Monday, December 4, 2017

Waiting for Santa Claus

As we head into December, it's worth noting that, on average, it's the best month for stocks. Investors call the gains a Santa Claus rally: a late-year boost that helps the markets end on a high note. Over the past 1000 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 74 percent of the time over the past 100 years in December for an average return of 1.6 percent.

From 1950 to 2016, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose an average of 1.6 percent in December. And its strong performance so far this year augurs well for 2017's Santa Claus rally.

With double digit gains so far, the S&P 500 is poised for one of its best years since 2013. Since 1990, the S&P 500 has climbed 82 percent of the time in December, with an average gain of 2.5 percent, when the index has risen at least 10 percent by the end of November.

No comments:

Post a Comment