It’s a ‘bull market’ for stocks. Here’s what that means. ...............The S&P 500 SPX closed June 8 at 4,293.93, marking a gain of a little over 20% from its Oct. 12, 2022 finish, which was the lowest close since the start of the bear market last year. Under the criteria used by Dow Jones Market Data and many other market watchers, this 20% rise from the recent low signals that the S&P 500 has entered a bull market.
Conversely, a 20% fall from the recent high signals the start of a bear market. That means the market is always in either a bull or bear market.
Also, the market doesn’t hop into and out of either a bull or bear each time it crosses the threshold again. In other words, the S&P 500 wouldn’t exit the bull market by merely moving back within less than 20% of its Oct. 12 finish. It would take a 20% fall from its closing high set after the move back into a bull market to change its status.
Does everyone agree that the S&P 500 is in a bull market?
Far from it. The threshold for declaring bulls and bears is admittedly arbitrary. Some market watchers insist that a bull market won’t be confirmed until the S&P 500 takes out its previous record closing high from Jan. 3, 2022. Others use far more complicated sets of criteria.
And there are bull-market doubters whose concerns have less to do with the criteria than the concentrated nature of the S&P 500’s rally. Gains for the index have been fueled to an extreme degree by gains for a handful of megacap, tech-related stocks, making many investors wary because the average stock has been left behind.................
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-a-bull-market-for-stocks-heres-what-that-means-2e78e2c2?mod=home-page
