Whether you’re brand new to investing or have closed a few deals, our new online real estate class will cover everything you need to know to help you get started with real estate investing. Expert investor Than Merrill explains the best real estate strategies to help get you on the path towards a better financial future. That’s a little simplistic – There are other differences in financial performance between bear and bull markets, but still, it’s an excellent first barometer. Again, it’s important to note that there needs to be some duration before you’re looking at a bear market.

Short Selling is a trading strategy designed to make quick gains by speculating on the falling prices of financial security. It is done by borrowing the security from a broker and selling it in the market and thereafter repurchasing the security once the prices have fallen. A bear market is commonly defined as a drop of 20% or more and may “coincide with a weakening economy, significant liquidation of securities, and widespread negative investor sentiment,” Campbell said. A bull market is a sustained rising stock market, sometimes defined as a 20% rally from a recent low. The term can also be used regarding bonds, currencies and other securities.

What Causes a Bear Market?

This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or open a brokerage account in any jurisdiction where Open to the Public Investing is not registered. Securities products offered by Open to the Public Investing are not FDIC insured. Apex Clearing Corporation, our clearing firm, has additional insurance coverage in excess of the regular SIPC limits.

A bear market may occur when stocks drop 20% or more over at least two months. A bull market takes the exact opposite direction, reflecting stock gains of 20% or more over at least two months. Depending on where you are in your investment journey, you may prefer one market over another. But you may invest through both types of markets during your lifetime. It’s important to note that although a broad market index may enter a bear market, certain assets may see increased demand as investors seek protection. For example, investors may flock to dividend stocks during a bear market to add more diversification and earn a fixed income.

What’s the Difference Between a Bull & Bear Market?

However, by July of the same year, the stock market looked bullish and continued to recover during 2021. Since entering that bull market, stock prices have not dropped by 20% or more from a recent high. This might point to a lack of bearish sentiment in the market as of early 2022. It’s also important to realize that economic activity may not always align with the asset classes or index prices you’re using to judge a bear or bull market. For example, bullish sentiment in the crude oil market may point to increased industrial activity, but this is not always true.

Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is often used to measure economic health and performance. Declining GDP can be one sign that the markets may move into a bear market soon, or it might not mean much other than a temporary lag in productivity or changes in legislation. Bull markets, on the other hand, are marked by increasing prices. There isn’t a set percentage prices have to increase, or an amount of time they need to increase throughout. The United States historically tends to be in a Bull market more often than a Bear market, and bull markets also tend to last longer. Measures for this include quarterly gross domestic product growth and a falling unemployment rate.

Bull Market vs. Bear Market Video

Excluding the 1929 crash, mega meltdowns had an average peak-to-trough loss of nearly 57% and took an average of 60 months to recover. Generally speaking, a bear market is one that is showing signs of a decline. Share prices are dropping to the point where seasoned investors believe that this trend bull vs bear meaning will continue, at least for the foreseeable future. Another factor that determines whether the market is bull or bear is how the economy changes from time to time. In a bull market, corporate earnings increase, and the economy grows as consumers tend to spend more due to the wealth effect.

As an investor, you will experience both bull and bear markets that impact your investments. Therefore, it’s essential to keep in mind your risk tolerance, having a diversified portfolio, and strategic thinking can minimize losses as the market changes. A bear market is linked to a weakened economy where unemployment rates sour and people are afraid to spend. This, in turn, leads to businesses losing profits that affect their stock prices by lowering their value. Stocks went through a quick but sharp bear market in March and April 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Our Services

A major financial institution launching a new crypto product like an exchange-traded fund or a crypto trust can also signal positive momentum and spark additional investor interest. Whether the market is going through a Bullish or a Bearish market scenario is not in the hands of an individual or a single factor but large scale factors and other macroeconomic situations. Every investor has to go through such phases since these situations are inseparable. In statistical terms, the market is bullish when a rise of 20% in the stock market’s performance is observed. On the contrary, if a downfall of the stock market of 20% or more is noticed, then a bearish market situation is highlighted. Zoological-sounding stock market phrases, like bull versus bear markets, abound in financial market coverage, in part reflecting our country’s agrarian roots. Wall Street slang also helps simplify complex industry ideas into a commonly understood vernacular.

A couple of hours of low prices, or even a day or two, isn’t enough to say that the markets turned bear. Instead, look for sustained low prices, consistently dropping prices, and low investor confidence. Garden variety vs. “mega meltdown.” The biggest meltdown was the 1929 crash, which ushered in the Great Depression. But most bear markets are more “garden variety.” These milder bear markets averaged losses of 26% from peak to trough and took 14 months to recover. Six larger or “mega meltdown” bear markets had losses of more than 40%.