Bull Market
Between March 2020 and September 2024, the Nifty 50 more than tripled. Almost everyone who bought anything felt clever. A bull market is a sustained period, usually months or years, in which prices are rising and investor confidence is high. There is no official cutoff, but a common rule of thumb is a rise of 20% or more from a recent low.
A bull market makes almost everyone feel like a genius, which is exactly when the most expensive mistakes get made.
During a strong run, rising prices feel inevitable, and it becomes tempting to chase whatever is going up fastest and ignore warning signs. Experienced investors treat bull markets with the same caution as any other period, because the mood eventually turns.
From a pandemic low near 7,500 in March 2020, the Nifty climbed past 26,000 by September 2024. Small-cap stocks did even better for a while, attracting crores of first-time investors. Many who arrived late in that run, in 2024, were still nursing losses two years later.