Despite the S&P 500 index repeatedly hitting new historical highs and corporate earnings increasing by 32% year-over-year in Q2, investor anxiety continues to spread. Fund inflows into passive investment tools have slowed, and short sellers have outnumbered long positions in 20 of the past 25 weeks. Quantitative firm 22V Research points out that current market sentiment is severely disconnected from economic fundamentals, and historically, such "excessive pessimism" often presages a rebound. The firm projects expected returns for the S&P 500 index to be 1.6% over the next 1 month, 5.1% over the next 3 months, and 7.8% over the next 6 months.