Bullish Stock Market Sentiment Barely Edges Out Pessimism

Investors were slightly more optimistic about the stock market in the short term but only edged out bearish investors by a small margin, according to a survey by the American Association of Individual Investors published Thursday. Bullish sentiment, measured by the number of respondents who believe the market will rise in the next 6 months, fell to 32.1% in the week ended Sept. 23 from 33.3% in the previous week. Investors who are bearish also declined to 28.7% from 29.1% while neutral investors rose to 39.2% versus 37.6%. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down sharply, extending losses for a third session in a week that has historically been amongst the worst of the year.