What is the difference between a bull and a bear market?

Ah well, that's the reason why I'm sitting in front of a bull right now. So, a bull and bear market generally describes how the markets are trading or how the stock markets are performing. So, if we're in a bull market we're rising at a minimum, 20 percent off the lows. If we're in a bear market we're declining at a minimum, 20 percent off the highs. Now, these terms, bull and bear, are pretty legendary on Wall Street. If you're a pretty optimistic investor, you're called a bull. If you're a pretty pessimistic investor, you're called a bear.