A "Bear Trap", is a technical pattern that occurs when the price action of a stock, index, or another financial instrument incorrectly signals a reversal from a downward trend to an upward trend. A technical analyst might say that institutional traders try to create bear traps as a way of tempting retail investors to take long positions. If the institutional trader is successful, and the price moves higher briefly, it gives the institutional traders the ability to unload larger positions of stock that would otherwise push prices much lower.