Personality | Compatibility | Ascendants | Famous "Rats" The Rat year is a year of plenty, bringing opportunity and good prospects. It will be marked by speculation and fluctuations in the prices of commodities and the stock market; the world economy in general will boom. Business will be be on the upswing, fortunes can be made and it will be an easy time to accumulate wealth. However, this is also the time to make long-term investment plans as the bonanza the Year of the Rat brings will serve to see us through the bleak years that may follow.All ventures begun at this time will be successful if one prepares well. But do not take chances or unnecessary risks: the Year of the Rat is still ruled by the cold of winter and darkness of night. Those who speculate indiscriminately and overextend themselves will come to a sad reckoning. On the whole, this will be a happier year than most; free from explosive events and wars and with far less catastrophes than, say, the years of the Tiger or the Dragon. Nonetheless, it will be spicy. It promises a lot of bickering, bargaining and petty arguments that will do little harm. A congenial time that will find most of us socializing and enjoying ourselves.   Personality The Rat is one of the animals that are found all over the world. It has good vitality and gives people the impression that it is smart, nimble and filled with enterprising spirits. People born in the Year of the Rat share some of the characteristics of a Rat. They are optimistic, cheerful, do not fall into low spirits no matter how hard the circumstances, and will fight for their lives. At the same time, they are sensitive like a Rat, and have good intuition and imagination, but they are not good at logically drawing their own conclusions. Viewed from appearances, people born in the Year of the Rat are reticent persons, but actually they are not. They are easily worked up, but they can control their spirits. This character allows them to have lots of friends. People born in the Year of the Rat are usually optimistic, cheerful and easy to get along with. Sometimes you may find a person born in the Year of the Rat to be critical, complaining and fault finding. But generally speaking, people born in the Year of the Rat are easy to get along with. You can find them in circles of close friends and they are usually very friendly. People born in the Year of the Rat treasure their relationships with friends and relatives. Sometimes you will find that they connect their lives closely to those of others. This is because once they like somebody, they can't bear to leave them. People born in the Year of the Rat have a natural instinct for loving money. A boss born in the Year of the Rat will care for his employees. He makes sure his employees participate sufficiently in sports and that they maintain a balanced diet. When his employees are sick, he will go to see them. He takes the troubles of employees as his own. But things change as soon as his employees want to talk about raising their wages. Then he becomes a miser. If you want to get money from the person born in the Year of the Rat, you will need to bargain with him very hard.   Compatibility Most Compatible: Dragons, Monkeys Least Compatible: Horses   Ascendants Born During the Hours of the Rat - 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Supercharming but also a bit conceited. Wonderful homebody and a good writer. Born During the Hours of the Ox - 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. Slow plodding Rat with a serious outlook. Still dominated by Rat's appealing ways but his gambler instincts are curtailed by the Ox's caution. Born During the Hours of the Tiger - 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. Aggressive and bossy, an over achiever. All will be well if he can save his money - which the Tiger in him will resent. Born During the Hours of the Rabbit - 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. May be docile and soft-spoken but his calculating ways will be increased. The charm of the Rat coupled with the Rabbit's astuteness will be hard to defeat. Born During the Hours of the Dragon - 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Rat with expansive ways and a very large heart, sometimes too large for his purse. He will give you a loan and regret it afterwards. The Dragon's strong will and the Rat's money-making talents will make him very successful in business. Born During the Hours of the Snake - 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Will have hoards of admirers. He will worm his way into your pocket as well as your heart. The Snake in him makes him wary of hidden dangers. He is a bit sly. Born During the Hours of the Horse - 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dashing but daring Rat who will take many risks in life. The fickle-minded ways of the Horse may also make his love life turbulent. He will either be riding high on a wave of success or on the brink of bankruptcy. Born During the Hours of the Ram - 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Too sentimental. However, you may find his money-grubbing ways greatly tempered by good taste and refinement. Since both signs here are opportunistic, he will be adept at currying favors from those in power. Born During the Hours of the Monkey - 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Very enterprising combination. He knows every trick in the book and won't hesitate to use it. With the Monkeys influence, he is less sentimental and will also have a fantastic sense of humor. Born During the Hours of the Rooster - 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Extra intelligent and capable. But, oh so smug! The Rat in him is busy saving money while the Rooster side comes up with grand designs on how to spend it. He could redeem himself by applying all his administrative qualities to running a business with someone else's money. Born During the Hours of the Dog - 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Dog in him tries to be fair-minded and unprejudiced, while the Rat's basic craving for wealth is gnawing away at the Dog's noble conscience. Still, this combination could turn out a writer of great authority or a journalist/philosopher with an acid pen. Born During the Hours of the Boar - 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. This Rat will hate carrying the Boar's scruples inside him. It makes him hesitate when he could take advantage of ideal situations. He may end up being a do-gooder who gets no thanks unless he gets smart.   Famous "Rats" Ron Moody, Marlon Brando, Burt Reynolds, Ursula Andress, Englebert Humperdinck, Kenny Loggins, Alice Cooper, Stevie Nicks, Richard Gere, Samuel L. Jackson, David Duchovny, Ben Affleck, Gweneth Paltrow Source: The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes by Theodora Lau Published by Arrow Books Limited