Stocks being punished for excess 'price' levels (overstated expectations or diminished forward guidance), are primarily mega-caps and/or susceptible to a prolonged supply-chain disruption, mostly due to China's COVID lockdowns.

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Some compare this decline to the 'dot.com' collapse I had projected in late '99 to occur by Spring of 2000. However it differs considerably, given the smaller or recent IPO/SPAC types had collapsed progressively for over a year or so at the same time the big-caps were 'masking' that distribution.

Hence that reduces the ability to get a concurrent 'whoosh' wipe-out, with small stocks still in 'intensive care' at low levels, while the mega-caps rotate lower in a more dramatic way. A low point is what should be on trader's minds forward, even though so long as this is a 'process' rather than an event, it takes time.

Of course the 'rear-view' mirror CPI was strong, and reaction accordingly, as well as the rebound efforts thereafter. Nothing is really resolved however. In fact, St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard today said 'inflation is broader and more persistent than many thought, and thus, in order to keep inflation under control the Fed has a plan in place'. Really? He figured that out now, and the use of the word 'keep' inflation under control is sort of an oxymoronic word that I'm sure he didn't mean in the context expressed in an interview today. I'm flustered these guys finally figured out not only that they were behind the curve for so long, but only now come to grips with what they have wrought of course beyond the initial wage-demand push inflation and then Russia's war. So much for their excessive stimulus so as to 'get' inflation up to 2%. Geez.

Many leading 'mega-stocks' (including Apple, Microsoft, Google and others) are below key so-called 'support' levels. But in 'bear markets' supports exist to be broken, and usually are in a risk-averse backdrop moving towards a low or series of lows, as that's what happens when in a process, not singular plunge.

Psychologically I suppose Amazon (which we were negative on along with a few others like shares of Disney and Boeing probably for over a year, and even Tesla can be thrown into the negative leanings because of competitive reasons evolving)... Amazon especially was the poster-child of the online and pandemic 'boom' and the most recent break followed the CEO admitting they had 'overbuilt' for the level of business they foresee near-term. Of course lack of supplies from China etc. contributed to their pressures and even margins.

It is different than the others but can be a marker for where things stand. Also there is the continued insanity of Fed-heads that thing the Fed can overwhelm inflation and must keep higher rate pressures to break prices. Again, myopic in a sense, since so much of the latter phases relate to supply not demand, a contingency the Fed can't do much about, though they barely give lip-service to that reality. Similarly wages and somewhat higher Oil prices are ingrained at this point, almost regardless of whether we get a cessation of Russia's war against Ukraine. However, you will see Oil retreat somewhat if we do and that alone would do more to ease excessive inflation than what the Fed is trying.

The point of this is: while the vicious bear market gets all the attention now, it is not 'new' and only a 'new experience' for the major mutual funds and hedge crowd that have been hiding in so-called defensive big stocks which now feel the brunt of the volatility. That does contribute to erosion (absence of bids) for most small stocks, so really that leaves everyone in sort of 'shock', even those who adjusted portfolios over the past year anticipating the 'stealth bear market process', which has been going on so long that one would anticipate its end.

And therein lies the rub, not so much for the smaller stocks (at least those that have sufficient money or credit lines to get through this tough time that lots of officials pretend is still prosperity), but for the new Generation that only knows of what 'bear markets' can do from history or old charts. The 20% misnomer's a joke of course, since few stocks are down 'only' by around that, given most are off 40-50% with total speculators in the pandemic theme stocks or 'crypto' totally crushed. (I've argued for months that Bitcoin and crypto were not at all hedges, but generally would track the S&P's direction or just as speculations.)

This matters because a lot of so-called 'smart money' (hedge funds primarily) for some reason succumbed to the crypto-propaganda, and got creamed in a proportional buy of everything from Bitcoin, Coinbase to Etherium, and lots of other 'unstable' coin speculations. Tens of Billions of fund redemptions are and will be related to 'coin metric' collapses, indirectly pressuring other areas as funds have to be raised to compensate those who were in 'crazy' coins. I'd noted that the more 'regulatory' involvement by governments appeared, that's negative not positive for such gambles, and that became the case. Ultimately we do move toward digital currency not just commerce, but regulated with just relatively tiny fluctuations, almost like 'real' currency.

(Speaking of our Dollar bullishness for at least two years: its been warranted, to say the least, especially based on 'capital flight' to U.S. holdings. Russia as well as China policies contributed to the rush into the Dollar. Now parabolic, it has had almost all the move, but that doesn't mean it gets very defensive. As crypto is de-legitimized, for the moment that helps the Dollar too. You'll recall my comments a year or even more before, that 'cash was king, not trash'.)

In-sum: 

Yes the 'meme' stock era was a poor facsimile of the dot.com bubble, but there were some psychological 'get rich quick' similarities. Heck, that's the American way, but that's also why I suggested wringing the cash register on a lot of issues, at least partially, and 'battening-down the hatches' for what took a longer time to unfold than I thought (6-12 months longer for the mega-caps) but nevertheless occurred. The double-top 65,000 Bitcoin call was part of my belief that crypto was trash, not actual cash (for then), and that once purged overpriced mega-caps (Generals retreating to join troops already in trenches) really washed-out things, we could envision a recovery phase.

Timing future recovery is dicey, washout or not, a few bankruptcies or not, or ceasefire to the war or not, and that's because the new generation of players is burned, and it's harder for even the funds to recover after they're drained.