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Happy 5th birthday, bull market

Published:Monday | March 10, 2014 | 12:00 AM
In this Monday, March 3 photo, specialist Gregg Maloney works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Despite fiscal deadlock in Washington that pushed the United States to the brink of default, a major debt crisis in Europe, slowing growth in China and innumerable crises from Syria to Ukraine, stocks have kept moving higher. Today, the bull run enters its sixth year. - Ap

NEW YORK (AP):

The current bull run is not the longest, or strongest in history, but it has survived a near default by the United States (US) government, a debt crisis in Europe, and a war in Syria.

Despite all the obstacles thrown in its way, this bull market is now the fourth-longest since 1945, according to S&P Capital IQ. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 178 per cent in the five years since it bottomed out on March 9, 2009.

A bull market is a rise of 20 per cent or more over a period of at least six months, following a decline of 20 per cent or more. The run-up over the past five years has been helped by stimulus from the Federal Reserve, record corporate profits, the economic recovery and companies repurchasing their own stock.

current bull

The current bull had a tough start to 2014. In January, the S&P 500 index fell 3.6 per cent on concerns about slowing growth in China and other emerging markets. Investors also worried about the strength of the US economy. This month, the market has been rattled by events in Ukraine, where the region of Crimea is preparing for a referendum on whether to split away and join Russia. President Barack Obama and several other Western leaders have condemned the referendum.

Despite the latest setbacks, stocks recovered and the S&P 500 index closed at a record high of 1,878.04 on Friday.

There have been 11 bull markets since 1945. The longest one stretched for almost a decade, between October 1990 and March 2000. The average bull market lasts 41⁄2 years, making the current one longer than average.

The last bull market ended in October 2007, as the financial crisis was taking hold. The S&P 500 index dropped 57 per cent from a record high of 1,565.15 on October 9, 2009, before bottoming out at 676.53 on March 9, 2009.