U.S. energy stocks weakest since the Great Depression

U.S. energy stocks are weaker than they have been since the Great Depression, according to Michael Hartnett, Bank of America Corp.’s global chief investment strategist. 

Hartnett cited a ratio between oil and gas shares and the S&P 500 Index in a report Thursday. 

The comparison was based on the S&P 500 Energy Index, calculated since 1990, and an earlier industry gauge from Global Financial Data. S&P’s index set a record low relative to the S&P 500 on March 18 after plummeting 85% from a record in July 2008. 

Investors who go against their peers “would buy some U.S. oil stocks,” he wrote.