Bull market in stocks poised to set record for longest ever

NEW YORK (AP) — The bull market in stocks is poised this week to break the record as the longest in the history of U.S. trading.

If the market doesn’t drop significantly in the three days through Wednesday, the bull market that began in March 2009 will have lasted nine years, five months and 13 days.

It’s a record that few would have predicted when stocks struggled to find their footing after a 50 percent plunge during the financial crisis.

The long rally has added trillions of dollars to the wealth of households that have invested, helping the economy.

Since the rally officially began on March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 index has risen 321 percent. In the 1990s bull market, the current record holder for the longest, stocks rose 417 percent.