Bear market
A sustained period of falling prices.
A bear market usually means prices are down 20% or more from a recent high, reflecting pessimism about the outlook.
A bear market is the mirror image of a bull: a drop of roughly 20% or more from a recent high, with pessimism setting the tone. Rallies inside it tend to fail, which is where the phrase bear-market rally comes from, a sharp bounce that fades before prices recover.
Bear markets are usually shorter than bull markets but faster and more violent, because fear moves quicker than greed. They often coincide with recessions or a shock to earnings or interest rates. Being bearish means you expect prices to fall; traders express it by selling, hedging, or standing aside in cash until the trend turns.