From Motley Fool:
With the market at record levels in what has been the longest bull market in history, an investor can be forgiven for feeling a little wary. Although we don’t know when the bull market will end, one thing we do know is this: It will end sometime. And following a bull market which has taken share prices up 380%, a bear market would probably be a gut-wrenching one.
The good news is this: Although history has shown that bear markets inevitably follow bull markets, they tend to be shorter in duration and are generally followed by a period in which stock prices rise to new highs. If this pattern continues, a long-term investor has the rare chance in a bear market to buy high-quality stocks at fire-sale prices.