[bank of America strategists: us stock bear market ends bull market still has room to rise] on June 10, the S & P 500 index entered a technical bull market on Thursday, closing 20% higher than its October low. Bank of America strategists believe that the bear market that has plagued US stocks for nearly a year is over. "the bear market is officially over," Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategist Savita Subramanian and others said in a report on Friday. The bank points out that after rising 20% from the bottom, the s & p 500 continued to rise for 92% of the next 12 months, according to data since the 1950s.