Is the end of the bear market close?

The end of the bear market is not close. That’s according to a contrarian analysis of stock market sentiment: the U.S. stock market hasn’t yet experienced the extreme pessimism seen at major bottoms. It may certainly feel like there’s plenty of pessimism and despair on Wall Street. But that bearishness seems a mile wide and an inch deep.

How long does a bear market last?

By comparison, the average bear market has lasted 142 trading days. Prior to the most recent downturn, investors suffered a short-lived bear market at the start of the pandemic, when stocks plunged more than 20% from February 19, 2020, through March 23, 2020, then regained their footing and hit new highs.

When did the NASDAQ bear market end?

The next Nasdaq bear market resulted from the unexpected stock market crash of 1987. Programmatic trading by computers exacerbated the stock sell-off. The Nasdaq Composite Index didn't fully erase its losses until June 1989. However, the index recovered enough to end the bear market in March 1988 -- roughly five months after the bear market began.

When did the 2022 bear market end?

The 2022 bear market officially ended in October 2022, when the S&P 500 hit its low point of the year. “Last year’s bear market looked relatively average,” says LPL Financial chief equity strategist Jeffrey Buchbinder. “Without a recession, the average duration of a bear market has been seven months, with a peak-to-trough drawdown averaging -23%.”