Bear Market is a term that sends fear into Wall Street and investors. What does it mean? And how does it affect both Wall Street and Main Street? Adam Shell explains. Wild swings in the stock market can hurt 401(k)s in two ways. Emotions can take over, spurring bad investment decisions, and an investor’s asset mix can get out of whack, undermining their portfolio’s risk profile and return potential. But there’s an antidote to that investment portfolio malady: Set up and stick to a rule-driven...

The market sell-off is an overdue correction, says Bruderman Brothers' Oliver Pursche, after U.S. markets marked their biggest fall in seven years. Aleksandra Michalska reports. Video provided by Reuters Unemployment is soaring. Corporate earnings are shrinking. And we're almost certainly in a recession. So why has the stock market — which was down 34% at its bear market low on March 23 — been able to trim a large chunk of its losses even though the economic news remains gloomy? Simply put:...

The attack on your stock holdings came quickly this time, but it’s never too late to dust off your bear market survival kit. Surviving a steep stock market slide is often more about riding out the storm than running away from trouble. By bear market standards, the recent sell-off was super-fast. It took 16 days for the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index to fall 20%, the quickest transition from bull to bear ever. But the size of the drop, at least so far, has been below average. At the bear...

With interest rates at historic lows, homeowners in good financial shape have a chance to refinance their mortgages and get a better deal. The tumbling cost of home loans has sent an index that tracks refinance activity up 168% since a year ago, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data thru March 27. Three out of four (75.9%) mortgage applications in the most recent weekly MBA survey were for refinances not purchases. A mortgage refinance is when you replace your current home loan with...

Special to USA TODAY Retirement savers should brace for grim news when they review their first-quarter statements. The first bear market since 2009 shaved 20% off the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index in the January-thru-March period. That means a $100,000 investment on January 1 was worth $20,000 less on March 31. But rather than fretting over smaller fund balances and sizable paper losses in your 401(k), use your quarterly statement as a teaching tool. Wall Street is like a battleground...