Don't Forget This Bull Market Hasn't Been Correction-Proof

Stocks skidded into correction territory late Thursday, down 10 percent from their recent highs after a 4 percent decline during the day, and the widespread reaction was astonishment about the rarity of such an occurrence, at least in the last decade. Much has been written about how this is one of the longest and smoothest bull markets on record. Famously, and now perhaps dangerously, market volatility has been at all-time lows, at least until the past week.

But that, like much else when it comes to the market, is about perception and memory, which is famously short during bull markets but long during bear ones. In fact, this is the fifth correction since 2009, according to Yardeni Research, and as of right now the latest one is the smallest. The S&P 500 Index dropped 19.4 percent in 2011 before recovering. The index was down 16 percent during a stretch the year before that, during the European debt crisis.