Idiom
dead cat bounce
Meaning
A temporary recovery in the price of a financial instrument which has fallen rapidly and is expected to fall further in the long run.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The stock price rose slightly, but it was just a dead cat bounce.”
“Do not buy these shares now because this recovery is a dead cat bounce.”
“Investors were fooled by the brief price increase, failing to realize it was merely a dead cat bounce before the market crashed again.”
“Experts warned that the small gain in the company's value was a dead cat bounce caused by short-term traders rather than real growth.”
“Market analysts cautioned that the sudden recovery in share prices was likely a dead cat bounce, as the underlying economic fundamentals remained fundamentally broken.”
Examples
simple
“The stock price rose slightly, but it was just a dead cat bounce.”
“Do not buy these shares now because this recovery is a dead cat bounce.”
contextual
“Investors were fooled by the brief price increase, failing to realize it was merely a dead cat bounce before the market crashed again.”
“Experts warned that the small gain in the company's value was a dead cat bounce caused by short-term traders rather than real growth.”
complex
“Market analysts cautioned that the sudden recovery in share prices was likely a dead cat bounce, as the underlying economic fundamentals remained fundamentally broken.”
Origin
The term draws upon the physical observation that a feline dropped from a sufficient height may exhibit a brief, kinetic recoil upon impact without this indicating any return to vitality. In financial contexts, it suggests that even a deceased animal will bounce if the fall is long enough, though the subsequent lack of movement remains the more pertinent condition.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated