TONY Tan, a Singapore-based astrologer, is urging investors heading into the Year of the Ox to emulate the beast that lends its name to the lunar new year?be patient and deliberate.

Concerns about the global economy that pummeled Asian stocks in 2008 will persist, causing the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to extend last year?s record-43 percent slump, according to astrologers including Tan, who founded the Harmony Academy of Chinese Metaphysics in 1995.

Just like the ox, ?investors should be patient and position for a potential market upturn in 2010,? said Tan, a former broker at the securities arm of DBS Group Holdings. He predicted correctly last year that markets would peak and investors would suffer losses.

The MSCI Asia Pacific index?s tumble in 2008, which coincided with the lunar Year of the Rat, ended a five-year bull market for the region?s equities. Stocks plunged as the credit crisis caused the failure of banks including Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings, dragging the world?s largest economies into recession.

The Chinese lunar calendar ascribes each of the 12 years in the cycle to an animal, which in turn represents different personality traits. Besides the rat and the ox, the tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and the pig are also part of the pantheon.

As well as being patient, those born in the year of the ox are hardworking, stable and tenacious, Hong Kong-based astrologer Edwin Ma writes on his Web site. Ma contributes a daily horoscope column to Hong Kong?s South China Morning Post newspaper.

In the year of the ox, Tan said, investors should avoid US and European assets because both regions were at the center of the credit crisis.

Credit-related losses and write-downs at financial institutions worldwide have swelled to more than $1 trillion. US and European companies account for 97 percent of that total, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Tan Khoon Yong, an astrologer who established consulting firm Way OnNet Group, agrees on the need for caution, given the stock markets? performance in the previous Year of the Ox in 1997, which coincided with the Asian financial crisis. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index plunged 28 percent that year.

?Chances of boosting one?s wealth in the Year of the Ox are slim as the fluctuations brought about by the ox are huge and fast,? Tan said. He recommends holding shares in marine transport, fishery, technology, energy, hotel, media, lottery and food and beverage companies.

One support for Asian equities might come from investors favoring the region because it is relatively sheltered from the credit turmoil, Tony Tan said. While he bases advice on a mix of Chinese philosophy and astronomy dating back more than 3,000 years, some stock analysts do echo his sentiments. Bloomberg