IN LATE NOVEMBER, US designer Michael Kors threw a big party for the opening of his first namesake boutique in Singapore at the newly opened Scotts Square. Just days later, Kors, who founded the luxury sportswear, accessories and apparel firm, was performing the opening bell ritual from the narrow marble balcony overlooking the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange to herald the successful IPO of his iconic firm. While Kors raked in US$116 million ($145.9 million) as part of the listing, reducing his personal stake in the company from 11.7% to 8.6%, the biggest gainers were its real owners: two middle-aged men who have made billions from taking over fashion firms, turning them around and selling them in IPOs or to private equity investors.

THE DRAGON IS generally believed to be the most auspicious of the Chinese zodiac animals. However, the dragon that has just made a splashing debut this Lunar New Year amid torrential rain “is not an auspicious dragon”, warns geomancer Wilfred Leu. “I call it a black dragon, not a water dragon,” says Leu, a practitioner of Qi Men Dun Jia and the Golden Prose of Liu Ren, a specialised form of feng shui. According to his readings, which use specific times and geographic spaces to predict outcomes, the year ahead will be another difficult one for investors.