Dead Cat Bounce
Etymology
Wall Street slang from the grim proverb that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from high enough." It was first cited in the financial press in the mid-1980s, describing a short rally in declining Asian markets. The dark humor makes the point stick: the bounce is real motion but not a sign of life.
noun phrase · /DED KAT BOWNS/
A brief, temporary recovery in a falling asset’s price that misleadingly looks like a turnaround before the decline resumes.
What it names
A handle for a specific trap in reading trends: mistaking a small bounce inside a larger collapse for genuine recovery.
Example
The stock ticked up eight percent, but analysts warned it was a dead cat bounce, and by month’s end it had fallen further still.
Related idea
Reading it as recovery is a form of optimism bias meeting pattern-seeking — the desire to see a bottom where there is only a pause.