A quiet start to 2019 could signal the bull market is still alive

SANTA Claus came late to Wall Street but still managed to pull back the major indexes from the brink of a bear market.

Is last week's rally a temporary or a lasting reprieve for the bull market in stocks that began almost a decade ago?

On the day after Christmas Day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,000 points for the first time ever. The next day, the blue-chip index recorded another historic session, staging one of the biggest comebacks on record as it closed 260 points higher despite being down by more than 600, 90 minutes before the closing bell.