n. A downward movement in the value of a stock, sector, or the market as a whole; a general sentiment that assumes a stock, sector, or the market will go down over the short or medium term.
2000
Technology, media and telecoms companies were back on the bear tack today after a profit warning from BATM Advanced Communications and another heavy fall for the hi-tech Nasdaq market in the US.
1985 (earliest)
The market may not be going into a bear tack, but it is in a value-for-money phase.
As often happens with stock-related terms, this phrase kept getting older the more I researched it. I eventually traced it back to 1985, which makes it much older than the usual Word Spy fare, but what the heck, it's summer.