A signature is your own handwritten mark. While anyone can attempt to copy or replicate it, forensic analysts can almost always tell a forgery from a genuine signature.
My signature is legible and clear but certain letters tend to have large loops. What does your signature say about you?
More than you may think and why your signature distinction matters.
I have never thought of the stock market as a bull or bear market. It wasn’t until 2017 that I actually paid enough attention to it to learn about the distinction. These animal metaphors that label the type of financial market have no definitive origin. A bull market is when stock prices rise continuously over time where a bear market stock prices continuously drop over time.
Think of it as a bull thrusting its horns upward, symbolizing rising prices, while a bear swipes downward with its paws, representing falling markets. Or if you are a Chicago Bears fan, just think of their rallying cry and fight song, “Bear Down,” to apply maximum effort, intense focus and perseverance through the challenges of a down game or market.
This is the best image I could find that depicts the bull and bear markets since it goes all the way back to the 1920’s but it needs to be updated. I found another one that was updated through most of 2025 but didn’t go back far enough to capture the full picture. I see a roller coaster with definitive shear drops that only rise after time. It’s one of my signature connections.
Some investors or financial commentators are referred to as permabears, someone who is perpetually pessimistic about the stock market. Even when stock prices are rising, they constantly expect stock prices will instead fall.
Since permabears are typically men, to be fair, some women do the same thing. They exclude themselves from investing at all because they connect the stock market to people they find evil or harmful. Or they only invest in stocks and funds that exclude Tesla, tech, oil, pharma, weapons and others.
Both examples are limiting and make it much harder to accumulate adequate funds. When has a bear market lasted longer than a bull market in the last 90 years? Maybe the 100-year flood is coming and we’ll all be under water, but missing out on returns from retirement and index funds over much of your life puts this into perspective. So does the fact that certain prominent, progressive women in Congress own Tesla stock in their portfolios or drive a Tesla car.
I probably won’t drive a Tesla, but I won’t say never. Living in absolutes may feel impactful and reassuring but it’s virtually impossible if you really think about it. You may not invest in tech or oil, but you bought a smartphone and drive a car.
Instead of connecting what you do or don’t do, what you buy or don’t buy in absolutes, curate your own signature model. Create your ideal example of something just like I did with the bull and bear markets. My signature connection, a roller coaster, one that I can immediately identify instead pausing to remember which one is which.
I almost bought the signature Palisade, the Calligraphy, but the wait time was too long, and I needed a reliable vehicle sooner, so the Limited had to suffice. There is the signature dish you make, the signature drink or cocktail, the signature steak, that signature service, your signature scent and, of course, your very own signature style.
Curate signature connections that reflect your distinction just like your written signature does that endures through time.