Your phone notifications are buzzing with push alerts like, “S&P enters bear market territory,” and “Investors brace for bear market losses.” While you pickup on the vague sense of panic, do you know what a bear market is and what it means for you as a truck stop, gas station, or convenience store owner.

Financial Fuel Services is motivated to educate you about what’s going on in the market, how you can stay prepared, and how you can continue to grow your truck stop franchises during this frantic time. Read on to learn more.

What is a Bear Market?

When investment prices drop 20% or more from their most recent high, we’ve entered into a bear market. That percentage loss might seem relatively insignificant to someone regularly riding the boom and bust cycle of oil prices. However, for financial markets, they are harder to climb out of. Bear markets typically last about a year.

CNBC reports that America has endured 14 bear markets since World War II with the S&P losing an average of 30 percent. While that doesn’t specifically cause a recession, it does frequently forecast recession. According to Business Insider, only once has a bear market not been followed by recession: the 1987 stock market crash.

What Happened in June 2022 and What to Expect Moving Forward

In mid-June 2022, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 had significant enough losses to meet this criteria. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped, but hasn’t quite reached bear market territory yet.
In the upcoming weeks, investors are going to be more cautious. People may liquidate their assets. Companies will lose value, at least temporarily.

What’s Bad for Them Could Mean Opportunity for You

As a business owner in the petroleum and trucking industry, this has the potential to be a great time for you.

Consumer staples become the focus during a bear market, which means the trucking industry stays busy shipping goods.

Some truck stop and franchise owners will be over-leveraged or in financial distress. As long as your franchise is financially stable, you have the savings and line of credit, you can pick up more truck stop locations at a cheaper cost.

Other truck stop owners and franchisees may want to keep their locations running, but could want to sell off parts of their business, such equipment, at a lower cost.

Ultimately, bear markets are great for bargain hunting and business growth.

Don’t Get Mauled. Schedule Your Consultation with Financial Fuel Services Today.

If your business has the stability and capital to expand, schedule a consultation with the Financial Fuel Services team today. We can help you navigate the expansion of your gas stations, truck stops, and convenience stores while saving you money on costly financial processing fees.