What are the signs of the end of a bull market?
Economic downturn or recession
A bull market ends when stocks fall 20 percent below their last high — a period known as a bear market. The last time the S&P 500 entered a bear market was in 2022, as investors recoiled in the face of stubborn inflation and rising interest rates.
Rather, market trackers at S&P Dow Jones Indices define a bull market as a 20% rise in the S&P 500 from its previous low. By that measure — a 20% gain off the low —the current bull market began on January 19, 2024. Note that by that measure, a bull market comes to an end when the S&P 500 falls 20% from its peak.
Economic growth actually accelerated above its 10-year average in 2023. That resilience, coupled with a fascination about artificial intelligence (AI), changed investors' collective mood. The S&P 500 soared throughout the year and finally reached a new high in January 2024, making the new bull market official.
A bull market occurs when asset prices rise significantly over a sustained period. While analysts often use the term “bull market” to discuss stocks and the stock market, the term can be used for any asset – bonds, real estate, commodities or even cryptocurrency – that is rising over time.
How long do bull markets usually last? Historically speaking, the average length of a bull market is 9.6 months. The average gain for a bull market is 112%.
One can use many indicators and candlestick patterns to identify a bullish signal. For example, in Moving Average Convergence Divergence uses two EMAs to identify changes in market momentum, and if the MACD line goes above the signal line, it is considered to be a bullish signal.
For now at least, analysts are anticipating S&P 500 earnings growth will continue to accelerate in the first half of 2024. Analysts project S&P 500 earnings will grow 3.9% year-over-year in the first quarter and another 9% in the second quarter.
The estimates from strategists put the median target for the S&P 500 at 5,200 by the end of 2024, implying a decline of less than 1% from Friday's level, according to MarketWatch calculations. Heading into 2024, the median target was around 5,000 (see table below).
ColinTalksCrypto Bitcoin Bull Run Index
As of mid-March 2024, CBBI is positioned at 79 out of 100, which suggests we are approaching the cycle's peak, though the market still holds potential for further upward movement.
Will stock market bounce back in 2024?
"Some traders predict a flat or down market in the first half of 2024 due to high inflation, recession fears and rate hikes from the Fed. However, others foresee a bull market continuing, citing potential Fed rate cuts, earnings growth and historical trends around election years."
These charts of bear and bull markets in the S&P 500 since 1932 illustrate this well—there have 12 bear markets compared to 14 bull markets, but the duration of the bear markets is much, much shorter: The bear markets are just 25 months (around 2 years) long in average, compared to an average length of 59 months ( ...
Stock | Expected Change in Stock Price* |
---|---|
Tesla Inc. (TSLA) | 61% |
Mastercard Inc. (MA) | 14.2% |
Salesforce Inc. (CRM) | 7.2% |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) | 11.3% |
Data source: Yardeni Research. Note: All percentages and averages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. As shown above, the S&P 500 returned an average of 184% during past bull markets, and the index realized those returns over an average of 1,964 days, or roughly 64 months.
Bull markets tend to last longer than bear markets with an average duration of 6.6 years. The average duration of a bear market is 1.3 years. The average cumulative gain over the course of a bull market is 339%. The average cumulative loss over the course of a bear market is 38%.
For instance, technical traders might look for a bullish market trend indicator like moving averages crossovers – when a shorter-term moving average moves above a longer-term moving average. A bearish trend would be indicated by the shorter-term moving average being situated below the longer-term one.
With potential economic threats remaining and market uncertainties looming in 2024, investors may still need to have patience before a truly durable bull market can get underway. But that doesn't mean there aren't any opportunities today.
Investing in bull and bear markets
Having a higher allocation of stocks is optimal in a bull market, where there's more potential for higher returns. One way to capitalize on the rising prices of a bull market is to buy stocks early on and sell them before they reach their peak.
The bull market is already well underway
Generally speaking, the best way to be sure about a new bull market is to look for two milestones. First, the market should rise at least 20% from its low. The S&P 500 hit its lowest point on Oct. 12, 2022.
One of the basic rules in a bull market is to gradually move towards quality. Your shift to safety must be gradual with the rise in market valuations. That is your best bet in a bullish market. Your financial plan lays out how much should be the allocation to equities, debt, gold and liquid assets.
Which indicator has highest accuracy?
The most accurate for trading is the Relative Strength Index. It is considered one of the best momentum indicators for intraday trading. It helps investors identify the shares which are bought and sold in the market.
- Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) ...
- Stochastic Oscillator. ...
- Bollinger Bands. ...
- Relative Strength Index (RSI) ...
- Fibonacci Retracement. ...
- Standard Deviation. ...
- Ichimoku Cloud. ...
- Client Sentiment. IG client sentiment provides insights into the positioning of traders in a specific market.
Our forecasts call for the U.S. economy to grow 1.6% in 2024 and 1.7% in 2025. But if the U.S. labor market merely remains as resilient as it has been since late 2020, U.S. growth could be half a percentage point stronger in 2023 and 0.7 point stronger in 2025.
The S&P 500 still has 30% upside between now and the end of 2025, according to Capital Economics. "Our end-2025 forecast of 6,500 for the index is premised on its valuation reaching a similar level to its peak during the dot com mania," Capital Economics said.
As a whole, analysts are optimistic about the outlook for stock prices in 2024. The consensus analyst price target for the S&P 500 is 5,090, suggesting roughly 8.5% upside from current levels.
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