Is the Bear Market Over? Stocks Need Just One More Big Drop.

Stocks may be putting this year’s bear market behind them, but history indicates it may take one more downward jolt to end the debacle.

There is some positive news. The


S&P 500


has gained about 10% from its lowest close of the year, hit in early October, but it is still down in the mid-teens in percentage terms from the record high it reached in early January. Stocks enter a bear market when they fall 20% from a high, and they are considered to have moved out of one with a gain of 20% from a low.