With the S&P 500 Back Into Bear Market Territory, Are We Finally Near the Bottom?

August inflation data and the Federal Reserve's comments from its recent September meeting seem to have everyone on edge about what kind of recession the U.S. economy might enter after all of the Fed's interest rate hikes. The S&P 500, a broader benchmark for the market, had fallen to around 3,650 as of this writing. With inflation this year at the highest level seen in 40 years, the Fed has seemingly been playing catch-up to get it under control with aggressive rate hikes to its key benchmark rate, the federal funds rate.