Scales of success

This year, there are 13 lunar months, something that happens every few years to bring the lunar calendar back into line with the solar observations. Custom has it that it is not a winter month that is repeated, and this year it will be the sixth month. It’s not unlike a ‘Groundhog Month’ when the repeated month takes place. It is not exactly the same of course, the qi of the universe and seasons keeps moving along, and this year the added month has only 29 days, which don’t map exactly onto the 30 of the primary, or first, sixth month. Also, for those who keep an eye on a Chinese-style almanac or lunar calendar: not only do the guiding 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches change through the days; the nine flying stars, the 28 constellations or lunar mansions, and the 12 day officers or day indications all keep to their own systems. The latter, for example, repeating one of the 12 day officers or indications depending on the occurrence of every second solar term. Happily or unhappily for us, the sixth month this year is a snake relaxed, basking on a rock in the sun, and the index may not budge.

Secret hissings point towards good rises in the market through the spring and winter, a long period of summerish lassitude, and small falls throughout the year. For ophiophiles and lovers of other slithery critters, we’ve pegged each month to a different species of snake and see them sloughing off their skins to reveal, like Russian dolls, the true inner snake of the Hang Seng Index.

A closer look

  Flying Snake     Falling Snake  
Wood  Tiger

3 Feb - 4 Mar

The Rough Green Snake gets liquid by sucking dew from leaves, this allows it to climb into trees and perch there patiently, waiting for prey. So begins the year, with a modest ascent and temporary viewing platform.

Wood  Rabbit

5 Mar - 3 Apr

The Garter Snake, when young, can survive falls from great heights – the one this snake is about to practice, a young thing with an inclination to test these limits of nature out. Falling from the tree it lands with a thud and spends time below the ground.

Earth  Dragon

4 Apr - 4 May

The month turns and it is now the turn of the Golden Lancehead. With a predilection for fresh bird, particularly those in the upper branches, the Lancehead can climb. And so this one does, with a rapid and determined ascent.

Fire  Snake

5 May - 4 Jun

In its home month, now in the habit of the Brown Tree Snake. Able to lasso tall trees in a single motion, this fella is responsible for nearly wiping out all birds on Guam. As a sideline, it’ll also lift the market well into long-unseen heights.

Fire  Horse

5 Jun - 6 Jul

In the midst of the long-summer doldrums, the index stagnates on a windless sea. As the yellow-red Rat Snake dons the mantle, its tendency to seek out dark caves with a smorgasbord of noisy bats further weakens the index's hold.

Earth  Goat

7 Jul - 6 Aug

Moving into full summer, the Paradise Flying Snake has a unique ability to flatten its body, and thus change course while in the air. Mirroring this serpent’s neither upward nor downward mid-air movement, the index remains flat.

Metal  Monkey

7 Aug - 6 Sep

This month the veiled snake is the Cobra, but not any Cobra, this one comes with a charmer, a basket and a pungi reed instrument. How much of the rise in the index is true Cobra and how much is just hypnotic noise is difficult to determine.

Metal  Rooster

7 Sep - 7 Oct

A small fall in the index comes as the Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake arrives. This snake swims around following currents and being opportunistic in making any progress. With the early autumn currents drying up, the market withers a little.

Earth  Dog

8 Oct - 6 Nov

This is a Rattlesnake’s month. These desert dwellers can go long periods without water, coiling themselves into a bucket shape to harvest precious drops of rain when it does fall. And one 19th Century report even mentioned a rainstorm of falling rattlers. Down we go.

Water  Pig

7 Nov - 5 Dec

Time for a breather, and a circuit breaker, appearing this month decked out as the Golden Tree Snake. A known air glider, and the largest flying snake, it manages to also move around by using its scales – and this month the index scales remain just where they were.

Water  Rat

6 Dec - 4 Jan

The Twig Snake, a four-foot marvel, takes the lead with its monthly performance. Something finally twigs and this snake is happy to attack from below and keep rising even while consuming prey; finally, a snake that can walk and chew gum.

Earth  Ox

5 Jan - 3 Feb

Perhaps to lean into the Year of the Horse, this final snake nods its hood to the horse’s opposite sign, the rat. The Western Rat Snake is a formidable climber and it takes the index up at a dizzying speed to finish a moderately successful year.

Feng Shui Index 2025 report

Year of the Wood Snake

Sorcerer: Dr James Greenbaum
Sorcerer's apprentice: Susan Zhang
Wand bearer: Forest Chan
Director/Editor: Yukti Vidyarthi
Translation editor: Melanie Ng
Design/Art: Lizzie Lau; Anna Lai; Elva Lau; Patrina Leung; Jon Berkeley
Web development: Paul Ngan; Timothy Wang
Video production: Alexandra Lee; Luna Deng
Thanks to: Sandy Chen Dowling; Ellen Lo
Producer: Liz Patterson

Launched in 1992 as a Chinese New Year card, the CLSA Feng Shui Index is a light-hearted outlook for the Hong Kong market and a well-loved firm tradition. Please note that this guide is not a research report.