U.S. Stocks Record Worst 1st Half In 52 Years

The S&P 500 had its worst first half in more than 50 years, falling 20.6 percent in the first six months of 2022, and Wall Street had a disastrous second quarter and first half of the year.

Photo Insert: The good news is that the market has always recovered after a terrible performance...eventually. The bad news is that when markets fall by this much, the quarter that follows isn't always great.

Nicole Goodkind reported for CNN Business on July 1, 2022 that all three major indices concluded the month and quarter in the red.

The S&P 500 had its worst half-year performance since 1970, the Dow had its biggest first-half drop since 1962, and the Nasdaq had its highest percentage decrease ever. The three indices have fallen for the second quarter in a row.

This year, markets have been roiled by a number of unfavorable headwinds, including Russia's war in Ukraine, COVID-19 lockdowns in China, increasing inflation, and aggressive Fed rate hikes. All of these issues have heightened investor concerns about a recession, prompting a rush to the exits.

The S&P 500 has lost $8.2 trillion in total dollars since the start of the year and had its worst June since 2008 and worst quarter since 1970, with all 11 sectors in the red, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. In a nutshell, things are looking bleak.

But that doesn't imply they'll stay that way. The good news is that the market has always recovered after a terrible performance...eventually.

Historically, there is minimal association between the S&P 500's performance in the first and second halves of the year. According to S&P Dow Jones Indices data, the S&P 500 fell 21% in the first half of 1970, but rallied to gain 27% in the second half.

The bad news is that when markets fall by this much, the quarter that follows isn't always great.

According to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, during the last three worst starts for the year, with declines of 5% or more, the S&P 500 fell in Q3 by an additional 6.8%, 2.2%, and 2.1% respectively.

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