Criteria for our lists is a gain of 20% from the S&P’s lowest close. Once the S&P meets that criteria, we use that lowest close as the beginning of the bull market. Bull market ends when the S&P closes 20% below it’s last high. We use that last high along with the lowest close to calculate the gain for each bull market on the lists below.
TOP 5
Start Date | End Date | Months | % Gain |
Oct 11 1990 | Mar 24 2000 | 113 | 417% |
Mar 6 2009 | Feb 19 2020 | 131 | 396% |
Jun 1 1932 | Mar 6 1937 | 57 | 325% |
Jun 14 1949 | Aug 2 1957 | 86 | 266% |
Aug 12 1982 | Aug 25 1987 | 60 | 229% |
ALL BULL MARKETS
Interesting things on the list to note:
1) In the two most recent bull markets we saw the longest one in history followed by the shortest one in history. Guess things have to average out.
2) The average gain per bull comes to 178%.
3) Average time the bull market lasts is 60 months.
4) Over the last 33 years, all bull markets started in either October or March.
5) 40% of all bull markets started in October. Note: the S&P recently bottomed out on October 22, 2022. The S&P has not yet risen 20% to officially be a bull market. However, if the S&P fails to drop and create a new low but does go up the 20%, then this will be the 6th time out of 15 that the bull market starts in October.
Anyone can make money in bull market. Making profits in a bear market is another thing. We have some tips for finding the best stock investments for a bear market.