One of the hottest debates on Wall Street since the S&P 500 started out 2016 with a historic sell-off is whether or not we are on the cusp of a bear market. According to Ritholtz Wealth Management’s Michael Batnick, the bear market may have already come and gone.

A bear market is typically defined as a 20 percent pullback in the S&P 500. February’s selloff didn’t eclipse that threshold, but Batnick noted that the majority of the stocks within the index did.

“The S&P 500 at -15.3 percent might not have fit the ‘definition’ of a bear market but don’t tell that to the average stock, which fell 34 percent from its 52-week high,” Batnick pointed out.

Since 1970, the S&P 500 has averaged a new 52-week high once every 38 days. Since last year’s all-time high, it has been 252 days and counting. However, just because the market isn’t making new highs doesn’t mean…

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