For the last three weeks, the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) sentiment survey has shown that investors are worried about the stock market.
Last week's reading showed 30.9 percent of investors polled were bullish and 38.2 percent were bearish.
This is the third straight week where the bearish percentage was greater than or equal to the bullish percentage, and that had not happened since May 2013.
The ratio for last week was 0.81, bringing the four-week moving average down to 1.02. The moving average hasn't fallen below 1.0 since June 2013.
The CBOE Equity Put/Call Ratio also showed a continuing trend toward a more bearish stance, as the 21-day moving average rose to 0.6352 and reached its highest reading since May.
Since July 2, the 21-day moving average has risen from 0.5019, meaning an increase of 26 percent in just more than a month.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 7.4 percent last week, going in the opposite direction of the AAII Sentiment Survey and the CBOE Equity Put/Call Ratio. However, after rising 34 percent the previous week, a little pullback is understandable.
After seeing some selling pressure in stocks, investors have shifted their thoughts, but they haven't made a huge shift.
The daily chart of the S&P 500 reached oversold levels, but the weekly chart shows that the oscillators are barely out of overbought territory. The weekly chart hasn't been in oversold territory in more than two years.
© 2024 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.