BULLISH SENTIMENT WAVES WARNING FLAGS
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
Sentiment hasn’t been this positive about the stock market since just before the 1987 market crash. The latest readings from Investors Intelligence and AAII show that newsletters and small investors are very bullish in the near-term. This could be a major warning flag about the potential short-term performance of the equity markets.
The Investors Intelligence poll, which tracks 140 different newsletters, hasn’t been this bullish(?) since 1987. This has proven to be a superb short-term indicator. The last extreme was a 54% bearish reading at the October lows last year. Now, at 15% bears, the bulls feel equity markets have much room to run.
The survey of small investors at AAII is also showing an extreme level of optimism with 49% of investors bullish. It’s interesting to note the high level of put buying on Friday as investors hedged themselves heading into the new year.
