Stock ETFs are back near their lows for the year as a plethora of fears haunt investors. The S&P 500 closed at 4,175 on Tuesday, down 13% from its January highs and equal to its lows from March.
Meanwhile, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT), a fund that holds large positions in all-important stocks like Apple and Microsoft, closed at $364, a hair below its March lows and down a sizable 22% from its January highs.
Along with persistent inflation and interest rate concerns, investors have had to deal with worries about COVID-related lockdowns in China; Russia cutting off natural gas exports to parts of Europe; and slowing corporate earnings growth.
Now the index is back in correction territory, causing investors to wonder if the index will break down to new lows and potentially enter a bear market:
S&P 500
VGT
A drop of 20% or more from the highs is widely regarded as the threshold for a bear market. The S&P 500 would have to fall to around 3,840 to get there. The tech sector, as measured by VGT, is already down more than 20% from its highs, though the threshold is less meaningful for individual sectors and stocks.
Focus Shifts To Earnings
While interest rates will remain critical until the Fed can get a better handle on inflation, the focus on rates lessened slightly this week as yields pulled back from their highs. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was last trading at 2.79% versus a high of around 2.95% a week ago.
In the meantime, investors are shifting their attention to earnings. In the first quarter of this year, profits at firms in the S&P 500 were expected to have grown at their slowest pace since the fourth quarter of 2020.
That’s not unexpected, but it’s another head wind stocks have to deal with in an already tough macro environment. If the S&P 500 can avoid falling into a bear market with everything that is working against it, there’s no doubt many investors would consider that an accomplishment.
Already In A Bear
But the broad market is one thing; individual sectors and industries are another. One area where a bear market is already fully in swing is in…
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