10 Worst-Performing S&P 500 Stocks in the Second Quarter

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Investor confidence in the equities market was eroded in the second quarter as Americans shifted out of stocks and in to the relative safety of fixed-income investments.

That resulted in a 5.5% tumble for the S&P 500 in the period, on the heels of a 12% first-quarter gain.

It's not just the conundrum that is the European sovereign debt crisis that worries investors, it's also the struggling domestic economy, the outcome of health-care reform and the nation's ultimate direction, given that it's a presidential election year.

And the outlook for stock investors isn't likely to be clarified any time soon. "Investors continue to confront the paradox of a three-year-old subpar U.S. economic recovery that is generating record levels of quarterly corporate earnings, but is producing extremely low levels of investor confidence," say S&P Capital IQ analysts. "As a result of the low growth, the U.S. economy is more vulnerable than normal to external negative influences."