LONDON, December 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In financial trading, a 'bear market' is a general decline in the stock market over a period of time.

Wall Street pointed toward a lower open Monday as investors prepared to extend the sharp losses from Friday, when worries about the credit and housing markets and disappointing corporate earnings came to a head.

INVESTING: Indexes drop sharply on 20th anniversary of a 1987 stock market crash.

By TIM PARADIS NEW YORK - Stocks plunged while bonds surged higher Friday after the government reported payrolls in August fell for the first time in four years rather than rising as had been expected. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 200 points.

Stocks fell in early trading Wednesday, taking the Dow Jones industrials below 13,000, after a report showing mild consumer inflation was unable to pacify investors still worried about a credit crunch.