Even after the recent pain in the stock market, the S&P 500 Index is down only 3% in 2018 (excluding dividends). That’s not so bad when you consider the benchmark index rose 19% in 2017.
Still, more than half of the stocks in the index are in bear-market territory, showing how broad the decline has been.
A correction is typically defined as a 10% drop for a stock or an index from a recent peak, while a bear market is a 20%-plus decrease. Data supplied by FactSet show that 264 (53%) of S&P 500 SPX, -0.78% companies are in bear markets.
Most broad indices in correction territory
Here’s where the broad indices were as of the close on Dec. 14, when compared with their 52-week intraday highs:
| Index | Decline from 52-week intraday high |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.84% | -10.6% |
| Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.11% | -15.0% |
| S&P 500 Index SPX, -0.78% | -11.6% |
| S&P 400 Mid Cap Index MID, -0.14% | -15.6% |
| S&P 600 Small Cap Index SML, -0.64% | -20.2% |
| S&P Composite 1500 Index | -11.8% |
| Source: FactSet | |
So all of these broad indices were in correction territory as of the close on Dec. 14, except for the S&P 600 Small Cap SML, -0.64% which was in bear territory.
Digging further
For the broad S&P indices, here’s the percentage of stocks in all the above indices in correction and bear territory as of the close on Dec. 14, as well as those that are down at least 50% from 52-week intraday highs:
| Index | Share of stocks down at least 10% | Share of stocks down at least 20% | Share of stocks down at least 50% |
| S&P 500 IndexSPX, -0.78% | 77% | 53% | 3% |
| S&P 400 Mid Cap IndexMID, -0.14% | 86% | 68% | 10% |
| S&P 600 Small Cap Index SML, -0.64% | 92% | 73% | 18% |
| S&P Composite 1500 Index | 85% | 65% | 11% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
S&P 500 breakdowns
Here’s how the 11 S&P 500 sectors stood compared with their 52-week intraday highs as of the close Dec. 14:
| S&P 500 Sector | Decline from 52-week high |
| Energy | -21.3% |
| Materials | -20.4% |
| Financials | -20.1% |
| Industrials | -17.3% |
| Information Technology | -15.3% |
| Communication Services | -14.6% |
| Consumer Discretionary | -14.0% |
| Consumer Staples | -8.2% |
| Health Care | -7.3% |
| Real Estate | -3.2% |
| Utilities | -0.3% |
| Source: FactSet | |
It is fascinating to see the utilities sector faring so well this year.
Worst decliners from 52-week highs
Here are the 16 S&P 500 stocks that were down at least 50% from their 52-week intraday highs through Dec. 14:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Decline from 52-week high | Market capitalization ($mil) |
| Nektar Therapeutics | NKTR, +1.42% | Biotechnology | -67% | $6,319 |
| Coty Inc. Class A | COTY, +0.41% | Household/Personal Care | -66% | $5,490 |
| Western Digital Corp. | WDC, -0.02% | Computer Peripherals | -64% | $11,224 |
| General Electric Co. | GE, -0.11% | Industrial Conglomerates | -63% | $61,757 |
| Mohawk Industries Inc. | MHK, +0.34% | Home Furnishings | -59% | $8,680 |
| Newfield Exploration Co. | NFX, -0.87% | Oil & Gas Production | -58% | $2,945 |
| Affiliated Managers Group Inc. | AMG, +0.23% | Investment Managers | -56% | $5,031 |
| Invesco Ltd. | IVZ, +0.46% | Investment Managers | -56% | $6,972 |
| IPG Photonics Corp. | IPGP, -1.94% | Electronic Equipment/Instruments | -55% | $6,301 |
| Brighthouse Financial Inc. | BHF, -1.04% | Life/Health Insurance | -53% | $3,787 |
| PG&E Corp. | PCG, -1.67% | Electric Utilities | -52% | $13,491 |
| Schlumberger NV | SLB, +0.02% | Oilfield Services/Equipment | -51% | $54,146 |
| L Brands Inc. | LB, +0.61% | Apparel/Footwear Retail | -51% | $8,482 |
| Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. | US:KORS | Apparel/Footwear Retail | -50% | $5,700 |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA, -0.38% | Semiconductors | -50% | $89,335 |
| Halliburton Co. | HAL, -0.13% | Oilfield Services/Equipment | -50% | $25,405 |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
You can click the tickers for more about each company, including news, charts, estimates, financials and ratings.
Biggest bears
The S&P indices are weighted by market capitalization, which explains why the FAANG stocks — Facebook FB, -0.05% Amazon.com AMZN, -0.27% AppleAAPL, -0.24% Netflix NFLX, -0.26% and Google holding company AlphabetGOOG, -0.13% GOOGL, -0.17% — have been so important during the long bull market. All were in bear markets through Dec. 14, except for Alphabet. The company’s class A shares were down 19% from their 52-week intraday high, while the class C shares were down 18%.
Here are the 15 largest S&P 500 companies by market capitalization that were in bear territory as of the close Dec. 14:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Decline from 52-week high | Market capitalization ($mil) |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, -0.24% | Telecommunications Equipment | -29% | $785,268 |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN, -0.27% | Internet Retail | -22% | $778,395 |
| Facebook Inc. Class A | FB, -0.05% | Internet Software/Services | -34% | $346,099 |
| Bank of America Corp | BAC, -0.17% | Major Banks | -26% | $240,252 |
| AT&T Inc. | T, -0.13% | Major Telecommunications | -23% | $219,941 |
| Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC, -0.20% | Major Banks | -30% | $219,075 |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD, -0.23% | Home Improvement Chains | -20% | $194,606 |
| Citigroup Inc. | C, +0.19% | Financial Conglomerates | -32% | $134,366 |
| AbbVie Inc. | ABBV, -0.31% | Pharmaceuticals: Major | -32% | $128,776 |
| Philip Morris International Inc. | PM, +0.07% | Tobacco | -26% | $128,248 |
| DowDuPont Inc. | DWDP, +0.64% | Chemicals: Major Diversified | -32% | $121,090 |
| Netflix Inc. | NFLX, -0.26% | Cable/Satellite TV | -37% | $116,365 |
| 3M Co. | MMM, -0.31% | Industrial Conglomerates | -25% | $114,186 |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM, -0.11% | Information Technology Services | -30% | $108,964 |
| Altria Group Inc | MO, +0.33% | Tobacco | -29% | $99,082 |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
By
PHILIP VAN DOORN
