“Up a staircase, down an elevator” means that a market rises slowly (stairs) and falls quickly (elevator). The saying has been cited in print since at least 2007.
 
A similar saying is: “The bull walks up the stairs and the bear jumps out the window.”
       
 
Argentina Private
Hunt99
03-02-07, 21:45
Remember, stocks go up a staircase, but tend to go down an elevator. Downtrends tend to be shorter and sharper than uptrends.
   
Kiplinger Personal Finance (May 2007)
Going Long: What’s behind the SELLOFF
By Jeremy J. Siegel
Up a staircase, down an elevator. This is an old Wall Street expression for what happens when a steady climb in the stock market ends.
 
Money Marketing
Staircase to heaven
By James Abate
29 March 2010
An old Wall Street saying is “Up a staircase, down an elevator”. Clearly, 2008 and the first months of 2009 was as down an elevator experience as that last seen during the Great Depression.