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Bull and bear are commonly used terms to describe the stock market as strong or weak. My husband recently asked what the origins of these were. I had a general explanation for him, but the question encouraged me to delve further and find the specific etymology.

Each day we are introduced to new terminology such as “sub-prime slime”, “volatility indexes” and “new standards for fair value accounting guidelines. For the moment though, let’s stick to basics, take a stroll down Wall Street and look for the origins of the terms for the bull and bear markets.

In 1761 Thomas Mortimer wrote “Every Man His Own Broker, or A Guide to Exchange Alley.” His book may have been the 18th century’s equivalent to “Investing for Dummies.”

Mortimer’s writings provide the first usage of the terms bulls and bears as words to describe investor types and sentiment.

A bull market is when share prices are generally rising, and a bear market is when share prices are generally declining. But what is the etymology of these terms?

In London, during the 1700s, bearskin brokers called “jobbers” sold the skins before the bears had actually been caught and killed, similar to short-selling. In Mortimer’s day, a bear was a pessimist who agreed to sell more than he may have possessed and then became obligated to deliver in the future, hoping for bad news and misfortune to cause lower prices so he could “buy low” to fulfill delivery of his earlier sales at higher levels.

Mortimer claimed that “a bull, who is sulky and heavy, and sits in some corner with a melancholy posture; whereas the bear, with meager, haggard looks, and a voracious fierceness in his countenance, is continually on the watch seized all who enter the alley, and by his terrific weapons of groundless fears — and false rumors — frightens all around him out of property he wants to buy; and is as much a monster in nature, as his brother brute in the woods.”

Other analogies have been acknowledged over the years such as references to the way the animals attack; a bull attacks with its horns from bottom up while a bear attacks with its paw from above in a downward motion. Market behavior connects with the terms as well; bears hibernate and bulls run.

As we enter this holiday month of December, I think of classic movies and one of my favorites is “Trading Places.” This classic nature-versus-nurture tale stars Eddie Murphy, Dan Akroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis. These three play unlikely paired misfits, Billy Ray Valentine, Louis Winthorpe II and Ophelia, from distinctly different walks of life. Pooling their resources they go up against Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy who are the Duke brothers, Mortimer and Randolph, owners of Duke & Duke, a commodities brokerage firm.

The film aptly describes the markets and more specifically the actual operations of a commodities brokerage firm.

The climax of the movie occurs while trying to corner the market in frozen concentrated orange juice. Mortimer and Randolph Duke, the well-bred professionals, duke it out financially against Billy Ray, Louis and Ophelia, the misfit riff-raffs. The Duke brothers wind up bankrupt, while the other three finish fabulously rich.

For me the movie is a hilariously warm-hearted Christmas story about good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, charity vs. greed. I hope the film is used in college classrooms because it is a wonderful primer for Economics students.

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Darcie Guerin is a financial adviser and branch manager at Raymond James & Associates Inc. at 606 Bald Eagle Drive, suite 401, Marco Island. Contact her at Darcie.Guerin@raymondjames.com, 389-1041 or toll-free (866) 343-0882.