It once was a rule of thumb on Wall Street that January set the tone for the year. By that measure, the forecast for stocks in 2022 would be downbeat, and subject to wild swings.The S&P 500 index ended the month down 5.3 percent on Monday, its worst monthly performance since March 2020, which brought stomach-churning drops in the early days of the pandemic.It would have been even worse if not for strong rallies on Friday and Monday that regained some of ground lost earlier in the month. The S&P 500 gained 1.9 percent on Monday …
