In a bear market, stocks may seem like mouthful of hot molasses, too sticky to spit out, too hot to swallow.
While claims of creating material wealth are true in equity markets, emotional impact on full time dedicated investors is not well studied and reported. It pays to be a bull as markets are mostly up rather than down over long term.
To be informed is to be empowered.
You should know, if you are not already aware that equity indices may or may not move for 11 years (eg: Sensex) or 16 years( eg: Dow Jones) or even 25 years (eg: Nikkei) except for 1% of stocks (that we may or may not own). Person who has not read history is like a child, doomed to repeat mistakes (of throwing in the towel, or himself from the window :-))
Some of the charts below will provide perspective on bear markets.
I just tweeted that a typical, low intensity bear market (3 on Richter scale) typically lasts 6-18 months. Not sure which part was horrendous for my friend Padmashankar, comparison with Hitler’s gas chamber or duration of bear markets. I assumed duration, if 18 months is long and painful, then one is likely to end up in lunatic asylum if one is trapped in a 10 year bear market, hence this post.
While claims of creating material wealth are true in equity markets, emotional impact on full time dedicated investors is not well studied and reported. It pays to be a bull as markets are mostly up rather than down over long term.
To be informed is to be empowered.
You should know, if you are not already aware that equity indices may or may not move for 11 years (eg: Sensex) or 16 years( eg: Dow Jones) or even 25 years (eg: Nikkei) except for 1% of stocks (that we may or may not own). Person who has not read history is like a child, doomed to repeat mistakes (of throwing in the towel, or himself from the window :-))
Some of the charts below will provide perspective on bear markets.
I just tweeted that a typical, low intensity bear market (3 on Richter scale) typically lasts 6-18 months. Not sure which part was horrendous for my friend Padmashankar, comparison with Hitler’s gas chamber or duration of bear markets. I assumed duration, if 18 months is long and painful, then one is likely to end up in lunatic asylum if one is trapped in a 10 year bear market, hence this post.
Lets pay homage to the mother of all, Dow Jones in 1930s, several years long, down 86% from 375 to 50, the great bear market (read suicides)
Note the 18 Year consolidation (read pain) from 1906 – 1924 and 16 Year consolidation (read suffering) from 1966 – 1982
25 Year Bear market since 1989 and counting in Japan……
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Closer to home, Sensex experienced negative returns over the 11 year period 1992-2003
Poem I wrote for Bear Market
I am a simple bumpkin with no minions
but dream big of billions not just millions
I carry a dream in my heart
while working on a stock market chart
To quit my day job
no responsibility to mob
but this bear market
is upsetting my bread-basket
Many say, the market is no art
a monkey can throw dart
But those who wither the storm
shall rise to be re-born
We live in the noons of tomorrow
not stirred with bear market sorrow
Its just the beginning the journey to billion
Of my greedy addiction and accumulation
This stock market chart shall not thwart
my formidable army will tear the fort of bear apart
