The Unbearable Heat

Australia has been regarded as a place that's always prone to bushfire during the summer season.

In the late January 2009, the exceptional heat-wave affected many parts of Australia particularly South-Eastern of Australia. It has disrupted major electricity, in turn caused the cancellation of thousands of train and tram services due to buckling rail lines, air conditioner failures and power outages. Hundreds have been treated for heat-related illness and 6 fatalities have been confirmed while a number of "sudden deaths" have been suspected to be caused by the heat.

The pro-long heat wave has also generated extreme fire conditions during the peak of the 2008-09 Australian bushfire season, causing many bushfires in the affected region, culminating in the 2009 Victorian bushfires which have claimed at least 181 lives, a figure that is rapidly rising. It has also destroyed at least 1,000 homes. Some of the fires are suspected to have been deliberately lit by arsonists. Their action has been described as "mass murder" by the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The bushfires are one of the worst natural disasters in Australia's history since 110 years ago.

To recapture the Outlook in the Chou Ox year, look at the chart below:

Using the 4 February 2009 chart, and relate to natural disaster in Australia. The two Bing Fires (two sun) on the Hour Stem and Month Stem reveal an extremely hot weather. The Na Yin of the year, Ji Chou, is fire from thunder. Again indicates a dry and hot seasons.

On the Hour Pillar, the Zi Rat sits at the branch. Zi Rat is one of the three sign of winter season. Countries that going through the winter months with summer weather are countries like Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. These countries are prone to bushfires. The Gui Water (represents mists, cloud or rain) contains in Zi Rat heated up by two suns shining on it become severe heat wave in South-Eastern Australia subsequently lead to the bushfire.

If you check on Wikipedia, the heat wave is the result of by a slow moving high-pressure system that settled over the Tasman Sea, with a combination of an intense tropical low (Zi-Chen combo) located off the North West Australian coast and a monsoon trough (Zi-Chen combo) over Northern Australia, which produced ideal conditions for hot tropical air (two Bing Fire heating up the Zi Rat) to be directed down over Southeastern Australia.

The Chen Dragon and Chou Ox in the chart also form destruction which describes the worst bushfire ever seen since 1859. Most of the northeast town of Melbourne have been completely destroyed.

How does by possibility gauging the natural events help you in your daily decision? It may not be a 100% guarantee that the event will take place but it can help you mentally prepare to face the problem and take necessary action. In the case of Australia's bushfire:

• You may take extra health precautionary and safety measures to protect yourself.
  
• You may also in this case increase the sum insure in the disaster prone areas.
  
• Prices of Insurance companies like Suncorp Metway and IAG at the close of trading on 9 February had dropped by more than a quarter, down nearly ten per cent respectively. Although they say it was too early to tell what the costs of the fires to insurers would be, some claims adjusters suggested that the total insurance costs for the fires could amount to $1.5 billion. Hence, as an investor you may have avoided the Insurance companies. Or you may have waited for this opportunity to buy some of the blue-chip in discount.
  
• The reconstruction efforts were likely to produce a stimulus effect on the economy of between 0.25 and 0.4 per cent of GDP over 18 months according to an economist from Goldman Sachs JBWere. How would this affect you as an individual or as an investor?

P/S Note: Meanwhile, a powerful earthquake has hit eastern Indonesia. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.0-magnitude quake struck at 1:34 a.m. (1734 GMT; 2:34 p.m. Wednesday EST, 11 February 2009) approximately 195 miles from Manado, the northernmost city on Sulawesi island. It was centered 20 miles beneath the ocean floor and followed by several aftershocks.