Bull/Bear market

[FTVS]

Where do these decsriptions originate and why does Bear mean a low market and Bull a high?

[Quizmonster]

An old Stock Market phrase spoke of a 'bearskin jobber'. This referred to the old proverb about selling the bearskin before you'd succeeded in killing the bear! That's what a bearskin jobber hoped to do. A bear nowadays is an investor who anticipates a fall in stock prices and invests accordingly. A bull anticipates the opposite...namely, that prices will rise...and speculates on that basis. Both words originted in these senses in the 18th century.

[football]

An american bull / bear market is different from a British one. The amount of time elapsed before it is one or the other.

[FTVS]

Sorry footie I don't understand your answer!

[geofbob]

Going back to your original question, FTVS, a Bear market isn't necessarily low, nor a Bull market high. The point is that a Bear market is one where prices are falling because investors are selling stocks off; and conversely a Bull market is rising because they are buying.