ELI5 Bear Markets - where does the name come from?

Why is it called a bear market? How did it become used to describe financial markets? What does it have to do with bear skins? What does a stock market ‘dead cat bounce’ mean? ... we explain like I'm five Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: tallahazey21, lazerslayer, azotta and willtheyeverlearn To the ELI5 community that has supported us so far, thanks for all your feedback and comments. Send us an e-mail: [email protected]