Bear Market
السوق الهابط
A bear market is a prolonged period of falling share prices, conventionally defined as a decline of 20% or more from a recent peak. It typically reflects pessimism about economic conditions or corporate profits and is often accompanied by lower trading volumes. The opposite condition is a bull market.
Example
A decline of twenty per cent or more from a recent peak, sustained rather than momentary, is the conventional threshold. The 2008 and 2020 declines are the reference points most investors have in mind.
Why it matters
Bear markets are when the gap between a plan and an investor's behaviour becomes expensive, because the decision to sell is made under the strongest possible pressure to make it.
A common mistake
Believing you will act calmly because you intend to. The practical safeguard is to hold something whose plausible bad year is inside a loss you have already decided you could sit through.
Live example from the Egyptian market
The EGX 30 index stands at 56,280.2 today (-0.39%), +37.61% year to date. Details →
Data as of ; refreshes with every session or disclosure.