Wall Street is back in the claws of a bear market as worries about inflation and higher interest rates overwhelm investors.
New York – Wall Street is back in the claws of a bear market as worries about inflation and higher interest rates overwhelm investors. The Federal Reserve has signaled it will aggressively raise interest rates to try to control inflation, which is the highest in decades. Throw in the war in Ukraine and a slowdown in China’s economy, and investors have been forced to reconsider what they’re willing to pay for a wide range of stocks, from high-flying tech companies to traditional automakers. Big swings have become commonplace and Monday was no exception. MORE: Bear market hits Wall Street as stocks, bonds, crypto dive
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The last bear market happened just two years ago, but this is still a first for those investors that got their start trading on their phones during the pandemic. Thanks in large part to extraordinary actions by the Federal Reserve, stocks have for years seemed to go largely in only one direction: up. But the “buy the dip” rallying cry popular after every market slide has grown more fainter – a recent rebound in stock prices was wiped out by a furious bout of selling over the past four days. Here are some common questions asked about bear markets:
A bear market is a term used by Wall Street when an index like the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or even an individual stock, has fallen 20% or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time. Why use a bear to represent a market slump? Bears hibernate, so bears represent a market that’s retreating, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. In contrast, Wall Street’s nickname for a surging stock market is a bull market, because bulls charge, Stovall said. The S&P 500, Wall Street’s main barometer of health, slid 3.9% Monday to 3,749. That’s nearly 22% below the high set on Jan. 3. The Nasdaq is already in a bear market, down 32.7% from its peak of 16,057.44 on Nov. 19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is more than 17% below its most-recent peak.
