Philip’s Comments

Well, what can be said? Rather than a Santa rally, the markets have been torrid and Wall Street will have threatened to have had the worst December since 1931, the great crash heralding the Depression. Within the month, it fell by significant daily amounts as well as rallying on one of the lowest volume trading days of the year too to rise by the most points ever seen on one day. This volatility is not especially helpful, it has to be said, as it confuses investors in terms of the difference between short-term speculation and risk-taking and long-term investment in real assets.