I located the answer at http://www.invest-faq.com Evidently,"bear skin jobbers" were known for selling bear skins that they did not own; i.e., the bears had not yet been caught. This was the original source of the term "bear." This term eventually was used to describe short sellers, speculators who sold shares that they did not own, bought after a price drop, and then delivered the shares. The term "bull" came from the the sports of baiting both bears and bulls. Bulls were seen as being the opposite of bears. Thus, the bear describes the opposite stock market climate. People buy stocks in the expectation that stocks will rise, not fall.

For those who don't spend a lot of time on Wall Street, bulls and bears refer to opposite trends in the stock market. According to Investor Words, a bull market is "a prolonged period in which investment prices rise faster than their historical average." Conversely, a bear market means "a prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism." So, bulls good, bears bad. No one's quite sure how the two animals came to symbolize the market, but there are a few theories floating around. According to this article from the Motley Fool, a bear market earned its name because bears tend to swat at things with their paws in a downward motion (as in "the market's going down"). A bull market, on the other hand, got its name because bulls swing their horns upward when they strike (as in "the market's going up"). Another theory proposes that the animals' personalities are behind the symbolism. Bears move with caution, while bulls are bold and like to charge ahead. So a "bearish" investor thinks the market will go down, while a "bullish" investor thinks it's headed up. Certainly no one can argue that both animals are intimidating and best avoided. Maybe they're meant to serve as a warning to investors: Unless you know what you're doing, you could be headed for pain. http://ask.yahoo.com/20040820.html

5-9-08 A BUll market is a rising market or rising trend. This is caused from BUyers [BUlls]. It’s my observation the term originated from the way a bull defends himself: moving the head in an upward direction. A BEar market is a falling/declining market or falling/declining trend. This is caused from SEllers [BEars]. It’s my observation the term originated from the way a bear defends himself: moving the paws in a downward direction. Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it! VTY, Ron Berue Yes, that is my real last name! Sources: My wonderful family! My wonderful coaches and mentors! THE ABSOLUTE BEST, MOST wonderful trading group in the world, which I am most proud to be a member of! Trading more than 2 years. "THE University of Hard Knocks"