Adam Shell

USA TODAY

The bull market that has defied expectations — and vocal critics — since its birth March 9, 2009, is hitting its stride again and is within striking distance of two fresh milestones.

If you recall, the bull celebrated its 7th birthday on March 9, but Wall Street historians reminded everyone that for the bull market to officially mark seven years in the history books it would need to take out and close above its all-time closing high of 2130.82 on May 21, 2015. The reason? Even though the bull is not officially over (the market would have to crater 20% to kill it), the May 2015 peak close measures just 6 years, 2 months in bull years.

And that brings us back to the present rally on Wall Street, which has been fueled by a sharp rebound in oil prices, an unexpectedly less aggressive Federal Reserve and an American economy that continues to chug along and defy so-called recessionistas.

After Wednesday’s 21-point, 1% surge, to 2083, the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index has climbed within 2.3 percentage points of a new closing high. And if it can take out that previous record, the now 85-month old bull is just a few weeks away from eclipsing the 85.6-month bull that ended in August 1956 and become the second-longest bull market in history.

In pre-market trading Thursday the S&P 500 was down less than one point and virtually unchanged.

The granddaddy of all bull markets, of course, began in October 1990 and ended in March 2000, pushing the index up 417% before the dot-com stock bust brought the market tumbling down. At its peak last May, the current bull was up 215%.