Bear market

A bear market is a prolonged period of falling prices on the stock markets. A bear market can apply globally to all financial markets, but also to submarkets such as the technology sector or the market for commodities, or even to individual countries.

A bear market is also colloquially called a bear market. The bear is a symbol for a decline in share prices. A bear market is based on the dwindling confidence of investors, who withdraw their capital and thus in most cases accelerate the bear market. Panic selling is usually not sensible, as a loss is often realized. Triggers can be general financial crises or unexpectedly bad figures of the companies. Far-sighted investors use the bear market to buy up securities. These investors bet on rising prices in the future. The best-known bear market with fatal consequences occurred after the Great Depression of 1929.

The opposite of the bear market is the bull market. The bear market and the bull market form a stock market cycle, but its beginning and end are uncertain.