HK Indians go on a ‘househunt’ in US

Every year, just ahead of the Chinese New Year festival, employers in Hong Kong fork out annual performance-linked bonuses to employees, and announce their wage hikes for the year. This year, the festival falls on February 7, and it caps what’s been a boom year for the Hong Kong economy, which translates into fatter bonuses. Even multinational banks and financial institutions, that have had their profits wiped out in the US because of the subprime mortgages crisis, have seen their profits from Asia soar. 

A group of Indian investment bankers in Hong Kong, who have deservedly earned million-dollar bonuses this year, are planning to travel across small-town America over the next few weeks, in the certainty of snapping up some great deals in the housing market, which has collapsed over the subprime crisis and fears of a US recession. As homeowners in the US foreclose loans they cannot afford any longer, they might have to sell their houses at throwaway prices. “A few of my friends and I are taking a couple of weeks off to study the market, and are sure to land some fabulous bargains,” an Indian investment banker told me.

Being bankers, they have a financial justification for what to some may seem like profiting from others’ misery. “Look at it this way: We’re giving struggling homeowners an exit option they don’t now have. The longer they hold on to their homes, the more desperate their situation will become,” the banker explained.  Well, it looks like the Chinese New Year will be another prosperous one for this group of NRI moneybags…

The year coming up will, in the Chinese zodiac, be the Year of the Rat. And if I were given to an occasional flutter, I’ll wager that it’ll be a bad year for rats, probably leading to large-scale extermination of rodents. Here’s why…

2005 was the Year of the Rooster, and following a renewed outbreak of avian flu in these parts, millions of chicken were culled to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. 2006 was the Year of the Dog, and coincidentally, local and provincial authorities across China launched a campaign of mass extermination of stray dogs. And in 2007, the Year of the Pig, an outbreak of blue-ear disease among pigs in southern China again led to large-scale culling of the beasts. Enough reason, I’d think, to be bearish on rats this year.

Chinese astrologers are forecasting turbulent times in the year ahead, including tsunamis and epidemics, and even turmoil in the financial and political spheres. That’s because they see a conflict between water (which is symbolised by the rat) and earth, which bodes ill for the new year.