Key Terms
Bull market
A sustained period of rising prices across a market, recognised in hindsight rather than declared by any official body.
By the Investfora Research Desk
A bull market is a sustained period of rising prices across a market. The phrase is a description, not an official designation: no exchange, regulator or committee declares that one has begun or ended, and there is no fixed rule for how long or how large the rise must be. It is a label applied to the past — a name for a climb that has already happened — and it becomes fully visible only in hindsight, once the rise has clearly persisted.
A worked example
Suppose a hypothetical index stands at 1,000 points and climbs, unevenly but persistently, to 1,400 over an extended period — a rise of 400 points, or 40 per cent. Somewhere along the way, commentators would begin to call this a bull market. No bell rang at 1,000 and no certificate was issued at 1,400; the name simply attached itself once the rise looked long and large enough to count as sustained.
Calling a period a bull market says nothing about how much longer it will run. The label summarises where prices have been, not where they are going, and the moment such a period ends can only be identified after it has already passed.