Bear markets, defined as a 20% or more drop in major stock indices, last an average of 9 to 15 months (approx. 289 to 385 days). While they can be as short as 3 months, they are significantly shorter than bull markets, which average nearly 3 years. Bear markets occur roughly every 3.5 to 5 years, often during recessions.
The average length of a bear market is 289 days, or about 9.6 months. That's significantly shorter than the average length of a bull market, which is 988 days or 2.7 years. Every 3.5 years: That's the long-term average frequency between bear markets.
The NYSE is open from Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. The NYSE may occasionally close early, either on a planned or unplanned basis. In such cases, The Standard will process transaction requests received prior to the close of the NYSE.
3 = Do not risk more than 3% of your total capital on a single trade. 5 = Keep your total exposure to open trades less than 5%. 7 = Aim for at least a 7:1 profit-loss ratio on each trade. For example, if you risk $500, your potential profit should be around $3500.
This excludes the tariff-related plunge in April 2025, which technically brought the major indexes into bear-market territory, but only for three trading days. The longest bear market lingered for three years, from 1946 to 1949.
The "90 Rule" in trading, often called the 90-90-90 Rule, is a harsh market observation stating that roughly 90% of new traders lose 90% of their money within their first 90 days, highlighting the high failure rate due to lack of strategy, poor risk management, and emotional trading rather than market complexity. It serves as a cautionary tale, emphasizing that success requires discipline, a solid trading plan, proper education, and managing psychological pitfalls like overconfidence or revenge trading, not just market knowledge.
A 2019 study by Harvard Business Review found either Vanguard, BlackRock or State Street is the largest listed owner of 88% of S&P 500 companies. There is a perception that a few select companies own a vast majority of the stock market.
What if I invested $1000 in Coca-Cola 30 years ago?
A $1,000 investment in Coca-Cola 30 years ago would have grown to around $9,030 today. KO data by YCharts. This is primarily not because of the stock, which would be worth around $4,270. The remaining $4,760 comes from cumulative dividend payments over the last 30 years.
The "Buffett Rule 70/30" isn't one single rule but refers to different concepts: it can mean investing 70% in stocks and 30% in "workouts" (special situations like mergers) as he did in 1957, or it's a popular guideline for personal finance to save 70% and spend 30% for rapid wealth building. It's also confused with the general guideline of 100 minus your age for stock/bond allocation (e.g., 70% stocks if 30 years old).
Your $500,000 can give you about $20,000 each year using the 4% rule, and it could last over 30 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows retirees spend around $54,000 yearly. Smart investments can make your savings last longer.
How long did it take for the 2008 stock market crash to recover?
The S&P 500 took almost six years to fully recover from the crashes of 2000 (the dot-com bubble) and 2008 (the global financial crisis). The S&P/TSX experienced similar timelines when recovering from those two crashes in the 2000s. Such long recovery periods for market crashes aren't always the norm, however.
Is this number correct? Our research suggests that about 70 to 90% of traders lose money. It is, of course, impossible to get an exact number, but as a rule of thumb, we believe 70-90% is close to the “correct” ballpark figure.
In early 2026, the S&P 500 index continues to hit new all-time highs and analysts are almost universally bullish. Whether it's through the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY), the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO), or another exchange traded fund (ETF), investors are enthusiastically piling into the S&P 500.
According to a 13F filing released last February, Berkshire was recorded to have sold its entire position in S&P 500 ETFs, including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, by the end of 2024. Berkshire Hathaway cashed out on S&P 500 ETFs while market valuations were at a premium level.
How did one trader make $2.4 million in 28 minutes?
For one trader, the news event allowed for incredible profits in a very short amount of time. At 3:32:38 p.m. ET, a Dow Jones headline crossed the newswire reporting that Intel was in talks to buy Altera. Within the same second, a trader jumped into the options market and aggressively bought calls.
With $900,000 saved, and factoring in an average annual rate of return between 10–12%, you'll have between $90,000 and $108,000 to live off of each year, not including your Social Security benefits.
Some of the most frequent reasons for traders' failure to reach profitability are emotional decisions, poor risk management strategies, and lack of education.
In my view, both Microsoft and Halma might well be worth considering. While their share prices might fall, they could also have the chance to strengthen their competitive positions. Investors might think about these as good assets to own in a stock market crash.
Historically speaking, the average length of a bull market is 9.6 months. The average gain for a bull market is 112%. Keep in mind these are the average and they have been extending with each bull market.
