It feels like déjà vu all over again. For the third consecutive year, the stock market has begun 2012 with a solid, broad-based rally in the first quarter only to hit headwinds in April and go into a steeper decline in May.

An early rally in stock prices is being held in check by news out of Europe. Believe it or not, the latest plan to form a coalition government in Greece has collapsed. I guess some people actually thought they might really make an effort to deal with the nation's messed up economy.

Stock prices continued to slide on Monday as investors continued to fret over the economic situation in Europe and the consequences of the JPMorgan Chase & Co. trading loss.

Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital, says investors are overreacting to the recent stock market slide. The 5 percent drop in stock prices that began on April 2 when the S&P 500 reached 1,419, is causing many investors to "act like a dog frightened by thunder that seeks the shelter of a nearby bed." As of today -- with an early decline of slightly less than 1.0 percent -- the major market indexes have moved in to a "pullback," a decline of between 5 and 10 percent. If things reach the point of a decline of more than 10 percent we will officially be in a "correction." At 20 percent the markets have entered a "bear market." Stovall, however, believes declines will be contained in the pullback range, "unless new worries emerge or existing concerns become increasingly intensified in the coming weeks or months."