Wall of Worry

Wall of Worry - Definition

Climbing the wall of worry refers to the markets ability to rise in the face of negative news and economic conditions. Climbing the wall of worry is the sign of a strong bull market.  This type of action occurs after the market has been in a long bear market.  That reason that stocks are able to continuously rise with negative news is because everyone that would have sold out has already done so.  This leaves the market with little sellers left, thus news that would normally bring about sharp down moves, have little impact.  The last stage of the wall of worry is the public and institutions pile in on the long side as all the shorts capitulate.  This sparks the last run up which creates enough supply to start a down cycle.