should i sell my stocks during a bear market 
for most investors a buy and hold strategy is the best way to make money through investing rather than rushing to buy or sell investments every time the market changes if you have a balanced diversified portfolio that includes assets such as government bonds defensive stocks and cash as well as equities you shouldn t need to sell during a bear market indeed if you sell your stocks during a bear market because you are afraid of them dropping further you may miss out on substantial profits when the market eventually rebounds the bottom linea bear market is a downward trend in financial markets indicating a weakening economy and a loss of investor confidence generally a market is considered a bear market when prices have declined more than 20 bear markets can be as short as a few weeks or as long as a several years buy and hold investors can often take advantage of lower prices during a bear market to add valuable stocks to their portfolios day traders and other short term investors though may need to use strategies such as short selling put options and inverse etfs to make a profit during a bear market 