Over the years we have collected a number of words that we've seen and heard used on bearish chat boards and in the financial press. We haven't entered any new terms in three years so we have a bit of catching up to do! We hope this list amuses you as much as it amuses us.

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A
Al.com	Nickname for Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve from in1987, in reference to bubble-inducing money policies. See also Easy Al. (origin unknown)
asset impairment	Assets on the books of a corporation are found to be worth waaaay less than what the corporation paid for them, and aren't such assets after all.
B
banana	(noun): Actually an old euphemism for inflation. Alfred Kahn, President Carter's inflation fighter, was criticized for speaking too bluntly about  inflation, so in speeches he substituted the word "banana" for "inflation".
bearlet	(noun): A noticeable market correction, lasting from a few minutes to a few days. source: SanityPrevails, Bear Forum, Thursday, 16 March 2000, at 11:57 p.m.
Bearmuda Triangle	(noun): Market state in which tactical trading indicators contradict each other, perplexing even highly skilled traders. "Crazy stuff is going on." This is not necessarily the same as a state of liquidity-driven irrational exuberance. source: Argonaut, Prudent Bear's Chat, 03/01/2001
bowl	(noun): Occurs in the phrase "white porcelain bowl" as a euphemism for toilet. Used by onetime CNNfn anchors Jack Cafferty and Sasha Salama to describe the outlook for Nasdaq and technology stocks, especially during the first months of 2001. "Technology portfolios are headed for the white porcelain bowl." Their deadpan humor, when juxtaposed against the state of denial and continuous, earnest bubble cheerleading seen on other financial stations, served to underscore their realization that something was seriously amiss. Kudos to them!
bubble	(noun): An economic condition characterized by broad, global participation in a market driven by liquidity, which in turn is driven by low credit standards and/or interest rates, rather than by traditional valuation standards. (Thanks to Gail Dudack, Warburg Dillon Reed, in an interview with Dave Allman at Wall Street Uncut, January 2000.)
bubble.com	(noun): The US economy. Coined by Eisuke Sakikibara, the former Japanese Minister of Finance, in referring to the US economy. "Eisuke Sakikibara didn't want to be one of the finance ministers responsible for picking up the pieces when bubble.com burst."
bubble-friendly	(adj): Seen as enhancing the bullish case. "The government reported a bubble-friendly 0 .1% rise in wages for October, but that figure has been quietly revised to 0.3%". source: Tiresias, Bear Chat, November, 1999
Bubblenomics	(noun): New Era economics. source: Bill Fleckenstein
Bubblemeister	(noun): An economist, analyst, or Bubblevision talking head who promotes Bubblenomics. See also econoboob.
Bubbleonian	(noun): An economist, financier, or investor who thoroughly embraces New Era financial concepts. source: Mr. Spock, Bear Chat, December 15, 1999
Bubblevision	(noun): A financial news TV network which broadcasts notably biased bullish news. Earliest known citation referenced CNBC. "An analyst on Bubblevision today said the Dow could hit 40,000 within ten years!" source: Fleet Street Letter
C
clicks-and-mortar	(Adj): A two-pronged model for doing business; not only does a company conduct its business through traditional physical "bricks-and-mortar" presences but also through the Internet, via a customer's mouse clicks.
CNBC	Cheerleading, Nothing But Cheerleading Bill Fleckenstein, as quoted by Safe Harbour Online, February 24, 2002
CRAP numbers	Cloudy Reporting Accounting Principles numbers. Doctored earnings results designed to keep analysts from looking at the details. source: Financial Sense, Jim Puplava, January 17, 2002. See also Earnings Are Art.
CRAP stocks	Stocks of Companies without Revenues And Profits "Just about the only stocks still rising recently in the U.S. and European equity markets have been C.R.A.P. stocks - Companies without Revenues And Profits. In an extraordinarily shrewd and sophisticated asset allocation shift, the public is redeeming its old economy broadly diversified funds and index funds - and is plopping that money down into the most promising investment sector of the new economy - C.R.A.P. " source: Michael Belkin, as quoted by Bill Fleckenstein, March 13, 2000.
D
dead fish	(noun) - An analyst who tends to go with the flow without doing independent thinking. "Just don't mistake an economist for an analyst. The latter also tend to school, or appear to when they all go down the river the same way, or to use Fleckenstein's term 'Dead Fish'. " source: TZ, bearforum, April 8, 2000, referring to Bill Fleckenstein's earlier coinage
defiance dividend	(noun) - A gain in stock prices resulting from the psychological defiance investors have felt toward Arab terrorists since the World Trade Center attacks. ."For the past two months, stock prices have benefited both from a psychological "defiance dividend" as well as from a perception that recession-battered companies' growth rates will begin to revert early next year to levels of the late 1990s." source: John Markman, 12/05/2001, in an MSN Money Central article called "3 Reasons Recovery is Near - and 8 It's Not"
drink the koolaid	(verb phrase): - To sell out, to renege on one's principles. Used primarily in reference to Alan Greenspan, who abandoned his neo-libertarian, hard money philosophical grounding during the 1990's while serving as Federal Reserve chairman. The term probably originated from the Jonestown Massacre of November 18, 1978, in which over 900 people ingested cyanide-poisoned punch to obey the command of Jim Jones, their charismatic leader.
E
e-	adjectival prefix meaning "electronic" e-business e-brand e-commerce e-tailer
Easy Al	Nickname for Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987, in reference to his easy money, credit-friendly policies. Sometimes expanded to "Easy Al, the speculator's pal." See also Al.com. (origin unknown)
econoboob	(noun): An economist, analyst, or Bubblevision talking head who promotes Bubblenomics. Will probably go so far as to completely miss the big trend while dissecting dismal scientific indicators. (Can't see the forest through the trees.) See also bubblemeister.
Enronitis	(noun): A disease of the nerves affecting investors worried about possible accounting problems. Mentioned as an explanation for the sharp market decline on January 29, 2002. source: CNN Business (Richard Quest) January 29, 2002
EPW	(noun): Abbreviation for "executive perp walk". The walk corporate executives accused of fraud make when handcuffed and escorted by Federal agents. "perp walk" was widely spread in the news starting July of 2002, though we first observed the EPW abbreviation in Arianna Huffington's column July 29, 2002.
F
Field of Dreams	(noun): A rather dubious business model: "build it and they will come". source: Christopher Byron, June 7, 2000
fundamentals	(noun): The important, essential elements. Beartopia's vote for the most misused and abused word in economics. "To Bubbleonians, whatever looks good comprise the "fundamentals"...whatever looks bad is "irrelevant in the 'New Economy'". As you might expect, the list of "fundamentals" has been steadily shrinking over the past couple of years. Now it has pretty much been reduced to "stellar gains in productivity" and "no inflation in sight". None in sight, but what's that huge bulge under the carpet, Mr. Kudlow and, by the way, can I see those productivity figures again before you revise them?" -- Mr. Spock, Bear Chat, December 15, 1999 Here is a sample of its usage (along with some grammatical variants). You can read many of these in detail in John Kenneth Galbraith's work on 1929. "The fundamentals of the American economy continue to be strong. I believe the momentum of the expansion is very much in place." Lawrence Summers, US Treasury Secretary, Wednesday, Saturday, April 15, 2000 "As long as we keep the fundamentals in good shape the economy is going to be fine and the market is going to be fine." Vice President Al Gore, Saturday, April 15, 2000 "We believe that the fundamentals of our economy look still very very strong...Almost all major forecasters have, if anything, improved their forecasts over the last couple of months so I think that the underlying fundamentals of our economy remain quite strong.” Gene Sperling, Chairman of the White House National Economic Council, April 4, 2000 "I think the fundamentals of the economy are strong...I believe the momentum of our expansion should continue for some time...I don't see the end of this expansion in sight." Lawrence Summers, US Treasury Secretary, Wednesday, December 15, 1999 "...our belief and conviction that the general industrial and business condition of the country is fundamentally sound and is essential unimpaired." Commercial National Bank and Trust Company, November 4, 1929 "Believing that fundamental conditions of the country are sound...my son and I have been purchasing sound common stocks." John D. Rockefeller, Wednesday, October 30, 1929 "unquestionably fundamentally sound" Wadill Catchings of Goldman Sachs, Wednesday, October 30, 1929 "The main point I want to emphasize is the fundamental soundness of [the] great mass of economic activities." Dr. Julius Klein, President Hoover's Assistant Secretary of Commerce, in a radio address, Tuesday, October 29, 1929 "fundamentals are sound" Samuel Vauchlain, Chairman of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Saturday, October 26, 1929 "The fundamental business of the country, that is production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis." President Hoover, Saturday, October 26, 1929 "fundamentally sound condition" Charles M. Schwab, Bethlehem Steel, Saturday, October 26, 1929
G
GMTFO	(expression) - Get me the f**k out! How bulls might feel about the mutual funds in their 401k's during the summer 2002 slide. How bears might feel about their short-term puts when the market suddenly ramps. Noticed on the Capital Stool chat board, summer 2002.
Greenspan put	(noun): A term borrowed from options traders. The safety net that Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, provides to the financial markets in times of crisis. Note that extra liquidity and/or interest rate cuts were provided to the markets late 1997, 1998, and 999, during the Asian crisis, the collapse of Long Term Capital Management and Russia's default, and for Y2K. Greenspan's first "put" was exercised during the 1987 market collapse. Possibly first published by Ervin Arvedlund, at The Street.Com, 02/25/00
Greenspeak	Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's speaking style. sample "Whenever Bubblevision broadcasts Alan Greenspan giving a live talk, subtitles are displayed so that we can understand Greenspeak."
I
i-	adjectival noun prefix meaning "Internet" ibank - a bank hosted on the Internet itulip - (see below)
internut	(noun): An investor who is enthusiastic about Internet stocks, even those of companies that have never earned any money. See netwit.
itulip	- iTulip.com adj : a corporation that relies on the Internet to deliver products and services to its customers at a loss : an uneconomical Internet-dependent business as a : requires private or public capital to maintain uneconomical operations indefinitely b : raises capital through the public markets to achieve an historically unprecedented market capitalization influenced by the stock performance of similar companies, none of which are profitable [Ed note: tulips were an object of speculation in 17th-century Holland] (first known attestation: iTulip.com)
J
J6P	Abbreviation for "Joe Six-Pack", the archetypal clueless US investor. Also known as "Billy Joe Gunrack" in certain parts of the country. J6P puts retirement money in a 401K without sparing a thought as to what that money might actually be invested in. J6P/BJG is not well schooled in the the savvier ways of personal finance and thinks nothing of financing his vehicles, jet skis, and bass fishing boats years into the future.
L
Laysez-faire	A management style in which underlings are allowed to act without interference, and their superiors are "in way over their heads" when asked about any questionable transactions the company makes. Named after Ken Lay of Enron. - attributed to Gretchen Morgenson, NYTimes, December 30, 2001
M
MCHVIE	(noun): A Mass-Correlation, Hyper-Volatility, Illiquidity Event Posted by Bob Bronson of Bronson Capital Markets Research on a Long Waves forum once hosted at a Colorado State University, January 6, 2000.
melt up	(prepositional verb): To move up rapidly. "In October 1998, the market melted up after Alan Greenspan unexpectedly cut interest rates a second time."
meltup	(noun): A rapid rise in stock prices, often triggered by bubble-friendly government economic statistics, panic buying, short-covering, a drop in interest rates, or any combination thereof. "The sudden meltup caught Jack unawares, and he had to cover his shorts."
momo	(noun): momentum, as in momentum investing, which isn't really investing, but rather trading based on stock price movement, not on fundamentals.
N
NASDAQ	No Actual Sales, Dividends, Assets, or Quality Attributed to Sean Corrigan, a columnist at gold-eagle, October 3, 2001
negative wealth effect	(noun): A New Era euphemism for sudden loss of wealth, even poverty, due to losing 75% of one's "savings" in high tech stocks.
netwit	(noun): An investor who is enthusiastic about Internet stocks, even those of companies that have never earned any money. "Jim Davidson, editor of Strategic Investment, after being prematurely bearish for many years, threw in the towel, picked a few good Internet stocks, and good-humoredly decided to join the netwits." source: Strategic Investment
N.U.T.S.	An acronym to describe the behavior of Wall Street during the mania. Stands for No Upside Too Stupid. source: Pierre Belec, in a Reuters column on March 24, 2000
P
panic-buying	Rapid buying of equities by traders compelled by the fear of missing the next leg up of the bull market, or by the fear of being squeezed out of short positions. "Panic-buying drove the indexes higher on options expiration day."
pricing resistance	The sudden unwillingness of buyers to pay waaay too much for a new home.  Reported by Comstock Homebuilding in a reduced profit outlook report on January 31, 2006.
pump-and-dump	(verb): To tout, or promote a stock so that the promoter can sell its own shares after interest has been generated and the stock price has risen. "The sleazy broker pumped-and-dumped his Telebras holdings."
R
recession	(noun): an extended decline in business activity, typically three consecutive quarters of falling real gross national product. - American Heritage Dictionary OK, if you are old enough you've probably experienced a recession and don't really need to be told what one is. But the reason we've listed the word here is because of all the wonderful euphemisms that people come up with to avoid admitting being in one: classical end-of-expansion-type mode, down period, earnings recession, inventory recession, slowdown, slump, soft patch, profits recession source: Peter Carlson, Washington Post, February 8, 2001 See also: soft spot.
S
softening	(noun): a decline, with the implication that it is gradual and that somehow it won't hurt. The word "collapse", which implies a steep, sharp, sudden decline, is taboo. You aren't likely to hear it on Bubblevision. It is OK to say the economy is softening, but you won't hear many economists saying that advertising has collapsed, or that there is a possibility that office real estate is collapsing. Yet anybody with any sense would come to that conclusion just taking a drive around a major city and observing the number of "FOR LEASE" signs posted on office buildings. Do economists live on the same planet that I do? There is a great reluctance to use the word "collapse". Just notice how long it took observers to describe Nasdaq as a bubble that has collapsed. Bubblevision guests probably hope that if an economic decline is gradual you will be too busy buying still-overpriced and/or worthless stocks to notice. As of August 2001, there are still plenty of them out there.
soft spot	(noun): Fed speak for recession. Used in the FOMC statement after Fed members agreed to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, which was more than expected. Also called soft patch.
stockalypse	Equity market devastation. First known use by Pierre Belec, Reuters, July 27, 2002
T
transitional issue	Severe short-term market upheaval viewed as a company-specific or sector-specific problem. source: Abby Joseph Cohen, Barron's Roundtable, January 15, 2002, referring to Enron (we are not kidding).
U
u4ian	(noun): Euphoric investors who try to pretend that bad news for one stock does not apply to other stocks. "As if to put an exclamation point on the fact that the u4ians don't think Intel matters as they race into the Cienas, Sycamores and Junipers of the world... folks are trying to pretend that anything that has a problem is not germane to anything else..." source: Bill Fleckenstein, Market Rap, September 25, 2000
unemployed	(adjective): There is nothing new about the terms unemployed, downsized, jobless, laid off, idle, or (a throwback to older times) without a situation. However, our roving bearish reporter in the field reports that a company near and dear to him used the following euphemism for such employees: "Employees selected to participate in the current resource reduction action" Contributed by AKnightofNi on the former Bear Claws forum at World Crossing, February 19, 2002
USPIX	USPIX The Unending Suffering & Pain Is eXcrutiating fund. Bear Chatters DAN, Original Fred, et al.
V
vapor cash	(noun): Overpriced, bloated stock used to acquire the assets of another company. "If the top that occurred in early December proves to be the top, it might be wise to use all the vapor cash you can before it loses its buying power." source: Don Hays, Hays Market Focus, January 17, 2000
visibility	(noun): future clarity. "There is no visibility beyond the current quarter..." : a statement frequently issued by companies giving forward guidance in early 2001. Translated, means, "We don't know what the hell is happening or where we're going and we're scared shitless!"
W
waterbed market	(noun): Absurd rotation in the stock market in which one stock or sector craters, but accompanied by a spike up in another stock or sector. source: Richard Russell of Dow Theory Letters.
wipeoutee	(noun): A person who suffers sudden great losses in the markets. "Joe Kennedy was not among the Wall Street wipeoutees of 1929." source: Bear Chat, December 1999

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