A bull market means stocks are rising 20% or more from a recent low — and optimism prevails. Investors buy aggressively, companies expand, hiring increases, and confidence runs high. The name comes from how bulls attack — thrusting their horns upward. Bull markets make everyone feel like a genius.
The longest US bull market ran from March 2009 to February 2020 — nearly 11 years, with the S&P 500 gaining over 400%. The current bull market started in October 2022 and is driven by AI enthusiasm and strong corporate earnings. India's Sensex rallied from 8,160 in 2009 to 80,000+ in 2024 — a nearly 10x gain.
The danger of bull markets: overconfidence and speculation. People start believing stocks only go up, take excessive leverage, and pile into overvalued assets. Every bubble in history (tulips, dot-com, crypto) was preceded by a euphoric bull market. Sir John Templeton said: "Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria."