Regardless of whether you're a Wall Street professional or everyday investor, 2022 has been a historically challenging year. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), which is often viewed as the barometer of the stock market's health, turned in its worst first-half return since 1970. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) plunged as much as 34% below its mid-November high. In other words, both widely followed indexes firmly entered a bear market.

These declines come on the heels of back-to-back quarterly retracements in U.S. gross domestic product, as well as a knock-your-socks-off 9.1% inflation rate in June 2022. That's the highest inflation reading in a little more than four decades.

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Source Fool.com