Ho-Ho-Ho-Hold Up!

Consider this a friendly reminder that the official Santa Rally time period (yes, it is a real thing on Wall Street) consists of the last five trading days of the current calendar year and spills over into the first two sessions of the new year.

Clearly, we are not there yet. 

So, despite how many are throwing around the phrase, "Santa Rally," we are just not there yet.

Although I sound like a stickler, there is a reason for it: If the Santa Rally does NOT materialize during its proper window it can often be a bearish omen for the entire new year. As Yale Hirsch once said, "If Santa Claus should fail to call, bears may come to Broad and Wall." 

In other words, the absence of a Santa Rally (when the time comes!) is often a more bearish indicator than anything we are seeing now.

That said, the action so far in December has been tedious, at best, if not downright horrific for swing traders. I can count on one hand the new of new positions I have taken over the last several weeks combined, which speaks to the notion of getting through these periods largely unscathed as a lofty goal. 

I will discuss more of this with Members over the weekend, but I am now more open to short-selling for the first time in a good while since the October lows.