Quotation: 300-point rallies in the Dow happen in bear markets

We’re in a very confusing atmosphere. People didn’t really know what to make of a 300-point rally in the Dow the other day, but my main message was that 300-point rallies from the Dow don’t happen in bull markets.

In fact, they never happened in the bull market from October ’02 to October ’07, but it has happened 6 times in this bear market and happened 12 times in the last bear market.

You don’t get moves like that in bull markets. As Rich Bernstein has said time and again, “This is the hallmark of a recession and a hallmark of a bear market.”

David A. Rosenberg, Conference Call Notes, published under the title “The Elusive Bottom” at InvestorInSight, August 2008.