One year after the bear
March 14, 2009
History suggests that every bear has a bull. The illustration charts below reveal that in all but one case of the nine bear markets that occurred between 1950 and 2003, the market recovered dramatically within one year of hitting bottom. Investors who were patient during periods of stress and dislocation were eventually rewarded for taking risk over the bear markets. The bear markets have been buying opportunities.
Historical one-year returns after bear markets hit bottom
in the S&P 500 index
Charts: Courtesy of Vanguard
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