It is good comic relief, but let's get something straight: America's stock market is pretty far from the "dead bull" level. Stocks would need to plunge 20% from their peak levels and stay down that much for awhile in order to be considered a true bear market.

We aren't there yet. We aren't even close.

Even after all this selling, the S&P 500 is currently down 12.5% from its all-time high. That's barely enough to qualify for a 10% correction.

Here are the key reasons to remain (at least somewhat) bullish:

1. The U.S. economy isn't on the verge of a recession. Bear markets typically occur when the economy is in or close to a recession, according to Capital Economics.

At the moment, the U.S. economy looks healthy. It's on track to grow about 2% this year, and unemployment is back at the low levels it was at prior to the Great Recession.

That doesn't mean there aren't problems, but America is pretty far from a recession.