It's that time of year again when retailers head into the best quarters of their financial year.

It is also the time when retail investors start sinking into holiday mode and calling travel agents up to book trips rather than calling their stock brokers up to settle trades.

And if you still don't get what I'm trying to put across by now, let me put it to you plain and simple:

Take your money out of the market and take a break for the rest of the year.

I say this for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it's been a fast and furious few weeks and the year's been quite a roller-coaster ride for the local stock market.

If you've been investing right, you're probably patting your pocket-full of the tidy sum you've made.

So don't be greedy. Get out while you're still on top.

Especially when you know you're sinking into holiday mode.

Secondly, while we're all hoping to end the year on a high note (now that's an understatement, considering how far up we're at now), the major rally is really giving me the jitters.

In a mere two weeks, the Straits Times Index jumped 2.75%.

The earnings and economic data we've seen can't exactly substantiate such a run, so with no fundamentals to lean on, I fear the bulls might very well run off a very high cliff.

So I suggest you take out your tidy sum of profit and either take a well-deserved break or take this time to re-evaluate your portfolio.

Or you could just go Christmas shopping with me.

Serene Lim