Stock Market Sentiment

Industry analysts are not the only ones who’ve been lowering their expectations and curbing their enthusiasm for stocks. The Bull Bear Ratio compiled by Investors Intelligence declined to 1.86 this week, down from a recent high of 2.45 during the week of April 3. It’s the lowest since mid-March. The change in sentiment has been even more noticeable in the Bull Bear Ratio reported by the American Association of Individual Investors. It plunged to 0.68 during the week of April 11, down from a recent high of 2.86 during the week of January 11. You know what that means: Sentiment is bearish, which is bullish for stocks.

Today’s Morning Briefing: Bonjour (1) The wrong monsieur for the season? (2) Sarkozy, Hollande, and Trotsky. (3) The Socialist’s speech. (4) Everyone likes QE better than austerity. (5) A small bill auction goes well in Spain. The next test is a bond auction on Thursday. (6) French banks are deep in PIIGS. (7) ECB’s Operation Twisted. (8) Great vs. not-so-great expectations for earnings. (9) Sentiment is bearish, which is bullish. (10) Globalization hard to catch in earnings models. (11) IMF nudges up global growth. (12) IT stocks should meander along with rest of market before a summer rally. (More for subscribers.)