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Bullish Sentiment Near 2-1/2 Year High by: AAII October 28, 2010 Optimism among individual investors reached its highest level in nearly two and one-half years, according to the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, rose 1.6 percentage points to 51.2%. The historical average is 39%. Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially flat over the next six months, rose 2.0 percentage points to 27.2%. This is the highest neutral sentiment has been in five weeks. The historical average is 31%. Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will...

Consumer Confidence Rebounds In October, Beats Expectations Gregory White Oct. 26, 2010, 10:00 AM Consumer confidence rose to 50.2 in October. Expectations were for a 50. In September, consumer confidence plunged to 48.5. That was a seven month low. Markets barely moved on the news, and still remain negative. Dow down 0.33% NASDAQ down 0.44% S&P 500 down 0.33% Check out 20 signs the American consumer is completely tapped out >[snip]

Citi: Rebounding Sentiment Forecasts Even Further Gains For Stocks Vincent Fernando, CFA Oct. 16, 2010, 9:18 AM Market sentiment has finally back to normal according to Citi's Panic/Euphoria model. The firm notes that sentiment is now 'barely in panic territory' in its latest PULSE Monitor report. Citi: This week’s Panic/Euphoria reading was -0.21; versus last week’s revised number of -0.23, generating a high probability of a rally over the next six-to-12 months. What's interesting is how well this model worked during the recent crisis, whereby forward returns (shown in gray above) ended up being high when sentiment collapsed in early...

Detailing The Bullishness Everywhere by: Seeking Delta October 10, 2010 The NAAIM (active money managers) and AAII (individual investors) sentiment surveys were released Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Both showed a sizable increase in bullish sentiment. Active managers continue to pile into equities as the NAAIM survey saw a jump in its weekly number from 68% last week to 78% this week. The eight week moving average has been trending up since last July. At 78%, the current equity exposure is now in the “extremely” bullish category (identified as one standard deviation above average). The NAAIM number measures current equity exposure...

A coalition of US Muslims launched a Web-based campaign Monday aimed at countering what they called a rising tide of anti-Islamic sentiment and to show themselves as Americans who love their country. The group launched a website and online video featuring brief clips from American Muslims, including young children, with comments such as "I'm an American," and "I don't want to take over this country." The campaign is in response to the controversy over plans to build an Islamic center near the site of the World Trade Center in New York destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The group...

Surprise: Investor Sentiment Isn't Even That Bearish Yet The Pragmatic Capitalist Jul. 2, 2010, 5:22 AM Given the recent volatility you might think that we’d be seeing very negative signals in the sentiment data, however, the data continues to be mixed. The most recent Investor’s Intelligence survey showed bearish sentiment hold steady at 41%. This is a relatively mild level bearishness given the current environment. Previous major market bottoms have occurred at substantially lower readings. Small investors, on the other hand, are exhibiting a bit more fear. According to the AAII small investor sentiment plummeted in the most recent week:...

Sentiment Overview: A Rebound In Bullishness by: Babak June 06, 2010 Here is the sentiment wrap-up for this shortened (Memorial Day) week: Sentiment Surveys Let’s start with the weekly AAII sentiment survey of US retail investors. It shows a rebound in bullishness this week with those expecting the market to be higher 6 months from now at 37.1% (an increase of 7.3% points). The bears decreased from being the majority to just 40.8%. The changes result in an increase in the bull ratio from the slightly bullish 37% to the neutral 48%. While the ever popular AAII weekly survey may...

Citi: Now It's Truly Panic Time Vincent Fernando, CFA May 29, 2010, 11:09 AM Tobias Levkovich has been highlighting for some time now that Citi's sentiment indicators have been diving. Previously one of two, their 'Cyclical Expectations Model' (CEM) showed the market getting oversold. Now, their second sentiment model, the 'Panic/Euphoria Model', which uses a different methodology, is confirming the sentiment crash shown by the CEM. As Mr. Levkovich said, 'Sentiment drops into panic, convincingly': Here's the CEM, which lead the PE model above.[snip]

I came across a box of WWII Letters and such. I thought this was nice. It was a Christmas Card (Sorry I used the "C" word) and I know that it is well past Christmas. The sentiment written by the sender was very nice, and it still applies today: He wrote:"To some future time that will be more like the Christmas we all once knew, to all who will will make that dream come true, someday by virtues of their sacrifices.Signed by : Philip John Taylor.

“I think President Obama addressed that directly and said that he didn’t feel that was the case,” Pawlenty said His comments came when asked about former President Jimmy Carter's and former Vice President Walter Mondale's arguments that Obama’s race is a factor in the animus against him. "I don't like saying it," Mondale told the online news outlet Politico Thursday. "I don't want to pick a person, say, he's a racist, but I do think the way they're piling on Obama, the harshness, you kind of feel it.” “I think people that are guilty of that kind of personal attack...

Some rank-and-file Democrats fear Clinton bidActivists express doubts about whether senator should be party’s nominee By Tom Curry National affairs writer MSNBC Updated: 7:29 a.m. PT June 7, 2006 Sen. Hillary Clinton gives her acceptance speech after the New York State Democratic Convention endorsed her re-election last week. Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters file WASHINGTON - Public opinion polls, as well as inside-the-Beltway punditry, suggest that Sen. Hillary Clinton is the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. A Gallup Poll in February found that 39 percent of self-described Democrats and Democratic “leaners” would be most likely to support Clinton for...

The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll presents a fairly grim picture for the Republican Party one year out from the 2006 midterm elections. Several indicators reveal broad public dissatisfaction with the Republican-led Congress -- dissatisfaction levels not seen since 1994. --- The Oct. 21-23 survey finds Republicans trailing Democrats by seven points on the generic ballot. Half of registered voters now say they will vote for the Democratic congressional candidate on the ballot in their districts next fall; 43% say they will vote for the Republican. --- Besides the generic ballot, there are some stronger indications that the Republican majority in...

To our brothers and sisters in the war on terror you can be sure the US will stand with you. These are the sentiments I have already seen. Shortly after this attack in London my unit and a few others I have already been in contact with this morning have all felt the same way. After all, they have served side by side with some of England’s bravest. They are doing the most after the US in this effort to end the global actions of terrorists of all kinds. No, this is no September 11th, and in the end it...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumer sentiment faded in April on higher gasoline prices, a weak labor market and sagging stock prices. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 87.7 in mid-April from 92.6 in March, according to media reports on the proprietary research. Economists were expecting a decline to about 91.3. The current conditions index slipped to 103.9 from 108, while the expectations index fell to 79 from 82.8.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Qatar and other energy-rich countries of the Persian Gulf are some of the most crime-free places on Earth and among the most friendly to U.S. interests. Even so, anti-Western feelings are on the rise, and with a Saudi crackdown on terror pushing militants into neighboring countries, observers say the Gulf states must act fast to prevent more bombings like Saturday's theater blast in Doha to halt serious damage to the region's appeal to Western tourists, residents and business. "If the Qataris can dismantle this cell quickly and prove they are effective, I don't think this...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence rose more sharply than expected in early May, as Americans looked ahead to better economic times, market sources said on Friday. A survey by the University of Michigan rose to 93.2 from April's 86.0, faring better than a forecast range of 82.0 to a high of 92.3, the sources said. The survey's component index on consumers' current view on the economy fell to 94.1 in early May from April's 96.4, but the index of consumers' future expectations jumped sharply to 92.7 from April's 79.3, the sources said. Consumer confidence is seen as a...