Lengthy and steady vs. short and violent
The current US bull market - dubbed the „AI bull“ by our great US input provider - has now lasted over 1200 days.
Below is a look at historical bull and bear markets for the S&P 500 since 1929 (!) using the standard 20% rally/decline threshold (on a closing basis).
This is the 10th bull market that has lasted more than 1000 days, with the longest bull being the 4494-day stretch from December 1987 to March 2000 (yes, there was not a single time during that period where the S&P 500 fell 20% on a closing basis…).
While we are well past the average bull market in terms of length, there is plenty of historical precedent for the run to go on much longer.
Additionally, it is helpful to point out that bull markets are typically much longer than bears. The average bull has lasted 1011 days versus just 286 days for the average bear.
The two longest bear markets were 630 days (January 1973 until October 1974) and 622 days (November 1980 until August 1982). There have been 14 bull markets that lasted longer than the two longest bear markets.
Please also take a look at the chart in the comments section. It perfectly illustrates how bull markets are typically very lengthy with a steady uptrend, while bear markets are short and violent.
