Bull and Bear

An educational children's story explaining the differences between a bull market and a bear market.

Bull and Bear

 

Bull and Bear were best friends.  They lived in the country.  Bull lived on the farm.  Bear lived in the forest.  But they never let a little thing like fences keep them apart!

 

One day Bull and Bear were talking.  Bear said, “I need to buy a birthday present for my mother.  Her birthday is in two days.”

 

Bull said, “So do I!  My mother’s birthday is in three days.”

 

Bear said, “Do you have any money, Bull?”

 

Bull said, “Only a little.  I have 15¢ that my Auntie Cowslip gave me last Christmas.  Do you have any money, Bear?”

 

“No,” said Bear, sadly.  “I spent all of my money at the fair last month.  What shall we do?”

 

So Bull and Bear sat down to think.  At last Bear spoke up:

 

“Bull, what we need to do is sell something!  If we can sell something, we can make some money.  Then we can buy our mothers a birthday present!”

 

“That’s a great idea, Bear!” cried Bull.  “But what can we sell?”

 

“Let’s walk down to Trader’s Alley and look for ideas,” said Bear.

 

So Bull hopped over the fence.  He and Bear walked down the road until they came to a place called Trader’s Alley.  All the animals gathered there to buy and sell their wares.  The Alley was full of animals that morning. 

 

Mrs. Chipmunk and her five children were busy selling roasted acorns and hickory nuts.  Mr. Otter had some nice fresh fish to sell.  Splish and Splash, the duck twins, were selling watercress sandwiches and little minnow sausages on a stick.

 

Suddenly Bear had an idea! 

 

“I know what we can sell, Bull!  Let’s sell some eggs!” said Bear.

 

Bull said, “But, Bear, we don’t have any eggs.”

 

Bear said, “Never mind.  I know where we can get some.  Let’s just take orders for the eggs right now and deliver them later.”

 

Bull thought about this idea.  It didn’t seem like a very smart idea to sell something you didn’t have yet. 

 

“Why don’t we sell lemonade instead,” said Bull.  “I could buy some lemons with my 15¢.  We could have a lemonade stand!”

 

Bear looked at all the animals roaming up and down the Alley.  They didn’t look very thirsty to him.  But they did look hungry!

 

“I think I like my idea better,” said Bear.  He didn’t want to make his friend mad, but he did want to sell those eggs!

 

“Okay,” said Bull. “Why don’t you sell eggs, and I’ll sell lemonade, and we’ll see who makes the most money?”

 

“It’s a deal!” said Bear, and off he went.

 

First Bear painted a big white sign with red letters that said:

 

            EgGς FoR ςALe

 10¢ a DoZ

 

Next he set up a booth right in the middle of Trader’s Alley. 

 

“Eggs for sale!” he cried.  “Eggs for sale!”

 

Soon Mr. Badger stopped at his table.

 

“Eggs?” he said, frowning at Bear.  “What eggs?  I don’t see any eggs!”  Mr. Badger was a bit of a grump.

 

“Oh,” said Bear quickly.  “That’s because I have to deliver the eggs to you.  You do want nice fresh eggs, don’t you?” 

 

“Hmmm,” said Badger, stroking his chin.  “I do like fresh eggs.  You sure you can deliver them, sonny?”

 

“Oh, yes sir!” said Bear.  “You get a whole dozen for just 10¢!”

 

“Well, okay, then.  Here’s my money.  You bring the eggs to me tonight!”

 

And Bear made his first sale. 

 

Soon he had orders for six dozen eggs.  Sixty cents!  He decided that he’d better close his booth and go hunt for the eggs.

 

Bear knew just where to go for eggs.  He ran down the road back to the farm.  Then he climbed over the fence and lumbered across the pasture to the barn.

 

Behind the barn was the chicken coop.  It was fenced to keep Fox out, but Bear could stick his long black nose through holes in the chicken wire.

 

“Pardon me!” he called.  “May I please talk to the head chicken of the house?”

 

Red Hen stepped out of the hen house and into the scratching yard.  She was a little surprised to see Bear there, but she puffed up her feathers and strutted up to the fence to talk to him.

 

“May I help you?” Red Hen asked, politely.

 

“I need some eggs,” said Bear.

 

“You do?  How many?” asked Red Hen.

 

“Six dozen,” said Bear proudly.

 

“Six dozen!” cried Red Hen.  “My, that’s a lot of eggs, even for a big fellow like you!”

 

“Oh, they’re not for me, Red Hen,” said Bear, grinning, showing his very large white teeth.  “They’re for my customers.  I sold them!”

 

Red Hen squawked at the sight of all those big teeth, but she bravely stayed by the fence.  She clucked and scratched at the ground.  She was thinking hard. 

 

“How much will you pay me for the eggs?” she asked.

 

Bear blinked.  He had not thought about having to pay for the eggs.  But he supposed it was only fair.  After all, the hens had done all the work, laying the eggs.

 

“I will pay you 10¢,” he said.  He would still have fifty cents left to buy a present for his mother’s birthday.

 

“It’s a deal,” said Red Hen, pleased with the bargain.

 

So Bear found a big wicker basket behind the barn.  Red Hen helped him load all the eggs into the basket.

 

“Careful!” she clucked.

 

Bear walked slowly back down the road.  He held the handle of the basket gently in his large jaws.  He made all of his deliveries, and then set off to find his friend Bull.

 

Bull had also been busy that afternoon.  First he had gone to Ms. Fieldmouse’s store in the hollow of the old willow tree.  He bought 10 big fat juicy lemons, some sugar, some ice, and 10 paper cups.

 

Bull made a big pitcher of ice cold lemonade. Then he set up a table at the end of Trader’s Alley and waited for the animals to come by.  His sign had blue letters.  It said:

 

LemONaDe

5¢ a GlaSs

 

It was a hot day.  After a busy morning shopping, the animals were getting thirsty.  Bull’s lemonade stand was right on their way home.

 

It didn’t take long before Bull had sold every last drop of his lemonade.  He was sitting on the ground, counting his nickels, when Bear walked up.

 

“Hi, Bull!” said Bear.  “Guess what?  I made 50¢ selling eggs today!”

 

Bull slowly finished counting his nickels.  “. . . eight, nine, ten!” he said.  “Bear, how much money is 10 nickels?”

 

Bear, who was better at counting than Bull, thought hard for a moment.  “Well, each nickel is worth five cents, so 10 nickels would be . . . fifty cents!” 

 

Bear grinned at Bull.

 

“We both made 50¢ today!”

 

Bull and Bear were very happy.  The next day they went to Ms. Fieldmouse’s store and bought birthday presents for their mothers. 

 

Bull bought his mother a daisy chain necklace that cost 40¢ and a handkerchief that cost 5¢. 

 

Bear bought his mother a honey pot that cost 45¢.

 

And they each had a nickel left over for a double dip ice cream cone! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author’s Note:  People have always earned money by selling goods and wares, sometimes called commodities.  Long ago, in England during the 1700’s, there was a famous alley in London called Exchange Alley.  Exchange Alley is probably where the phrase, bull and bear market, comes from.

 

In Old London, a “bear” trader was a person who tried to sell a product he did not yet own.  He took orders from his customers, and then hoped to buy the item very cheaply, thus making a profit, or money, when he sold the product.  The name “bear” comes from the old saying: “to sell the bear-skin before catching the bear.”

 

A “bull” did just the opposite.  A “bull” trader bought a large amount of something at a low price, and then hoped to sell it at a high price by creating a demand for the product. 

 

Both of these traders were buying and selling wares on speculation.  They were guessing what the price would be when they bought or sold one of their commodities.  They both tried to make money in the process.

 

Nowadays, you may have heard of the New York Stock Exchange on the news.  Traders on the Stock Exchange buy and sell stocks, creating the stock market.  Sometimes you will hear of a bull or bear market.

 

If more people want to sell stocks than buy them, the stock prices fall, creating a bear market. 

 

If more people want to buy stocks than sell them, the stock prices rise, creating a bull market.