🐻 Historical origin of the term “BEAR”

In early 18th-century England, traders began using the term “bear” to describe people who sold assets they didn’t yet own, hoping to buy them later at a lower price.
📜 The proverb behind it:
“Don’t sell the bear’s skin before you’ve caught the bear.”
Meaning: don’t promise or sell something you don’t yet have.
👉 In financial terms, “bearskin jobbers” were:
Selling contracts for goods (like bear skins) before owning them.
Betting the price would fall, so they could later BUY cheaper and profit.