If you read newspapers or watch TV you have heard the terms bull or bear market.

The term “bull or bear market” is often used to refer to the stock market. But this term can also be applied to anything that is traded such as bonds, currencies, and commodities.

The use of the term “bull market” and “bear market” comes from the way the animals attack their opponents. A bull is an animal that charges ahead, moves forward and is strong and powerful, just like a strong stock market. It will throw its horns up into the air while a bear will swipe its paws in a downward motion. These metaphors are used to describe the way the market moves. If the trend is up, it’s a bull market. If the trend is down, it’s a bear market.

The Great Depression was a strong example of a bear market. During this time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost roughly 90 percent of its value over a three-year this period.

Many economists consider the early 1990s to 2000 as the longest bull market.