AAII Sentiment Survey: Neutral Sentiment Above Average for Eighth Consecutive Week

Neutral sentiment rose, continuing its streak of above-average readings in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Bearish sentiment also rose, while bullish sentiment fell.

Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, plunged 12.5 percentage points to 21.6%. Optimism is unusually low for the first time since January 12, 2023. Bullish sentiment is also below its historical average of 37.5% for the 64th time out of the past 66 weeks.

Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially unchanged over the next six months, increased by 2.7 percentage points to 39.8%. Neutral sentiment is above its historical average of 31.5% for the eighth consecutive week. This is the longest streak of above-average readings since a nine-week stretch between April and June 2021.

Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, jumped 9.8 percentage points to 38.6%. Pessimism is above its historical average of 31.0% for the 61st time out of the past 66 weeks.

The bull-bear spread (bullish minus bearish sentiment) plummeted 22.2 percentage points to –16.9%. Bears have outnumbered bulls during 62 of the past 66 weeks.

Optimism about this year’s rebound in stock prices faded following the recent pullback in stock prices. Concerns about the economy, inflation, corporate earnings and monetary policy are also playing a role.

See more Sentiment Survey results.