364 Days until the Next Santa Rally Begins?

364 Days until the Next Santa Rally Begins? (CNNMoney)

This year’s Santa Claus rally prodded the Dow Jones to its 50th record high of the year at 16,370 yesterday; the S&P 500 to a new high of 1,834.96 and even the Nasdaq to a 13-year high of 4,164.21. But with the markets on bull runs for much of the year (Dow and S&P 500 up more than 20 percent this year; Nasdaq up 30 percent), many investors are wondering if this year’s Saint Nicholas rally will end when New Year’s arrives, or if it will barrel right into 2014. And even if the rally does continue into January, what effect will the Fed’s announced tapering of stimulus to $75 billion from $85 a month a month have on it? Investors with insight into the answers to these questions certainly will have a leg up on their peers heading into the New Year.