A “Perma Bear” Walks Into A Bull Market… I’m Guilty
Why Being Called a “Perma Bear” Is the Best Compliment I Could Get
The other night, my family and I went out for dinner, and one of the kids had a little magnet drawing board to play with. My son and I like to draw scenes where we each draw one thing at a time and pass it back and forth.
The picture, once completed, looked like a doom-and-gloom image, so I thought I would share it here for fun since everyone is calling me a Perma-Bear. Perhaps this image my son and I drew represents some of how that adventure felt from a negative perspective.
I recently hiked Kilimanjaro with my best friend, Dany, which is the world’s tallest free-standing mountain and volcano, the reason for the scary-looking mountain in the image.
Flipping the Negative into a Positive
If you follow my free videos on YouTube, you’ve probably seen these types of comments for followers:
“Every day is the turning point for this guy.”
“Permanent bear Vermeulen is back”
“Gonna get wrecked if you listen to him.”
Some people throw these around as criticism. But to me — and to my members — it’s a badge of honor.
Because what they call “perma bearish” is actually paying attention to risk, having an exit plan, and being ready for the next major downturn that could wipe out years (or decades) of gains for unprepared investors.
And here’s the irony…
Even when I sound bearish, my trades can be fully long and making money — because I follow price and confirmed trends, not my opinions.
In fact, some of the harshest “permabear” comments may actually come from a place of frustration. It’s not easy watching someone you’ve labeled bearish ride the market higher while you sold too early and are sitting on the sidelines, missing the rally, or worse — bought inverse ETFs or put options and have bet against a rising market. That’s when FOMO and resentment can kick in.
The truth is, my cautious tone is never meant to keep you out of a strong trend. It’s meant to keep you prepared for when the market inevitably turns — while still taking full advantage of the upside in the meantime. I actually shared a very emotional post and about my free market analysis and how a follower lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Why the Bearish Tone Exists
I’ve been where most overconfident investors will eventually end up — broke and blindsided.
20+ years ago, I blew up three trading accounts. One of them, I lost everything I had in one day from revenge trading futures. My parents went bankrupt in my twenties, and it was hard on the family. We went from living in an 11,000 sq/ft house with fishing and wakeboarding ponds on our property, a squash court in our basement, my own paintball field, and I was even competing in horse jumping as a sponsored rider… to losing it all.
It was a painful, humiliating, and expensive lesson: The market doesn’t care about your confidence, your opinions, or your gut feelings, and one bad decision can ruin your financial status, lifestyle, and psyche.
I became a pilot at the age of 16 — and learned the power of following checklists, systems, and routines to make life and investing more predictable and safer. I now live by rules and systems in almost everything I do.
Now, I treat investing the same way I treat flying: always plan for worst-case scenarios, because once you’re in one, it’s too late to start thinking about what to do. On a side note, I just got a remote control de Havilland Beaver seaplane to play with on the calm mornings and evenings on my dock. I’m with my best man from my wedding, Jesse, with whom I grew up building and flying model nitro-powered planes together, but we are both licensed pilots as well. More on this in another post!
The Reality: I’m Bearish in Tone, Bullish in Profits
I often have a bearish view on stocks when the stock market is in what I call a Stage 3 topping phase. But I’m generally bullish or long stocks, commodities, currencies, or bonds as long as the technicals are strong and the price is trending higher.
I might say I think the market is topping…
…but if price is trending up, we’re long and making money.
This year alone:
- Exited stocks Feb 26th — avoided a 19.32% drop.
- Profited while the market fell in March/April.
- Re-entered May 2nd — closed the last portion of QQQ for a 15%+ gain.
That’s not “permabear trading.” That’s trend-following with risk management.
Why So Many Misunderstand It
Most free followers…
- Hear the tone and assume it’s the position.
- Don’t listen and watch closely enough to see what I’m actually doing.
- Ignore that my “bearishness” is simply mental preparation for when the market finally turns.
They think in binary: bullish or bearish. I think in contingencies:
- “If the trend stays up, we stay long.”
- “If price confirms a reversal, we get out early.”
- “If the market crashes, our risk protection rules kick in and we own something that profits while stocks fall.”
This mindset is what keeps members’ accounts safe — and growing — through bull markets, bear markets, and everything in between.
The 4 Reasons Being “Perma Bearish” Protects You
- We Pay Attention to Risk of Loss
Most investors are obsessed with returns. We focus on risk first — because avoiding major drawdowns is the key to long-term compounding. - We Have an Exit Plan
Hope is not a strategy. Every trade has a defined exit, so we never “ride it down” hoping for a rebound. - We Profit From Falling Markets
When others are in shock watching their retirement accounts shrink, we’re positioned to grow. - We Still Follow Price, Not Opinions
My personal belief that the market may be topping doesn’t override what the charts are telling us. If the price is bullish, we stay bullish. Period.
For Paid Members – Why This Is Your Advantage
If you’re reading this as a member of my Asset Revesting newsletter called ACS (Adaptive Compounding Strategy), you know these benefits already:
- You get the real-time trade alerts that match the actual trend — not just my thoughts.
- You’re protected from emotional decisions because we have predefined plans.
- You’ve seen firsthand how our “bearish mindset” saved us from big drops — and even turned them into gains.
For Free Followers – Why You’re Missing the Point
If you only watch my free videos, you’re getting my market thoughts without my trade actions.
That’s like hearing a weather forecaster say, “Storms are possible,” but never finding out whether the planes took off or stayed grounded.
The bearish tone is your warning to get a plan in place before the next financial reset.
If you wait until it’s obvious… It’s already too late.
Concluding Thoughts:
Call me a permabear if you want. I’ll take it as a compliment.
Because my job isn’t to make you feel good about staying long until your account gets crushed. My job is to:
- Keep you thinking about risk.
- Get you out before major damage.
- Position you to profit no matter what direction the market takes.
And that’s exactly what we do here, year after year.
Chris Vermeulen
Chief Investment Officer
TheTechnicalTraders.com
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