Let me explain. There is roughly the same number of bull markets as bear markets. Markets go up for a while, then they go down. Some of these animals are large, some are small, but there are bulls and then bears, and then bulls again.

We are currently experiencing the second longest bull market since the 1980s. If it lasts another 30 or so trading days, it will beat that one.

“That one” started in 1982 coming out of a bear market that lasted for the nearly 20 months from Dec 1980 to July 1982. During that time, the S&P 500 lost 21% of its value, dropping from 136.57 to 107.09. Prior to its drop, 136 had been the record high. During the bear market, many investors believed that the market would never again go higher than 130.

Yet, from what turned out to be the low point of 107, it rose almost continuously for more than five years to the value of 320.16 by late September 1987. Then came “Black Monday” – October 19, 1987 – a loss of 20.5% in value . . . in one day. A US equity investor with $1,000,000 in the morning had $795,000 by late afternoon.

Ouch.

But how should the investor have acted? Should stocks have been sold on Tuesday as a result of Monday’s price drop?

NO.

Find out why not. Prepare for the Bear. Join us on April 22.

Fair warning: If you think the investment news media is hyping the current bull market run, mark my words here, just wait for this summer and fall if the market should happen to continue to rise or remain near current highs. This bull market will then become the longest since the run of 1974-1980. It will be bedlam. The media loves irrelevant data like that.