A “bear market” is defined as a 20% drop in investment prices from some recent high. For example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average or NASDAQ can individually be in a bear market, though the term is often used to refer to the market as a whole.

Over the past few months, the central bank has shown it will go to incredible lengths to stimulate the economy and stabilize the stock market. The result of those actions has allowed the stock market to retrace most of its post-coronavirus loss.