When President Trump entered his first term, stocks were steadily marching upward. This time, the trajectory has inverted.

The 10% trigger for a correction is an arbitrary, round-number threshold. But it serves as a signal that investors have turned pointedly more pessimistic about the market.

As shown above, the S&P 500 in the last 15 years has returned an average of 18% during the year following its first close in correction territory. While not shown in the chart, the S&P 500 has also returned a median of 18% under the same conditions,

This past Tuesday marked the five-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a “pandemic.” Following the news, investors panicked and the markets crashed.