Wall Street remains optimistic. The consensus price target for the S&P 500 in 2025 is 6715, 14% higher than where the blue-chip barometer ended in 2024.

Traders had hoped a banner year for the S&P 500 would end in a "Santa Claus Rally"—a run-up commonly seen over the last five trading days of a year and the first two of the next. While Thursday and Friday trading could bring a turnaround,

Like Santa, who gives free gifts to our children, people think of the state as providing services “for free.” However, the state cannot provide anything without

Santa might have a lump of coal for Wall Street this year. Stocks typically enjoy a so-called Santa Claus Rally in the period spanning the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next.

The odds of a rising stock market are not significantly different whether or not there is a Santa Claus rally. The absence of a “Santa Claus rally” does not doom the U.S. stock market in 2025. That period from Christmas through the second trading day of January marks the traditional definition of the Santa Claus rally.

Key Takeaways Stocks fell on Thursday, dampening investors' hope for a Santa Claus rally to start 2025.The S&P 500's average return in years without a Santa Claus rally is less than half its return in years with one (5% vs.