eMark probably best to wait for voltaire reply re the long term...

eMark probably best to wait for voltaire reply re the long term experience, he has plenty of it..... heheheh

But you don't really need to have long term experience to be able to guage how this correction compares to others, you have 216 years of data in the US to work with now to see the stages bear markets go through and how long they last.

Common factors to all bear markets is they don't last long and fall a significant amount in a very short period of time.

The worst bear markets last 2-3years. Most bear markets last only a few months.

The problem is more what happens after a bear market. As a rule of thumb a bear market only lasting 6 months or so is generally a correction in a long term bull market.

If the corrections last about 2yrs then your in a long term bear market (sideways move).

If you compare the S&P 500 in the US from 2001 - 2003 this bear market is working out almost identical in timing and structure.