Investment Strategy by Jeffrey Saut 12/22/08

(RaymondJames.com) Winter officially began yesterday morning with the arrival of the Winter Solstice. Recall that solstice means “standing-still sun;” and on December 21st at 7:04 a.m. (EST) the sun “stood still” over the southern Pacific Ocean (Tropic of Capricorn). At that time the sun’s rays were directly overhead, giving the impression that the sun was truly standing still. This phenomenon occurs twice a year (winter solstice and summer solstice), for as Earth orbits the Sun the north-south position of the Sun changes due to the Earth’s changing “tilt.” The dates of maximum tilt to the Earth’s equator correspond to the winter and summer solstice, while the dates of zero tilt are termed the vernal and autumnal equinox. In these latitudes most people “frame” the winter solstice as the shortest day of the year. We, however, have always liked the French version, which avers that it is rather the longest night of the year. In the northern “climes” this will mean roughly nine hours of sunlight, and 15 hours of darkness, and that light-to-dark ratio tends to produce “Seasonally Affected Disorder Syndrome” (or SADS) in certain folks.*

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