If a Bear Market Is Coming, History Has Good News for Investors

Published August 29, 2026 · Category: Finance

Overview

There have been 12 official bull markets since the end of World War II, with an average length of five and a half years. The current bull market, which started on Oct. 12, 2022, is nearly four years old. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has delivered a total return of 128% during that bull run, but it looks historically expensive at 30 times its trailing 12-month earnings.

Therefore, it's only a matter of time before the next bear market begins. More than a dozen bear markets have occurred over the past eight decades, with an average peak-to-trough decline of 32%. But here's the good news: bear markets tend to be much shorter than bull markets.

Image source: Getty Images.

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Originally published at www.fool.com.

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