Six weeks ago, we took a deep dive into the absolute and relative performance of the S&P 500’s energy sector. At that point, we concluded that, “[w]ith this year’s breakdown from the 2016’s “bearish flag” pattern, the long-term underperformance of energy stocks could carry over through 2017 and beyond.” Updating the relative performance chart from that early May piece suggests that, if anything, the outlook for energy stocks has worsened with the latest drop in oil prices.