Sometimes the market goes through a period of several months (or longer) when it keeps going down. That has happened a number of times in the history of the stock market. When the stock market is officially in a bear market (the market decline is more than 20 percent), it means that the major market indexes—the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500—are plunging. People may panic and sell their stocks for whatever price they can get. Others may hold on, trapped and confused about what to do next. In general, the economy is weak, and corporate earnings are declining.
