Bear Market

A bear market is when stock prices across the market fall 20% or more from recent highs and stay down for a while. You'll hear this term constantly in financial news because it affects everyone's portfolio—your savings, retirement accounts, and investment returns all take a hit. Bear markets happen regularly (roughly every few years) and are a normal part of how markets work, even though they feel scary when you're living through one. For example, if the overall market drops 25% over several months, financial reporters will call it a bear market. The opposite is a bull market, when prices rise steadily. The key thing to remember: bear markets are temporary, and historically, patient investors who stay invested tend to recover and come out ahead.