An ugly start to 2022 has forced investors to reckon with the dreaded "C" word.
That's right: One of the three major indexes is officially in a correction, or a decline of at least 10% from its most recent peak. And so it's only natural if investors are antsy, anxious and praying for the bloodletting to end.
For the record, we are not in a marketwide correction. At least not yet. Only the Nasdaq Composite is. As of Jan. 21, the tech-heavy index had fallen 14.3% from its closing peak of 16,057.44 set on Nov. 19.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average aren't in a correction. But these two benchmarks for U.S. equity performance started off 2022 with a thud, off 8.3% and 6.9%, respectively, from their early January peaks. That's too close for comfort for plenty of investors, and represents a rather nasty and abrupt turn of events.