Don't worry. The bull market in stocks will revive, some day

— -- Q: I continue to be a long-term bull. Am I full of bull?

A: Wow. There's actually a bull left?

Kidding aside, it's been a pretty lonely time for investors who actually believe the stock market can go up. Major stock market indexes continue to erase years of gains. For anyone with any money in the market, such as a 401(k), it's pretty hard to take.

This bear market has ravaged just about everyone's portfolios. There have been few places to hide, as you can read about here.

Will the market come back? History suggests that it will, but it could try your patience. Even after the crushing losses of the 1970s, including a 14.7% loss in 1973 and 26.5% in 1974, the market revived. Those losses were followed by a 37.2% gain in 1975 and 23.8% rise in 1976. And while stocks fell 43.3% in 1931, they rallied 54% in 1933 and 47.7% in 1935.

Does this mean you can expect the market to recover this year or in 2010? Certainly not. And in this uncertain time, it might be a good opportunity to revisit your asset allocation — that is, how your investments are diversified among stocks, bonds and cash or money market accounts — and make sure you're comfortable with the level of risk you've taken.

Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Click here to see previous Ask Matt columns.