Historic Bull; Missing Bear

During the third quarter, the current bull market in U.S. stocks became the longest running bull market in our history. Beginning on April 10^th of 2009, the S&P 500 has gained 430%. During that time, it has also experienced eleven drops of at least 5%, and five corrections of at least 10%. Bull markets end with a drop of at least 20%, when we enter bear market territory. This has been a very resilient bull. Meanwhile, in the bond market, rising interest rates have led to falling bond prices throughout the year.

We may be almost ten years into this bull market, but there are obviously some leftover anxious memories about the Great Recession of 2008-2009. In a recent poll conducted by Betterment Research, 48% of American adults surveyed thought the stock market was flat over the past ten years, while an additional 18% thought the stock market had declined over that ten-year period. A whopping 83% felt that Wall Street was no more ethical now than it was before the financial crisis.

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