Sentiment Gauges are Mixed in Terms of Where the Market is Headed

Short-term sentiment last week appeared to indicate that the market was oversold from a contrarian point of view. The CNN Fear/Greed index at 10, which is very low, and the Ned Davis Research sentiment gauge at 26 were both on the oversold side of the ledger.

Sentiment Gauges are Mixed in Terms of Where the Market is Headed
Sentiment Gauges are Mixed in Terms of Where the Market is Headed

Meanwhile the intermediate-term sentiment gauges were more elevated than I would like in order to call a solid, intermediate-term bottom. The Investors Intelligence Bulls/Bears poll of market newsletter writers came in at 48% bulls and 20% bears.  That’s a troublesome reading because with all the damage in the markets, one would assume there’d be more fear. The bears at 20% hardly budged from the previous week. That number would need to move up not the 30s at a minimum before we get at a solid, intermediate-term bottom.

Sentiment Gauges are Mixed in Terms of Where the Market is Headed
Sentiment Gauges are Mixed in Terms of Where the Market is Headed. Chart Courtesy of Investors-intelligence.com

The market has had another terrible week, with the bank stocks leading us down which is always a bad sign.

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