Bull

In finance, a bull is a speculator in a stock market who buys a holding in a stock in the expectation that, in the very short-term, it will rise in value, whereupon they will sell the stock to make a quick profit on the transaction. Strictly speaking, the term applies to speculators who borrow money to fund such a purchase, and are thus under great pressure to complete the transaction before the loan is repayable or the seller of the stock demands payment on settlement day for delivery of the bargain. If the value of the stock falls contrary to their expectation, a bull suffers a loss, frequently very large if they are trading on margin. A bull has a great incentive to "talk-up" the value of their stock or to manipulate the market of their stock, for example by spreading false rumors, to procure a buyer or to cause a temporary price increase which will provide them with the selling opportunity and profit they require. A bull must be contrasted with an investor, who purchases a stock in expectation of a medium-term (5 years) or long-term increase in value due to the underlying performance of the company and its assets. The speculator who takes a directly opposite view to the bull is the bear, who speculates on a stock decreasing in value, having sold short. A bull market is a period during which stock market prices rise over a sustained period, therefore to the advantage of bulls. History of the term An early mention of the terms bull and bear appears in the 1769 edition of Thomas Mortimer's book Every Man his own Broker, published in London, as follows, relating to speculators operating in Jonathan's Coffee-House in Exchange Alley (the original London proto-Stock Exchange): "A Bull is the name by which the gentlemen of 'Change Alley choose to call all persons who contract to buy any quantity of government securities, without an intention or ability to pay for it, and who consequently are obliged to sell it again, either at a profit or a loss, before the time comes when they have contracted to take it". This refers to the former practice of stock-brokers, abolished circa 1980's in London, allowing their clients to trade on credit during a period of about two weeks, known as an account, on the completion of which all purchases and sales made during the account period had to be paid for on the settlement date. A net trading loss would result in the client having to make a cash payment to the broker.