Bull and bear markets
A bull market is a sustained period of rising prices; a bear market is a fall of 20% or more from the recent high.
The labels are descriptions of the past, not forecasts. They get named only once the move is well under way, which is why "we are in a bear market" is not a useful trading instruction.
A 10% fall is usually called a correction and happens most years. Bear markets are rarer and have historically ended, though never on a schedule anyone could rely on.
In Stoxhatch
The daily briefing explains what moved and why, without telling you which way the market is headed next — nobody knows that.
Related
- Risk — Risk in investing is the chance of a permanent loss, not the fact that a price moves around.
- Price chart — A price chart plots what a stock has cost over time — each point is one trading day's closing price.
Try it with $10,000 of simulated cash, no signup needed — or browse the rest of the glossary.