eToro – Forex Trading Forum

[Tropezienne]

I’ve been thinking about the phrases ’bullish’ and’bearish’ to describe the state of the financial markets. The simple definitions (which I’m sure you know) are;

‘bullish’ = markets are rising, investors are optimistic

’bearish’ = markets are on a downward spiral, investors are pessimistic.

But there is a term for when the market trends are neither bullish nor bearish - just flat? Do you know what it is ? I’d never come across this term before. Take part in the poll above and we’ll see how many of us know our market terminology.

I’ll let the poll run for 3 months.

As a matter of interest - does anybody know how these terms came to be used in the financial world ?

Thanks for taking part

Julie

http://who-gives-a-forex.blogspot.com/

[yad99in]

The precise origin of the phrases "bull market" and "bear market" is obscure. The Oxford English Dictionary cites an 1891 use of the term "bull market".

The most common etymology points to London bearskin "jobbers" (market makers),[citation needed] who would sell bearskins before the bears had actually been caught in contradiction of the proverb ne vendez pas la peau de l'ours avant de l’avoir tué ("don't sell the bearskin before you've killed the bear")—an admonition against over-optimism.[citation needed] By the time of the South Sea Bubble of 1721, the bear was also associated with short selling; jobbers would sell bearskins they did not own in anticipation of falling prices, which would enable them to buy them later for an additional profit.

[yad99in]

Some analogies that have been drawn, but are likely false etymologies:

Bull is short for "bully," in its now mostly obsolete meaning of "excellent".
It relates to the common use of these animals in blood sport, i.e bear-baiting and bull-baiting.
It refers to the way that the animals attack: a bull attacks upwards with its horns, while a bear swipes downwards with its paws.
It relates to the speed of the animals: bulls usually charge at very high speed whereas bears normally are lazy and cautious movers.
They were originally used in reference to two old merchant banking families, the Barings and the Bulstrodes.
Bears hibernate, while Bulls do not.
Bears keep their chin up, while Bulls keep their chin down.
Bear neck points down while Bull's points upwards.
The word "bull" plays off the market's returns being "full" whereas "bear" alludes to the market's returns being "bare".

[yad99in]

Another plausible origin is from the word "bulla" which means bill, or contract. When a market is rising, holders of contracts for future delivery of a commodity see the value of their contract increase. In a falling market, the counterparties--the "bearers" of the commodity to be delivered, win because they have locked in a price higher than the present for future delivery

[yad99in]

hope the above post would have cleared as 2 whr the 2 words got origin from........

[etrader]

hey that was pretty interesting to noe................
i never thought tht the two words cud have so many meanings attached to them

[Tropezienne]

Hey yad 99in - you have made great contributions to some of the threads started by myself and I’ve learned some useful stuff and gleaned some essential advice from you . These responses to the words ‘bullish’ and ‘bearish’ as applied to the trading markets were very interesting.

I saw another use of the term ‘bullish’ on the BBC website today :

"Nicklaus bullish over US chances "
American golf legend Jack Nicklaus has backed the United States to beat Europe and reclaim the Ryder Cup in Kentucky. The Europeans are aiming for the fourth straight win at Valhalla, but Nicklaus said of the hosts: "Even without Tiger (Woods), they should win easily".

The 18-time major winner, twice a Ryder Cup captain, told Golf Digest: "I just believe we have better players." He added: "I think American golf is better than perceptions based on recent Ryder Cup results."

Actually, he sounds a bit tame to me ! But it’s interesting to see how alive and flexible language is ….

Julie the Newbie -1

http://who-gives-a-forex.blogspot.com/