S&P 500: 8 Big Stocks Lose Half Their Value As Bear Looms

Still wondering if a bear market is coming soon for the S&P 500? It’s already here now for a staggering number of big U.S. stocks.

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More than a fifth of the stocks in the S&P 500 are now down 20% or more from their highest closes in the past 52 weeks. That puts more than 100 S&P 500 stocks, including giants like consumer discretionary Penn National Gaming (PENN), communication services ViacomCBS (VIAC) and health care Moderna (MRNA), firmly in grasp of a bear market. A 20% or higher decline from a high is typically what defines a bear.

So if you’re waiting for an S&P 500 bear market, it’s already here if you own the wrong stocks. Eight S&P 500 stocks have even lost more than half their value from their highs. Investors lost $2.4 trillion just this year already, says Wilshire Associates.

“The risk of less fiscal support ahead, combined with the Federal Reserve combating inflation in 2022, could end up tightening financial conditions materially,” said George Goncalves, head of U.S. Macro Strategy at MUFG. “This could ultimately push the economy back to pre-COVID-19 stagnation or worse — end up shortening the business cycle.”

Scanning The Bear’s Ravages On The S&P 500

At a broad level, the S&P 500 isn’t in a correction yet — much less a full-blown bear market. But the pain threshold is already screaming at a surprising large number of individual firms.

Following Tuesday’s selling, the S&P 500 is now down 4.4% from its Jan. 3, 2022, closing high. That might not sound all that bad.

But keep in mind the S&P 500 Growth index, the market’s driving force for years, peaked on Dec. 27 and is now down 8.5% from there. But puts big growth stocks dangerously close to a 10% correction. Even the seemingly unstoppable Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) is down nearly 9% from its Dec. 28 high.

And even that masks just how much pain there is within the S&P 500.

Looking At The Worst Of The S&P 500’s Damage

Already four S&P 500 stocks are down a staggering 60% or more from their highs. But that’s only the start of the hit.

Another eight S&P 500 stocks are down from 40% to 60% from their highs. And an additional 94 are down anywhere from 20% to 40%. That doesn’t even include the 158 S&P 500 stocks that are in a correction, but not a bear market yet, as they’re down between 10% and 20%.

All these statistics, too, somewhat cover how badly some investors are hurting. A number of S&P 500 stocks swept up in the “meme” mania are especially pummeled. Shares of gambling company Penn National Gaming are now down a crushing 70% from their high on March 15, 2021. The stock is down nearly 18%, just this year. Should you buy Penn National stock now?

S&P 500 … To The Moon?

And ViacomCBS, which fans thought would “go to the moon,” is headed the other way now. Shares are off more than 65% from their 52-week high notched on March 15 as well. And that’s after gaining nearly 17% this year.

Even some rock-solid, fast-growing companies are getting hit in the sell-off. Moderna, maker of one of the world’s premier Covid-19 vaccines lost more than a quarter of its value this year. That means investors are down more than 62% from the S&P 500’s 52-week high on Aug. 10, 2021.

S&P 500 investors might hope a full-fledged bear market isn’t coming. But for many, the damage is already done.

The Bear Is Here For These S&P 500 Stocks

S&P 500 stocks down 50% or more from their 52-week highs

 Sources: IBD, S&P Global Market Intelligence

Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz

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