Do bull markets make up for bear markets?

A bull market is defined as 20% rise from the previous low, ending when the index reaches a high and subsequently drops by 20%. Takeaway: The bull markets more than make up for the bear markets over the long run. At some point, you will be reminded that in order to make up for a 50% drop, stocks would have to go up by 100% just to break even again.

How many bear markets have there been since 1957?

There have been 12 bear markets since the S&P 500 index launched in 1957, including the 1990 bear market, when the benchmark index fell 19.9%. That works out to roughly one bear market every 5.5 years. Yet despite these regular setbacks, the S&P’s total return since 1957 is more than 65,000%. Bull markets are the flip side of the coin.

Is the stock market in a bear market?

With the stock market officially in a bear market, here’s a look back at each decline of at least 20% since the 1930s to see how long, and how severe, such downturns typically are. Here’s a chart of the S&P 500′s returns in bull and bear markets: (click on image to enlarge it)