FYI: There’s been plenty of chatter lately about the current bull market becoming the “longest on record.” Below is an updated look at the length of the current bull market compared to past bull markets for the S&P 500.
First things first, though. Until the S&P 500 closes at a new high, January 26th, 2018 represents the end point of the current bull market because that’s the date of the S&P’s highest closing point of the bull market. Thus, the length of the current bull market has been stopped at 3,245 days since January 26th (3/9/09-1/26/18). A bull market is most commonly defined as a 20%+ rally that was preceded by a 20%+ decline. If the S&P never closes above its January 26th closing level, and instead it goes on to fall 20% from that level, a new bear market will have begun with a start date of January 26th, 2018. Since we don’t know whether the S&P will go into a new bear market before it closes above its 1/26 high, or vice versa, we can’t extend the length of the current bull market past the 1/26 high point.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/historical-bull-and-bear-markets-of-the-sp-500/
