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With the average stock on Wall Street falling yet again today, one can't help but wonder if the US has entered a bear market. This is what I was wondering, but first I really needed to find out what a bear market is, what a bull market is, and then see if the current financial markets in the U.S. matches either of these.

A bear market is a market in which securities or commodities are persistently declining in value. The opposite of a bull market, a bear market is a period of several months or years during which securities prices consistently fall. The term is typically used in reference to the stock market, but it can also describe specific sectors such as real estate, bond, or foreign exchange. The bear market that occurred in the U.S. equity markets from 1929 to 1933 is one of the most famous bear markets in history.


A bull market occurs when almost all stock prices are on the rise. The term bull market comes from the image of a bull flinging things into the air with his horns. This is generally a period of great optimism. Someone who is optimistic about the market is called "bullish".

With the falling Dow Jones Industrial Average not letting up, it's easy to say that we are not in a bull market. As the definition of the bull market explains, stocks should be rising across the board fr it to be a bull market. How about a bear market? Is that where we are at?

Today's story may give us an answer- "The Dow Jones dropped 106 points (almost 1%) to close at 11,346. For the week, the Dow fell more than 500 points (4.2%), and since hitting a high of 14,280 point last October it has swooned more than 2,900 points — bear territory. Nearby in the woods, the S&P 500 slipped more than 4 points (down 3% for the week), the Nasdaq eased more than 5 (3.8% lower since Monday) and the Russell 2000 closed unchanged."

In my opinion, the United States is in a bear market. As the definition of a bear market explains, stocks are persistently falling, and this is most likely not a short term swing. With oil surging at more than $140 a barrel, the economy continuing to slow, and virtually every financial sector falling, this can only be seen as a bear market.