A bull is an investor who purchases a financial instrument in the expectation that it will increase in value. For an investment such as stocks, a bull expects prices to rise. Equity bull markets, consequently, are marked by persistent upward trends in stock prices. For investments that carry yields, such as bonds, a bull expects the price of the underlying asset to rise, and yield to decline.
To profit from the anticipated trend, a bull may employ strategies such as dip-buying or dollar-cost averaging. To protect against a large downward move, a bull may purchase puts or use stop-loss orders. Not all trading strategies are readily viewable in terms of bull and bear. Derivatives, for example, allow traders to avoid being either bull or bear and focusing on volatility trends or interest rate differentials rather than the direction of price movement. |
