--- title: How to Know When the Bear Market Is Over — and Why You Shouldn't Wait to Invest description: Stocks are still in a bear market. What levels will the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have to reach for that to end and a bull market to begin? authors: - name: Mallika Mitra role: Contributing Editor url: https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/ bio: Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia. education: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College at_money_since: 2020 articles: 395 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - CNBC - Bloomberg - Kiplinger - Barron's - Bankrate - WGN-TV - CBS News Radio - This Morning With Gordon Deal - Everyone's Talkin' Money social: - https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/ editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-01-12T18:52:01.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:14:39.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News - stocks word_count: 476 canonical: https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo Collage of a Bear walking towards an Exit Sign, with negative red stock charts in the background.](https://img.money.com/2023/01/Investing-How-Bear-Market-Exit.jpg) New year, new bull market... hopefully. The [S&P 500](https://money.com/how-to-invest-in-sp500/) — an index of [stocks](https://money.com/how-to-buy-stocks/) often used as the benchmark to measure how U.S. stocks are doing overall — kicked off 2022 near an all-time high before tumbling and ending the year down 19.4%. You likely heard the term "bear market" recently, as the S&P 500 officially [fell into one in June](https://money.com/investing-moves-bear-market-stocks/). Now, it's 2023, and the [stock market is still struggling](https://money.com/stock-market-factors-investors-watching-2023/). But what exactly needs to happen for the bear market to end? "It's not quite as clear cut as we would prefer," says Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist, at Carson Group. "No one rings a bell at the low, no one rings a bell at the high." But here's what investors should know. A bear market is generally considered to have happened when a stock or broad index (like the S&P 500) falls at least 20% from its most recent high. The opposite is a bull market, when prices rise at least 20% from bear market lows. To determine how stocks are performing overall, experts tend to look at the three major indexes: the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite. Detrick analyzed market data for Money to determine what level each index needs to reach for the bear market to be considered over. The Dow bottomed on Sept. 30, 2022, and actually exited its bear market on Nov. 30. But that doesn't mean stocks are out of the woods. The S&P 500's most recent closing low was 3,577.03 points on Oct. 12, 2022. A 20% rally from there would be a close of 4,292.44, according to Detrick. At the market's close on Wednesday, it was 3,969.61. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit a new closing low on Dec. 28 at 10,213.29. A 20% rally would be 12,255.95. At the market's close on Wednesday, it was 10,931.67. ## Should you wait for the bull market to invest? While it may be tempting to wait until stocks seem to be on their way back up to invest, doing so can mean [missing out on opportunities](https://money.com/keep-money-in-stock-market-why-important/). "You've missed 20% of a rally if you're just waiting for this magical 20% level," Detrick says. Instead of trying to time the market, financial advisors tend to recommend a strategy called [dollar-cost averaging](https://money.com/buy-the-dip-stock-crypto-strategy/). Doing so entails investing a set amount of money at regular intervals, like $100 every month. That way you can take advantage of the eventual recovery without having to know exactly when to enter and exit the market — something that's very hard to do, even for Wall Street professionals. [Here’s What Investing Experts Are Watching in 2023, From Inflation to China’s Economic Reopening](https://money.com/stock-market-factors-investors-watching-2023/) [Energy Stocks Soared Last Year. What Can We Expect in 2023?](https://money.com/energy-stocks-in-2023/) [7 Best Online Stock Trading Platforms](https://money.com/best-online-stock-trading/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stock Market", "item": "https://money.com/stock-market/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How to Know When the Bear Market Is Over — and Why You Shouldn't Wait to Invest" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/", "name": "How to Know When the Bear Market Is Over — and Why You Shouldn't Wait to Invest", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-01-12T18:52:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:14:39.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "How to Know When the Bear Market Is Over — and Why You Shouldn't Wait to Invest", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/01/Investing-How-Bear-Market-Exit.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "Investing-How-Bear-Market-Exit" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mallika Mitra", "url": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/#author", "description": "Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia.\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2020/05/Headshot.png?w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "mallikaamitra@gmail.com", "jobTitle": "Contributing Editor", "alumniOf": "Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://cnbc.com", "name": "CNBC" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://bloomberg.com", "name": "Bloomberg" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://kiplinger.com", "name": "Kiplinger" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://barrons.com", "name": "Barron's" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://bankrate.com", "name": "Bankrate" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://wgntv.com/midday-news/your-money-matters-why-is-crypto-so-popular/", "name": "WGN-TV" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wall-street-journal-travel-editor-scott-mccartney/id1500053390?i=1000505352440", "name": "CBS News Radio" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://thismorningwithgordondeal.com/b/Lots-of-People-Think-NFTs-Are-Cryptocurrency-and-Theyre-Wrong/306379835851553325.html", "name": "This Morning With Gordon Deal" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-invest-in-a-recession/id957163760?i=1000596422109", "name": "Everyone's Talkin' Money" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-01-12T18:52:01.000Z", "description": "Stocks are still in a bear market. What levels will the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have to reach for that to end and a bull market to begin?", "abstract": "Stocks are still in a bear market. What levels will the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have to reach for that to end and a bull market to begin?", "@id": "https://money.com/bear-market-ends-bull-market-begins/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:14:39.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 476, "keywords": [ "News", "stocks" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Political economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Stock market", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_market" ] } ] } ] } ```