Jeremy Hobson: Well the Chinese New Year isn’t just a cause for celebration. Feng Shui masters are using the ancient Chinese art and their knowledge of this Year of the Dragon to predict economic trouble in the year ahead.

And according to one Feng Shui master, there isn’t much to look forward to.

In today’s Mid-Day Extra, the BBC’s Kate McGough reports.

Kate McGough: Today we’re entering the year of the “water dragon.” So according to Feng Shui masters we should be watching out for floods and other natural disasters involving water, that could damage the global supply chain.

The dragon is believed to be especially lucky and many couples across Asia are making an extra effort to give birth to “dragon babies.”

But even the economy can’t escape predictions from the elements in the Chinese Zodiac – and the year of the “water dragon” is not good news there.

If the stock market is influenced by the collective mood of the people, then a “water year” is bad news. In Chinese mythology “water” is the element that makes people afraid and depressed. So we shouldn’t expect a strong recovery.

But according to Feng Shui master Raymond Lo it’s not all bad news:

Raymond Lo: Water means money so that means we see some prospect of improvement in the American economy.

And according to Raymond, people want change in a water year to wash away old-fashioned beliefs. So there should be more protests and government changes in the year ahead.

In London, I’m the BBC’s Kate McGough for Marketplace.