Bear Market
A sustained 20%+ drop from recent highs, driven by fear, recession, or crisis. Painful, normal, and historically always temporary.
By Findley's Finance · Last reviewed: September 2026
Why it matters
Bear markets feel like the world is ending and are the reason most investors underperform — they sell at the bottom, locking in the loss the market would have recovered. Every historical bear market has eventually been erased by the next bull. The investors who win are the ones who kept contributing through the red, buying the recovery at a discount.