After an intra-day dip into bear market territory in May, the S&P 500 finally entered a bear market earlier this month. We saw some moderation of fear today but as you can see from the Fear and Greed Index below, we are still in extreme fear territory.
As I write this, the S&P 500 is down 8.8% for the month, while our model portfolio has given back 3.5% of its gains after a strong May where we saw the portfolio go up 5.5%. While several of our positions are in the red, the portfolio was helped by continued strength in our energy positions and the short side of the portfolio where every position is showing double digit gains. The founder and CEO of Continental Resources (CLR), the oil and gas production company we wrote about in our August 2020 newsletter, wants to take the company private for $70 per share.