Experiencing a 20% decline in the value of your assets can be a daunting and alarming event for any investor. This is because a 20% drop usually signals the beginning of a bear market, which is a sustained period of market decline typically resulting from a prolonged economic downturn or other market-moving event. However, despite the fear that bear markets can instill in investors, they are inevitable and can even offer investment opportunities.
It is important to remember that bear markets are often shorter than bull markets, which is when the market is generally on an upward trend. While it may be tempting to sell off investments during a bear market to mitigate losses, staying the course and sticking to a long-term investment strategy can pay off in the end. In fact, bear markets can offer opportunities to purchase stocks and other assets at discounted prices, setting investors up for potential gains when the market eventually rebounds.
It is also worth noting that while bear markets can be unnerving, they are a natural part of the market cycle and should be expected. Investors who are properly diversified and have a solid understanding of their investment goals and risk tolerance can weather market downturns with greater ease. Ultimately, staying disciplined and keeping a long-term perspective can help investors navigate the ups and downs of the market and achieve their financial objectives.
What is a bear market?
A bear market is a term used to describe a condition in which securities prices fall 20% or more from recent highs amid widespread pessimism and negative investor sentiment, resulting in prolonged price declines. Typically, this phenomenon is associated with a decline in the overall market or index like the S&P 500. Bear markets are different from recessions, which are characterized by two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Bear markets can be even more severe than a 20% decline, and the trend generally continues downward, though there may be occasional “relief rallies.” During a bear market, investors often ignore any positive news and continue selling quickly, pushing prices even lower. Eventually, when investors begin to find stocks attractively priced, they start buying, officially ending the bear market.
Bear markets can occur for an entire market, such as the S&P 500, as well as for individual stocks. When investors are bearish on an individual stock, it is unlikely to affect the market as a whole. However, when a market or index turns bearish, almost all stocks within it begin to decline, even if individually they are reporting good news and growing earnings. Despite the pessimism and low confidence in the market, bear markets can provide good investment opportunities for long-term investors.
How long do bear markets last, and what causes them?
Typically, a bear market is associated with an economic downturn, either just before or after a recession, but this is not always the case. Investors keep a close eye on certain economic indicators, including hiring rates, wage growth, inflation levels measured by the CPI index, and the Federal Reserve’s fund rate or interest rates, to determine when the economy is slowing down.
When they see signs of a shrinking economy, they anticipate that corporate profits will decline in the near future and begin to sell stocks, leading to a market decline. A bear market can indicate that more unemployment and challenging economic conditions are on the horizon.
Although bear markets tend to be shorter than bull markets, averaging around 363 days compared to 1,742 days for bull markets, they usually cause less significant losses, with average declines of 33% compared to average gains of 159% in bull markets.
How to invest during a bear market?
1. Use dollar-cost averaging strategy
Say the price of a stock in your portfolio goes down by 25%, from $100 a share to $75 a share. If you have money to invest — and want to buy more of this stock — it can be tempting to try to buy when you think the stock’s price has cratered.
Problem is, you’ll likely be wrong. That stock may not have bottomed at $75 a share; rather, it could tumble 50% or more from its high. This is why trying to pick the bottom, or “time” the market, is a bad strategy.
A more effective way to invest in the stock market is through dollar-cost averaging, which involves investing money at regular intervals and in similar amounts. This strategy can help avoid investing all of your money in a stock at its highest price while also taking advantage of market downturns. By using dollar-cost averaging, you can ensure a more stable purchase price over time.
Although bear markets can be frightening, investing in a market index like the S&P500 has shown to bounce back eventually.
2. Diversify your holdings
Investing in a mix of different assets is a valuable strategy for diversifying your portfolio, regardless of whether the market is experiencing a bear market or not. In bear markets, all the companies in a stock index, such as the S&P 500, usually decline, but not always by the same amount. Therefore, having a well-diversified portfolio that includes a mixture of different assets is essential. This helps to reduce overall portfolio losses if some assets are performing poorly.
While it’s impossible to know the winners and losers in advance, investors often prefer assets during bear markets that provide a steadier return, regardless of what’s happening in the economy. This is because bear markets typically occur before or during economic recessions.
This “defensive” strategy might mean adding the following assets to your portfolio:
- Dividend-paying stocks. Even if stock prices aren’t going up, many investors still want to get paid in the form of dividends. That’s why companies that pay higher-than-average dividends will be appealing to investors during bear markets.
- Bonds. Bonds also are an attractive investment during shaky periods in the stock market because their prices often move in the opposite direction of stock prices. Bonds are an essential component of any portfolio, but adding additional high-quality, short-term bonds to your portfolio may help ease the pain of a bear market as bonds provide steady and guaranteed returns.
3. Invest in sectors that perform well in recessions
During a bear market, investors often look for safe havens or defensive sectors to invest in. These are the areas that perform well even in economic downturns, as people will always need their products or services. Consumer staples and utilities are good examples of such sectors.
Consumer staples include everyday items like food, beverages, and household products. These companies are generally viewed as less risky because people will always need to buy these products, regardless of the state of the economy. Similarly, utilities like gas and electricity providers are considered essential services and typically enjoy steady demand, even during tough economic times.
Investors can gain exposure to these sectors through index funds or exchange-traded funds that track specific market benchmarks. For example, a consumer staples ETF will include companies such as Coca-Cola, and Walmart, among others. Similarly, a utility ETF will include companies like Duke Energy, NextEra Energy, and Dominion Energy.
It is important to note that while investing in sector-specific ETFs can be a good strategy, they do not necessarily perform as well as investing in the overall market index like the S&P 500. Additionally, investors should remember that diversification is key and not to overemphasize a single sector in their portfolio.
4. Focus on the long-term
Although bear markets can be difficult to experience, historical data shows that market recoveries typically follow relatively soon afterward. Moreover, if you are investing for long-term goals like retirement, bear markets will likely be overshadowed by bull markets. Therefore, any money required for short-term objectives (such as those achievable within five years) should not be invested in the stock market.
Nonetheless, it can be challenging to resist the temptation to sell investments when markets are in decline. But, selling your investments in such a scenario may not be the best decision for your portfolio.
In general, bear markets are an excellent time to review your goals and objectives and remind yourself why you have invested in particular assets. If you feel that your asset allocation is appropriate, it is best to remain invested. However, if it feels off, bear markets can be an opportunity to adjust your accounts, taking advantage of the lower capital gains than you would in a bull market.
Bear markets can be daunting, particularly when stock prices fall by 20% or more from recent highs. However, panicking is the worst thing an investor can do. The average bear market lasts for less than a year, and investors can mitigate its effects by using strategies such as dollar-cost averaging, diversification, investing in relatively recession-resistant sectors, and focusing on long-term goals.