Amidst a year of unprecedented turmoil, the domestic stock market experienced what may in hindsight be considered its requisite volatility. U.S. stocks saw two separate declines of 5 percent or more, and a maximum decline of more than 34 percent from a peak in February to a late-March trough. The market nonetheless turned in a gain for the year, up more than 20 percent. That sort of tumult-turnabout isn’t rare, though. Most years, in fact, have seen a decline of at least 5 percent from a prior peak that year, while still posting a gain. And many full-year advances mask interim drops of 10%...even more. Recent activity thus rhymes with longer-term history in demonstrating the benefit of patience when it comes to investing.

Listen to CIO Mark Mowrey introduce this month's commentary:

Podcast: Play in new window