bull and bear markets

Take the long view.

Markets typically go up and down, and you’re likely to experience several significant declines during a long investing career. But even bear markets—that is, periods when the market fell by more than 20%—historically have been relatively short.

The Schwab Center for Financial Research looked at both bull and bear markets, based on the S&P 500 Index, going back to 1966, and found that the average bear market lasted a little longer than a year (505 days). The longest of the bears was roughly two and a half years (915 days), and it was followed by a nearly five-year bull run.

Timing the market’s ups and downs is nearly impossible, but all investors would do well to ignore the noise and stay focused on their plans.