The New York Sun long ago (September 21, 1897):
DEAR EDITOR:
I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus Rally. It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy....
First up, via Redbubble:
And a flashback to a very grim December at the market, 2018:
Dec. 20
Hulbert: "Santa Claus is coming to Wall Street — after Christmas"
....And here to answer the question once again is Mark Hulbert at MarketWatch, Dec 18, 2018 5:18 p.m. ET.
While calendar-based trades are usually bunk, at this time of year it's good to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Santa will be a little late with presents for stock investors...
***...Virginia, the DJIA may be down 453.22 (-1.94%) at 22,870.44 but Santa is coming, so ask him for some OTM calls on the ES. Or get your name on some triple leveraged long ETFs. He's on his way.
And I will drop Mr. Hulbert a line re: the 1914 shutdown and reopening and remind him he knows the details and could have taken another paragraph to explain index construction.
Well, as we all know the major indices continued lower right up until the Christmas Eve early close, the DJIA's intra-day low that session was 21,792.20 but come Boxing Day: Hooray!
Dec. 26
Equities: Thank You Santa
I received the options on the S&P futures and I have to say, earlier this morning I thought XXL was far too big
And on top of that I was a bit nervous about having gone public with December 20's Hulbert: "Santa Claus is coming to Wall Street — after Christmas", reiterated as the first sentence in Dec. 23's Equities: "Nothing Goes to Hell in a Straight Line, Not Even Stocks".
If you hadn't come through, all those young people on the internet might have lost faith and stopped believing,
But you delivered Santa, you did!
Right down to the minute!....
January 20, 2019
Thank you for The Best Christmas Ever......scratch that: Thank you for the best Christmas in a long, long time...I'm done playing with the triple leveraged long ETFs you brought me and will put them away.
Regarding the options on the S&P e-mini futures: what is my tax basis on a gift?
Thanks Santa
January 23, 2019
IBD: "Dow Jones Rises 3,100 Points From Dec. 26 Low; 6 Top Stocks Break Out"
Virginia, if you are interested see also:
Trading the Santa Claus Rally Based on 31 Years of Data Analysis
...The Santa Claus Rally refers to a phenomenon in the stock market characterized by an increase in stock prices during the last weeks of December through the first two trading days in January.
Based on our data analysis, the Santa Rally phenomenon is indeed observable. Our findings indicate average stock price rises of 1.74% in October, 2.40% in November, and 0.56% in December. Weekly analysis reveals that week 52 exhibits the highest strength, with 68% of instances showcasing an average increase of 0.86%.
Keeping in mind that long-ago December 20 post:
....While calendar-based trades are usually bunk, at this time of year it's good to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
