What do list titles such as "bull arguments" and "bear arguments" mean?
My guess is that they are arguments in favor / against a proposal that's being discussed.
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I've never heard these phrases. Your guess may well be right, but a reference to an example would be helpful.– Colin FineCommented May 14, 2014 at 14:55
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It's an obvious reference to market trends, but I will second Colin that this particular collocation is stretching it. At any rate, it seems to have been invented by that particular author.– RegDwigнtCommented May 14, 2014 at 14:56
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I would be careful with using bull as an adjective like this, because outside very specific (economic) environments, people may tend to assume that bull is short for the expletive bullshit. When somebody tells me "that's bull" or "that's a bull argument", I will take it as offensive.– oerkelensCommented May 14, 2014 at 15:02
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I agree, in financial business is quite common to refer to 'a bull issue'. But I'd never use it in ordinary speech.– user66974Commented May 14, 2014 at 15:06
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2 Answers
I have only heard of Bull argument (or often Bullish argument) in terms of stock or commodity prices. A bullish argument provides evidence that the instrument will go up in price.
Here is a Seeking Alpha article entitled "Why Intel Is Confirming The Bullish Argument For Investors." The author states three reasons for Intel being undervalued (thus arguing that the price of Intel should rise.)
Metaphorically, a bullish argument might be used to say that some intangible aspect is improving, in the sense that "His star is on the rise."
Why bull and bear for upward and downward trends? The etymology section of the Wikipedia article for Market Trend says
The fighting styles of both animals may have a major impact on the names. When a bull fights it swipes its horns up; when a bear fights it swipes down on its opponents with its paws.
Bullish / bearish argument is not so much an argument for or against a proposal; rather, it is an argument that the proposal will cause a rise or a fall.
Bulls and Bears are terms used in the financial business to indicate those who are positive (bulls) and those who are negative (bears) on the trend of the Stock market and stock prices, but more generally on economic trends. Arguments refer to all the claims that both bulls and bears have to support their views on positive or negative grounds.