to break even in about four months after he started his venture and began to profit by the second year (1999). By that year's end, his business was facing keen competition from Taiwanese manufacturers due to that country's devalued currency. The latest news we learnt was that Mr Chan was planning to sell off his business as he prepared to go into multi-level marketing of health products.	No.3 Difficult Beginnings No.63 After Completion
3) A Choice of Two- Who Wins? (The US presidential election)
The United States and the rest of the world saw George Bush and El Gore in what was the closest race ever recorded in a US presidential election. My friend, Chi Wah, a US immigrant, was in Hong Kong during the time that the deadlock had dragged on for more than three weeks. He and I met up for dinner and during the course of it he asked if I could foretell who would eventually become President. So I got hold of a blank piece of paper and drew two card positions A and B - to which he assigned position A for Bush and B for Gore (who he favored). Chi Wah then focused on the issue and drew card 50, "The Cauldron" for Bush and 33 "Retreat" for Gore. On comparing the two cards, the presidency for Bush became obvious. The Cauldron stands for the beginning of a new era, a time of change and revolution. The actual outcome: You guessed it.	No.50 The Cauldron No.63 After Completion
4) The Hong Kong economy (Past/ Present/ Future)
Mrs Ho came to Hong Kong as a migrant from China in the early fifties. She started her own trading company 10 years ago and has been running it since. Came the Asian economic crisis of 1998 and her business suffered a huge downturn. As Mrs Ho was very uncertain about the future of Hong Kong, particularly after 1997 when sovereignty was returned to China, she came to ask for guidance - in particular, whether she should continue with her HK operation or emigrate, again. I decided on the Three-Card Spread for her and asked her to quiet her mind and concentrate on her Past, Present and Future while she drew her cards. For her Past, she drew "Pushing Upward". This picture was compatibile with HK's past economy which had been on a long upward spiral since 1990. Property and stocks reached new highs all the way up to mid-1997. Then the bubble burst. The present position was depicted by the picture "Nourishment". This meant a time for rest, taking stock, planning and building up momentum for future action. Just after the change over a sovereignty, many Hong Kongers had to readjust from living under British colonial rule to being under that of a special administrative region (SAR) with high autocracy and independent of interference from China. This card conforms to the present situation of HK. What was most worrisome was the Future card that she drew: "Falling Apart". HK's prosperity during the past 10 years was very much built on an overpriced property market resting on a bubble economy. Its status as an international financial center and window to the PRC is now threatened by competing neighboring cities such as Singapore and its own sister-city, Shanghai. Their economies are much broadly based on manufacturing, service as well as finance. Hong Kong could only boast of being a financial and service center. With the burst of the bubble and still carrying high operating expenses, the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong is fast eroding. The 1997 handover also presented Hong Kong with new challenges - both internal and external. Internally there are underlying causes for dissatisfaction with the SAR government. Externally, with Hong Kong being part of China but given the unique one-country-two-systems rule, the territory is constantly under worldwide scrutiny whether the whole system would work. Many hurdles await HK in its bid to maintain its position as a financial center and a first class international city. More importantly, in the face of constant change - what will it morph into and still keep the vibrancy alive? The actual outcome: Is still evolving and remains to be seen.	No.46 Growth No.27 Nourishment No.23 Falling Apart