Word Spy - bear tack

bear tack

(BAYR tak) n. A downward movement in the value of a stock, sector, or the market as a whole; a general sentiment that assumes a stock, sector, or the market will go down over the short or medium term.

Example Citation:

Technology, media and telecoms companies were back on the bear tack today after a profit warning from BATM Advanced Communications and another heavy fall for the hi-tech Nasdaq market in the US.
—Michael Clark, "Nasdaq's dive gives the TMTs new grief," The Evening Standard, December 7, 2000

Earliest Citation:

The market may not be going into a bear tack, but it is in a value-for-money phase.
—Hamish McRae, "Financial Notebook," The Guardian, June 26, 1985

Notes:

As often happens with stock-related terms, this phrase kept getting older the more I researched it. I eventually traced it back to 1985, which makes it much older than the usual Word Spy fare, but what the heck, it's summer.

Category:

Stock Market and Investing

Posted on July 17, 2001