There is a debate raging on Wall Street about the official status of the stock market. In June 2022, the benchmark S&P 500 index closed 20% below its all-time high, which marked the beginning of a technical bear market. That much was agreed upon, and the market continued to slide until October 2022.

But the index has bounced back this year, and it was recently up more than 20% from that October low point. Bank of America was quick to declare the beginning of a new bull market, but other market professionals contend that the S&P 500 needs to hit a new all-time high before it earns that official status.

But everyday investors shouldn't be worried, because one way or another, history shows the stock market always returns to new highs given enough time. With that said, many stocks are still trading at significant discounts to their best-ever levels, and that might be an opportunity to buy before the next bull market does start (whenever that might be).

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Source Fool.com