bear market, in securities and commodities trading, a declining market. A bear is an investor who expects prices to decline and, on this assumption, sells a borrowed security or commodity in the hope of buying it back later at a lower price, a speculative transaction called selling short.

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The trappers would profit from a spread - the difference between the cost and selling prices. These middlemen became known as "bears," short for bearskin jobbers, and the term stuck for describing a downturn in the market.

A bullish market is a time when the demand is higher than the supply of shares and results in the rising of the share prices. A bearish market is a time when the supply is higher than the demand for the shares and results in the fall of the prices of the shares.

about 9.6 months Bear markets tend to be short-lived. The average length of a bear market is 289 days, or about 9.6 months. That's significantly shorter than the average length of a bull market, which is 965 days or 2.6 years. Every 3.5 years: That's the long-term average frequency between bear markets.

A bear market happens when stock prices drop by 20% or more from their recent highs. As a result, investors lose confidence and people start feeling pessimistic about the economy and the stock market.

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A bear market is defined by a prolonged drop in investment prices - generally, a bear market happens when a broad market index falls by 20% or more from its most recent high. The reverse of a bear market is a bull market, characterized by gains of 20% or more.

One way to capitalize on the rising prices of a bull market is to buy stocks early on and sell them before they reach their peak. In a bear market, where there is more loss potential, investing in equities should be done with great prudence, since you are likely to incur a loss - at least initially.

The causes of a bear market often vary, but in general, a weak or slowing or sluggish economy, bursting market bubbles, pandemics, wars, geopolitical crises, and drastic paradigm shifts in the economy such as shifting to an online economy, are all factors that might cause a bear market.

But you can maximise your chances of a profit in a bear market by following bearish-friendly strategies. These include diversifying your holdings, focusing on the long-term, taking a short-selling position, trading or investing in 'safe haven' assets and buying at the bottom.