Crypto Trading for Newbies - Bull vs Bear

Let me introduce myself.  I have been involved in Crypto since 2013, initally mining altcoins then once that became unprofitable moving exclusively onto trading and investing.  

I have been trading and investing in crypto markets for about 2 years now, not just Bitcoin but the entire Altcoin market and I have a good grasp of fundamentals as well as having developed a solid technical basis for trading these markets profitably

I intend to make a series of posts exclusively about crypto trading, focusing initially on the basics that I have learnt to hopefully give people new to trading some basis of understanding of these markets so they can trade confidently without taking undue risk

That's enough about me, for my first post on Steem I will discuss the difference between a bull and bear market and how you can recognise this yourself.  

These 2 simple terms are at the heart of all trading and since you typically buy something expecting to sell it for a profit it is essential that you understand  the differences

Bull market: a bull market (or bullish) is one which is making higher highs and higher lows

This line chart from SiaCoin is a perfect bull market.  I have highlighted the major highs and lows so you can see each successive high is higher than and each successive low is lower than the previous

Bear market: a bear market (or bearish) is one which is making lower highs and lower lows

The same chart from SiaCoin reveals what happened after that highest high was made at 170.  It started trading in a bull market as highlighted

If the chart you are looking at doesn't fit that definition then it is a sideways market and it is best to wait for some direction before thinking about trading it.  

The chart above shows SiaCoin currently trading at 117 which has exceeded the last high around 110, meaning the direction is now unclear, we may be in a period of consolidation (more on that in a later post)

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions ask away!