What is a "Bear Market"?

Question

What is a "Bear Market"?

Answer 1

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bear...

Answer 2

bear market

Definition

A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. The term "bear" has been used in a financial context since at least the early 18th century. While its origins are unclear, the term may have originated from traders who sold bear skins with the expectations that prices would fall in the future. opposite of bull market.

Answer 3

http://beginnersinvest.about.com/library...

GO  HERE

Answer 4

On the radio this morning, the money portion of the news said that a bear market is when the stock market is more than 20% off of it's high point.

Answer 5

Bear Market is when investors pull out their money on stocks and causes a panic then stocks falls e.i Dow Jones might be on the Bear Market today

Answer 6

A slow market with declining prices and a pessimistic outlook.

Answer 7

The opposite of a Bull Market

Answer 8

A bear market is a prolonged period in the stock market when the prices of stocks are declining. Sometimes the overall economy stinks, sometimes interest rates are rising, and sometimes stocks just got to be too high and needed to correct to lower prices. Usually, when the market falls 20% from its high it is considered to be a bear market. In the US, the last bear market was from August 2000 through October 2002, when the S+P 500 index of big stocks fell by about 42%. Nasty!

Answer 9

Standard definition is, when the overall market (like the Dow 30) is off 10% from a recent high that would be considered a correction. Down 20% or more would be considered a bear market.

Answer 10

The expression refers to an overall decrease in market prices, usually for an extended period of time.

It was made unofficial that a broad index (such as Dow Jones or S&P500) is considered to be in a bear market when they lose more 20% of their value from their peak.

So if you take Dow Jones for example, it is today very close to be losing 20% from it's october highs. It is more or less official to be in a bear market, which may coincides with an economic recession.