A “deer market” is neither a “bull market” (a rising market) or a “bear market” (a falling market). Investors in a deer market are perplexed about which way the market will go, acting transfixed like the familiar “deer in the headlights.”
   
The term “deer market” has been cited in print since at least October 2000, although this citation might be unrelated to the development of the term. The Dallas (TX) Business Journal published the article “The economy: bear, bull or deer?” by Stephen Konstans on February 23, 2003. Dallas financial advisor John Pollock claimed in December 2010 that he coined the term “deer market,” but this hasn’t been verified. Other sources (see the June 2007 citation below) have credited Chinese investors with “deer market.”
 
     
Investopedia
What Does Deer Market Mean?
A flat market. Neither a bull or bear market, a deer market is characterized by low activity, with timid investors waiting for a sign of which way the market is going to end up moving.
 
Dallas Financial Advisor John Pollock
At my retirement planning firm, I’ve coined a term for a third kind of market.  I call it the “Deer” market.  In a deer market, investors aren’t sure what’s going to happen next – so they get paralyzed into inaction, like a deer transfixed by the headlights of an oncoming truck.  The results of a deer market are predictable, and are never pretty.  Nobody wants to move – they don’t know if they should buy or sell.  Here’s the idea I want you to get: getting paralyzed while you’re in a bad situation is bad news.  Getting trapped with a weak portfolio in an unpredictable market is dangerous.
     
Google Groups: misc.invest.stocks
Newsgroups: misc.invest.stocks
From: oneHandle

Date: 2000/10/18
Subject: Re: What’s The Market Telling Us Now?
 
It’s a deer market… run at the first sound, or freeze until it’s over 😉
 
Dallas (TX) Business Journal
The economy: bear, bull or deer?
Business leaders are acting like deer caught in headlights
Dallas Business Journal - by Stephen Konstans
Date: Sunday, February 23, 2003, 11:00pm CST.
Today’s economic environment is a rollercoaster few enjoy. Instead of a bear market or a bull market, what we’re seeing today with employment and the overall economy is a “deer” market.
 
A deer market is one where many business leaders act like deer caught in headlights. Like deer, these leaders stare blankly into the headlights unable or unwilling to move. So, why are the headlights freezing business leaders? Uncertainty.
 
Investors Hub
WHIPSPLASH
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 10:01:26 AM
Deer Market - A flat market. Neither a bull or bear market, a deer market is characterized by low activity, with timid investors waiting for a sign of which way the market is going to end up moving.
The term is used to illustrate when investors who are unable or unwilling to move due to uncertainty - like deer who freeze when “caught in the headlights” of a vehicle.
 
SmartMoney
Ahead of the Curve by Donald Luskin
Published June 8, 2007
The Consensus Has Finally Shifted on Interest-Rate Cuts
THERE ARE TWO new animals in the zoo that investors need to be aware of.
First there’s an exotic species that has been discovered in China.
 
You know what a bull market is. You know what a bear market is. Now there’s a “deer market.” That’s what Chinese investors are calling the Shanghai stock market — a market that’s so volatile it’s like a panicked deer dashing helter-skelter through the forest to avoid a predator.
   
Google Books
Financial Words You Should Know:
Over 1,000 essential investment, accounting, real estate and tax words
By Michele Cagan and P. T. Shank
Avon, MA: Adams Media Corp,
2009
Pg. 73:
Deer market
A period of time characterized by lack of investment activity, due to wary, overly cautious investors employing “wait and see” strategies.
 
FeedtheBull
What Does Deer Market Mean?
Submitted by moneymaker on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 23:41.
Posted Answers
Submitted by moneymaker on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 23:43.
A:A flat market. Neither a bull or bear market, a deer market is characterized by low activity, with timid investors waiting for a sign of which way the market is going to end up moving - like deer who freeze when “caught in the headlights” of a vehicle.