What a difference a year can make.

In 2021, the stock market couldn't be stopped, with the benchmark S&P 500 enduring no worse than a 5% correction. But in 2022, growth stocks collapsed under the weight of rapidly rising interest rates and dragged all three major U.S. stock indexes into a bear market. The growth-focused Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 -- an index comprised of the 100 largest nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange -- were hit the hardest.

If there's a silver lining to the pain investors have endured since 2022 began, it's that time heals all wounds on Wall Street. More specifically, every bear market decline throughout history in the major indexes (which can also include the Nasdaq 100) has eventually been put into the rearview mirror by a bull market. It makes every big drop in the major indexes a buying opportunity for patient investors.

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Source Fool.com