What is a bull market?

Bull market: A period in which prices rise over a longer time and confidence is high.

In a bull market prices rise over a longer period, often several years. Investors feel positive and a lot of new money flows into the market.

The name comes from a bull thrusting its horns upward. The opposite is a bear market.

Even a bull market has falls. A correction of 10 percent can happen in the middle of a long rise.

Example
An index rises from 500 to 800 points in three years. That is 300 points more, or 60 percent. Someone with 1,000 euros in a fund tracking that index would have about 1,600 euros at the end, before costs.

Watch out
After a long rise people sometimes take on more risk than they can handle. Past gains are no guarantee of new ones.

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