Santa Claus is coming to town by Richard Fletcher

… November has proved to be a painful month for equity investors. Battered as the pound has risen on hopes of a Brexit “deal” the FTSE 100 ended the month down 2.1 per cent yesterday.

Will December prove any more profitable? It is historically the best month of the year for the markets, prompting talk of a “Santa Claus rally”. According to The Harriman Stock Market Almanac the index has fallen only three times in December since 1995, although two of those times were in 2014 and 2015. So don’t bank on Santa Claus.