U.S. stock market: Is it a bull, a bear, or a bull in a bear?
Aug 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. stock market's rebound in recent weeks has analysts and investors questioning whether 2022's deep downturn has ended, but how to spot an expiring bear market or a new bull market is 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ not something everyone on Wall Street agrees on.
Equities have rebounded thanks to better-than-expected corporate earnings and bets the worst of soaring inflation may be over. The Nasdaq (.什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ IXIC) index's drop of about 0.6% on Thursday left the tech-heavy index up 20% from recent low on June 16, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) has also 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ rebounded in recent weeks, now up 15% from its recent low in June.
The recent gains led analysts at Bespoke Investment Group to declare on Thursday morning the Nasdaq had exited its recent bear market, even though the index remains down about 21% 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ from its record high close last November, with trillions of dollars in stock market value still lost.
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On Wall Street, the terms "bull" and "bear" markets are often used to characterize broad upward or downward trends in asset prices.
Both indexes are widely viewed as having been in bear markets in 2022, but not all analysts define bull or bear markets the same way, and many investors use the terms loosely.
"We could write for hours on the semantics of bull and bear markets," Bespoke wrote in its research note, saying 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ a new bull market was now confirmed to have started on June 16.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a bull market simply as "a market in which securities or commodities are persistently rising in value."
Some investors define a bear market more specifically as a decline of at least 20% in a stock or index from its previous peak, with the peak defining the beginning of the bear market, which is only recognized in hindsight following the at-least 20% decline.
Similarly, some define a bull market as a 20% rise from a previous low, and by that measure, used by Bespoke, the Nasdaq could now be viewed as having begun a fresh bull market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission says on its website that, "Generally, a bull market occurs when there is a rise of 20% or more in a broad market index over at least a two-month period."
S&P Dow Jones Indices, which administers the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), has an even more nuanced definition of a bull market.
A drop of 20% or more from a high, followed by a 20% gain from that lower level, would leave an index still below its previous peak, a situation S&P Dow Jones Indices Senior Index Analyst Howard Silverblatt describes as a "bull rally in a bear market".
Analysts warn against relying too much on backward-looking definitions of market cycles that do little to capture current sentiment or predict where stocks 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ will go in the future.
Factors like the velocity of the market’s rise or fall and how much average stocks have changed contribute to whether investors view a major move as a turning point in sentiment or a short-term interruption to an existing bull or bear market.
Indeed, investors can only be sure they are in a new bull market once a new record high has been reached, and at that point, the previous low would mark the end of the bear market and beginning of 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ the new bull market, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
For example, during the bear market caused by the 2008 financial crisis, the S&P 500 (.SPX) rallied over 20% from a low in November 2008, raising hopes the stock rout was over. But the S&P 500 tumbled another 28% to even deeper lows in March 2009.
It was not until an all-time high was reached in March 2013 that investors were able to say with certainty that a new bull market had been born four years earlier.
"We retroactively go back and say, 'OK, when did the market hit the bottom?'" Silverblatt said. "That's when the bear would end and the bull starts."
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Reporting by Noel Randewich, Additional reporting 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker
What is a Bear Market? Wall Street Stock Term Explained
Wall Street has started the week with sharp losses, plunging the 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ benchmark S&P 500 index into bear market territory.
The S&P 500—an index of 500 of the top publicly traded companies in the U.S.— fell 3.9 percent on Monday, bringing its losses to 22 percent since its January high.
These losses have occurred due to a multitude of reasons, including the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates, a slowdown in China's economy, high inflation and recession fears.
All these factors combined have led investors to rethink where and how they should invest their money.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen even farther and is down by a third since last November.
Many assets have been hit in the significant slump on Wall 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ Street, including cryptocurrencies, which have seen $2 trillion wiped off their value since the peak in November 2021. Bitcoin—the largest cryptocurrency—fell below $23,000 on Monday after trading as high as $67,000 in November.
What Is a Bear Market?
A "bear market" is a Wall Street term used when an individual stock, or an index like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average, falls by 20 percent or more for a long period. Investopedia explains this below:
"A bear market is when a market experiences prolonged price declines. It typically describes a condition in which securities prices fall 20% or more from recent highs amid widespread pessimism and negative investor sentiment.什么是熊市（Bear Market）？
Bear markets are often associated with declines in an overall market or index like the S&P 500, but individual securities or commodities can also be considered to be in a bear market if they experience a decline of 20% or more over a sustained period of time—typically two months or more."
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How Long Does a Bear Market last?
Since World War II, bear markets have taken around 13 months to go from their highest point to their lowest, and 27 months to get back to break even, according to the Associated Press.
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, told the AP that bear markets gained their name because bears hibernate, so bears represent a market in retreat, and that when the stock market is surging, it's called a bull market, because bulls charge.
When Was the Last Bear Market?
The last bear market happened in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, so just over two years ago. But after slumping at the outbreak of the pandemic, stocks rocketed back for much of 2020 and 2021.
With the latest slump, investors may be wondering whether it's time to sell. That depends 什么是熊市（Bear Market）？ on your personal circumstances, of course, but investment advisers often recommend that long-term investors look to ride out short-term rises and falls in the stock market.
And bear in mind that some of the most successful days for Wall Street have been during or right after a bear market. For instance, during the bear market of 2007-2009, there were two days when the S&P 500 rose by 11 percent.
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What is a bear market?
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