bulls and bears

     Bulls and bears are sports teams, but they are also Wall Street "teams". The "bulls" believe that business is good, and predict that stock prices will rise. They "bet" on this by buying stocks, hoping to sell them for more than they paid for them when the price goes up. The "bears" believe that business is bad, and predict that stock prices will fall. They try to wait for the best time to sell their stocks--before prices fall, so they can get the most money for them. So if the "bulls" want to buy, they have to offer the "bears" a price for their stocks that makes them want to sell. Perhaps this does make prices rise a bit. The stocks having been bought and sold, the price may go down--because those interested in buying the stocks ( bulls ) have already bought them. An attempt to sell them again would have to be at a lower price, since the buyer is not as interested as the "bulls" were when they bought them. The game turns into a "self-fulfilling prophecy".