Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bear v/s Bulls of World Stock Market

Last few weeks Stock market has seen the biggest slump in recent times. With Lehman filing for bankruptcy and other financial institutions dragging, its really a bad time for investors. The ripple effect can be seen - low investments, small companies closing, jobs lost, delay in new projects/ventures etc etc. The bearish market is here to stay for sometime. Some researchers say that it could see swings for another 3-6 months depending on how the federal banks pump money and support these companies.

Talking of market, there are two prominent figures that is refered to always in Stock Market. The Bear and the Bull - two animals associated with the stock market movement. Now, i was just wondering why bear and bull... why not giraffe and rat, or horse and snail.... u know!

For those who don't spend a lot of time on Wall Street/sensex, bulls and bears refer to opposite trends in the stock market. According to Investor Words, a bull market is "a prolonged period in which investment prices rise faster than their historical average." Conversely, a bear market means "a prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism." So, bulls good, bears bad...

No one's quite sure how the two animals came to symbolize the market, but there are a few theories floating around. According to Motley Fool, a bear market earned its name because bears tend to swat at things with their paws in a downward motion (as in "the market's going down"). A bull market, on the other hand, got its name because bulls swing their horns upward when they strike (as in "the market's going up").

Another theory proposes that the animals' personalities are behind the symbolism. Bears move with caution, while bulls are bold and like to charge ahead. So a "bearish" investor thinks the market will go down, while a "bullish" investor thinks it's headed up.

Now you know why bear v/s bull!!!! :)

1 comment:

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