What Is a Bull Trap? A bull trap is a false signal, referring to a declining trend in a stock, index, or other security that reverses after a convincing rally and breaks a prior support level. The move "traps" traders or investors that acted on the buy signal and generates losses on resulting long positions. A bull trap may also refer to a whipsaw pattern.
The opposite of a bull trap is a bear trap, which occurs when sellers fail to press a decline below a breakdown level.