http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus_rally

It is defined as:

“…rise in stock prices in the month of December, generally seen over the final week of trading prior to the new year. The rally is generally attributed to anticipation of the January effect, an injection of additional funds into the market, and to additional trades which must, for accounting and tax reasons, be completed by the end of the year. The Santa Claus rally is also known as the “December Effect.”

To see a chart like this which is a 45 degree angle up, that is the definition of a “Santa Claus Rally.” Christmas is over now, unless we mean that the rally must carry forward into the New Year. I take it to mean the days just prior to the Christmas holiday, so using that definition, the Santa Claus rally was a great success this year.

Now we start to talk about the “End of Year” positioning and then the New Years period – Santa has passed.

in your opinion, if the SPX closes down today, is the Santa Claus rally a bust?

The Dollar caught a strong bid this morning and continues its rally. Along with stocks – which is an interesting turn of events.

I think it's just end-of-year low volume so markets can be pushed and shoved. We'll see how this pattern continues when volume picks back up into January.

However, should the market fall from here, the bears can thank me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus_rally

It is defined as:

“…rise in stock prices in the month of December, generally seen over the final week of trading prior to the new year. The rally is generally attributed to anticipation of the January effect, an injection of additional funds into the market, and to additional trades which must, for accounting and tax reasons, be completed by the end of the year. The Santa Claus rally is also known as the “December Effect.”