While New York is the locale for the most famous stock exchange in the world, Chicago is best known for being the locale for the Mercantile and Options exchanges. Chicago’s pride in its markets is reflected in its pro sports teams: The NBA Chicago Bulls and NFL Chicago Bears, synonymous with the aggressive Bull and Bear markets.
Maintaining the animal symbolism, a passive and flat market with low volume going neither up or down is sometimes characterized as a deer market. The analogy of passivity and hesitation akin to a deer caught in the headlights is the source of the description.
If the market trades a lot of volume but basically stays at the same average number, would it be called a hamster market, since it goes on the wheel but never gets anywhere?