Monday's selloff was followed by a big Tuesday bounce. Before the market opened, the announcement of a modest month-over-month gain in December Retail Sales was enough to beat economists low expectations. The S&P 500 opened at it 0.12% intraday low and rallied throughout the day to its 1.08% gain for the day, just fractionally off its 1.10% intraday high about 15 minutes before the bell.

Today's gain was the largest since the 1.66% surge on December 18th. It erased about 85% of yesterday's loss.

Here is a 10-minute look at the week so far.

The yield on the 10-year note dropped 7 bps to 2.77%, now well off the 3.04% interim high at the end of 2013.

Volume on today's advance was 10% above the 50-day moving average; that's a tad lower than yesterday's 17% above the MA.

The S&P 500 is now down 0.51% since its all-time high at the end of 2013.

Here is a longer perspective, starting with the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.

Click for a larger image

Click for a larger image

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here's a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.