Defining whether a price drop is the beginning of a bear market is quite risky at the start of the trend. Especially because you could only be on the presence of a market correction.
When the price of a security, or an entire index, falls around 10% on a given period it is considered as a correction. It isn’t uncommon to see a few corrections over the years. They are somewhat normal, and, in some cases, they can be predicted. However, is a complicated task.
A market correction occurs when investors start to feel that the price of a security might be overperforming expectations. This leads to a sell-off and a subsequent price drop.
More experienced, and riskier, investors look to market corrections as a good opportunity to purchase securities. In conclusion, you should pay attention to price variation. Not all falls or rises mean we are on the presence of a trend.