Breaking the Biggest Taboo

The Year of the Monkey, according to Chinese feng shui, comes with risks. As the legend goes, banana peels strewn across the ground threaten to trip people up. And, although the Year of the Monkey officially begins on February 8, already many investors are starting to slip.

In Shanghai, 26 percent of the Shanghai Index value vanished throughout the month of January. Globally, the decline is estimated to reach 11 percent. The Chinese renminbi kept falling against the US dollar. Since August, it was down 5.9 percent and this year alone it is already down 1.5 percent, despite desperate attempts by the Chinese central bank to use its foreign currency reserves to defend their currency.

February 2, 2016