Nine years ago, on March 9, 2009, when the S&P 500 SPX, +1.74% bottomed at 676.53 following 15 months of precipitous declines, the current bull market in U.S. stocks was born.
Since then, the market has gained nearly 350% including dividends. Despite the recent volatility, the bull has not shown serious signs of retiring.
Read: Is this bull market really 9 years old?
The term bull market refers to a market in which prices are rising. Typically, a drop of a 20% or more would qualify as a bear market, and both bull and bear markets can be cyclical or structural.
U.S. stocks are not the only asset currently in a bull market, however. Here is a look at some other assets that have similarly been basking in an appreciating-value atmosphere.
Also see: In the bull market’s ninth year, ‘winning’ stocks hide lingering pain
Europe
European equities have been rising since March 2009, too. But unlike their U.S. counterparts, European stocks had two cyclical bear markets within the structural bull market. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.43% fell more than 20%, which qualifies as a bear market, twice — first in 2011 and then again in 2015-16. Those drops were relatively short-lived, however, with prices recovering to reach new highs.
Japan
The Japanese stock market, in contrast, is an example of an asset in a cyclical bull market within a structural bear market. The Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.47% peaked in January 1990 at 38,915.87 and is still down more than 40% since then. But Japanese stocks, along with other stock markets put in a trough in March 2009. Since then the Nikkei more than tripled on total return basis, but just like European stocks, there have been a few 20%-plus drops along the way.
Emerging markets
Emerging-market equities are also in a structural bull market. MSCI Emerging Market Index EEM, +2.14% put in a bottom in October 2008, months before the developed market did. Since then, EM equities tripled on a total return basis, but for about six years between 2011 and 2016 these stocks went nowhere as seen in a chart below.
Long-dated Treasury bonds
The asset that has been enjoying the longest bull market is long-dated Treasurys. Prices of 10-year Treasury notes TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.00% have been rising for the past 37 years, while yields have been falling, with occasional short-lived spikes. Bond prices move inversely to bond yields.
Commodities
Commodities index SPGSCITR, +1.53% that includes a range of raw commodities is in a cyclical bull market since the end of 2015. But the asset is still in a structural bear market since peaking in June 2008.
Oil and gold
Both oil CLJ8, +3.33% and gold GCJ8, +0.17% hit a trough at the end of 2015 and have been rising since then, but structurally these assets are still in a bear market.