Market Cycles

Market Cycles

Market cycles, also known as stock market cycles, is a wide term referring to trends or patterns that emerge during different markets or business environments. 1. Accumulation Phase: Accumulation occurs after the market has bottomed and the innovators and early adopters begin to buy, figuring the worst is over. 2. Markup Phase: This occurs when the market has been stable for a while and moves higher in price. 3. Distribution Phase: Sellers begin to dominate as the stock reaches its peak. 4. Downtrend: Downtrend occurs when the stock price is tumbling down. A market cycle can range anywhere from a few minutes to many years, depending on the market in question, as there are many markets to look at, and the time horizon which is being analyzed. Different careers will look at different aspects of the range. Market cycles, also known as stock market cycles, is a wide term referring to trends or patterns that emerge during different markets or business environments. At different stages of a full market cycle, different securities will respond to market forces differently.

A cycle refers to trends or patterns that emerge during different business environments.

What Are Market Cycles?

Market cycles, also known as stock market cycles, is a wide term referring to trends or patterns that emerge during different markets or business environments. During a cycle, some securities or asset classes outperform others because their business models aligned with conditions for growth. Market cycles are the period between the two latest highs or lows of a common benchmark, such as the S&P 500, highlighting a fund’s performance through both an up and a down market. 

A cycle refers to trends or patterns that emerge during different business environments.
A cycle time frame often differs for each individual person depending on what trends they are looking for.
A market cycle often has four distinct phases.
It can be almost impossible to identify what phase of the cycle we are currently in.
At different stages of a full market cycle, different securities will respond to market forces differently.

How Market Cycles Work

Newmarket cycles form when trends within a particular sector or industry develop in response to meaningful innovation, new products or regulatory environment. These cycles or trends are often called secular. During these periods, revenue and net profits may exhibit similar growth patterns among many companies within a given industry, which is cyclical in nature.

Market cycles are often hard to pinpoint until after the fact and rarely have a specific, clearly identifiable beginning or ending point which often leads to confusion or controversy surrounding assessment of policies and strategies. However, most market veterans believe they exist, and many investors pursue investment strategies that aim to profit from them by trading securities ahead of directional shifts of the cycle.

There are stock market anomalies that cannot be explained but occur year after year. 

Special Considerations

A market cycle can range anywhere from a few minutes to many years, depending on the market in question, as there are many markets to look at, and the time horizon which is being analyzed. Different careers will look at different aspects of the range. A day trader may look at five-minute bars whereas a real estate investor will look at a cycle ranging up to 20 years.

Types of Market Cycles

Market cycles are generally considered to exhibit four distinctive phases. At different stages of a full market cycle, different securities will respond to market forces differently. For example, during a market upswing, luxury goods tend to outperform, as people are comfortable buying powerboats and Harley Davidson motorcycles. In contrast, during a market downswing, the consumer durables industry tends to outperform, as people usually don't cut back their toothpaste and toilet paper consumption during a market pullback.

The four stages of a market cycle include the accumulation, uptrend or markup, distribution, and downtrend or markdown phases.

  1. Accumulation Phase: Accumulation occurs after the market has bottomed and the innovators and early adopters begin to buy, figuring the worst is over.
  2. Markup Phase: This occurs when the market has been stable for a while and moves higher in price.
  3. Distribution Phase: Sellers begin to dominate as the stock reaches its peak.
  4. Downtrend: Downtrend occurs when the stock price is tumbling down.

Market cycles take both fundamental and technical indicators (charting) into account, using securities prices and other metrics as a gauge of cyclical behavior.

Some examples include the business cycle, semiconductor/operating system cycles within technology, and the movement of interest-rate sensitive financial stocks.

Related terms:

Asset Class

An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations. read more

Business Cycle : How Is It Measured?

The business cycle depicts the increase and decrease in production output of goods and services in an economy. read more

The Conference Board (CB)

The Conference Board (CB) is a not-for-profit research organization which distributes vital economic information to its peer-to-peer business members. read more

Downswing

A downswing is a decline in business activity that results from changes in the business cycle or broader economic pressure. read more

Investment Strategy

An investment strategy is what guides an investor's decisions based on goals, risk tolerance and future needs for capital. read more

PDCA Cycle

The PDCA Cycle, which stands for Plan-Do-Check-Act, is a problem-solving iterative technique that uses four steps to improve business processes.  read more

Sector Analysis

Sector analysis helps investors assess the economic and financial prospects of a sector of the economy to identify potentially profitable investments. read more

Secular Market

In a secular market, broad factors determine the direction of an investment or asset class over a long period of time. read more

Stock Cycle

A stock cycle is the evolution of a stock's price from an early uptrend to price high through to a downtrend and price low. read more