What is the stock market graveyard?

A stock market becomes graveyard market when stock prices go down for a long period resulting in little trading, according to Investopedia. In a graveyard stock market, existing shareholders hold on to their stock because they do not want to take losses, and investors shun the market until it improves.

Examples of graveyard market are the 2001 to 2002 "tech wreck" and 2008 to 2009 bear market and the global credit crisis that followed, according to Investopedia. Both of these periods brought bellwether technology stock prices to low levels. While many potential investors showed little interest, others did invest during this time and made significant gains on the stocks in later years.