What Does Bear Market Mean?

In Simple words: A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism.

A market condition in which the prices of securities are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative sentiment to be self-sustaining. As investors anticipate losses in a bear market and selling continues, pessimism only grows. Although figures can vary, for many, a downturn of 20% or more in multiple broad market indexes.

A bear market should not be confused with a correction, which is a normally a short-term trend that last in maximum two months. While corrections are often a great place for a value investor to find an entry point, bear markets rarely provide great entry points, as timing the bottom is very difficult to do. Fighting back can be extremely dangerous because it is quite difficult for an investor to make stellar gains during a bear market unless he or she is a short seller.

A Bull Market
This is when the market showing is confidence. Indicators of confidence are prices going up, market indices like the Nasdaq go up too. Number of shares traded is also high and even the number of companies entering the stock market show that the market is confident.

These are bullish characteristics of the market. If there is a run of bullish days then you may hear the market is a bull market. Technically though a bull market is a rise in value of the market of at least 20%. The huge rise of the India Share market, commodity markets, MCX during the tech boom is a good example of a bull market.

Where did the bull and bear market get their names?
First of all, let's remember that bears are sluggish and bulls spirited and burly. The terms are used to describe general actions and attitudes, or sentiment, either of an individual (bear and bull) or the market. The terms "bear" and "bull" are thought to derive from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents.