What does it mean when the Market is a “Bear Market”? “Bull Market”?

In the investing world, the terms bull and bear are frequently used to refer to market conditions.
A bull market occurs when securities are on the rise, while a bear market occurs when securities fall for a sustained period of time.

A bull market is a market that is on the rise and where the economy is sound; while a bear market exists in an economy that is receding, where most securities are declining in value.

Because the financial markets are greatly influenced by investors’ attitudes, these terms also denote how investors feel about the market and the proceeding economic trends.