If you want stock markets to rise, simply supply the City with more booze. Stocks and shares website ADVFN says that in 16 of the last 20 Decembers the FTSE 100 has gone up, and the month has been responsible for 25% of whatever rises there have been in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1930.
The phenomenon, labelled the Santa effect, is attributed to the ?general bonhomie? that December brings. And while Christmas 2004 didn't start brilliantly, ADVFN's CEO, Clem Chambers, was positive the trend wouldn't be bucked. ?Don't despair. Looking back over the last 20 years-worth of data, on average the Santa effect kicks in by the eleventh trading day of the month.?
Chambers adds: ?Perhaps it is as the festivities get into full swing and the alcohol level rises.?
