Bears Back in Vogue in Poll

The bears are sitting back atop the sentiment mountain in TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer market poll.

The bears' victory not surprisingly follows the worst week for the stock market in a few years.

The poll's turnout also was huge, with 2,603 votes and more than 1,000 of those bearish. The bears ended up with 1,133 votes (43%), while the bulls scored 694 (27%) and neutral got 776 (30%).

The sectors shook out the same way they have for four weeks now: Precious metals was the most bullish one and homebuilding the most bearish.

Other sectors that fared well were integrated oil and beverages and food products, the latter's showing likely due to some investors making a flight to safety.

Other bearish sectors were investment bankers and brokers, and commercial banks.

The U.S. market is coming off a week in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 4.2% and the S&P 500 dropped 4.4%, the worst weekly performance for both since early 2003.

The Nasdaq Composite plummeted 5.9% to notch its highest weekly percentage loss since August 2004.

Asian shares, whose volatility last week pressured the U.S., lost ground again as the Japanese yen rallied against the world's major currencies. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was hit hardest, down 4%. The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 slumped 1.3%, and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slid 2.3%.

Stocks were mixed in recent trading Monday. The Dow was up 29 points to 12,142.86, while the Nasdaq was off 7 points to 2360.76, and the S&P was lower by 2 points to 1385.18.

Crude oil futures were trading substantially lower on Monday. Light, sweet crude for April delivery was recently trading at $60.27 a barrel, down $1.37.

Below are the complete poll results.

Date	Bullish	Bearish	Neutral	Week Ending S&P % Change	Bullish Sector	Bearish Sector
March 5	694 (27%)	1,133 (43%)	776 (30%)		Precious Metals	Homebuilding
Feb. 26	577 (39%)	451 (30%)	463 (31%)	- 4.4%	Precious Metals	Homebuilding
Feb. 20	339 (46%)	158 (22%)	229 (31%)	- 0.3%	Precious Metals	Homebuilding
Feb. 12	348 (25%)	618 (44%)	423 (30%)	+ 1.2%	Precious Metals	Homebuilding

Sector	Total Votes	Percentage
Aerospace and Defense	99	4%
Airlines	19	1%
Automobiles	17	1%
Beverages and Food Products	260	10%
Biotechnology	57	2%
Commercial Banks	73	3%
Computers and Peripherals	27	1%
Consumer Nondurables	131	5%
Energy Equipment and Services	221	8%
HMOs and Hospitals	66	3%
Homebuilding	35	1%
Insurance	47	2%
Integrated Oil	297	11%
Internet, Software Services	48	2%
Investment Bankers and Brokers	172	7%
Media	15	1%
Multiline Retail	11	0%
Pharmaceuticals	100	4%
Precious Metals	315	12%
Semis, Semi Equipment	73	3%
Telecom Equipment	48	2%
Tobacco and Alcohol	199	8%
Utilities	230	9%
Wireless Communications	38	1%
Source: RealMoney.com

Sector	Total Votes	Percentage
Aerospace and Defense	25	1%
Airlines	141	5%
Automobiles	155	6%
Beverages and Food Products	27	1%
Biotechnology	42	2%
Commercial Banks	282	11%
Computers and Peripherals	91	4%
Consumer Nondurables	46	2%
Energy Equipment and Services	34	1%
HMOs and Hospitals	16	1%
Homebuilding	562	22%
Insurance	24	1%
Integrated Oil	88	3%
Internet, Software Services	98	4%
Investment Bankers and Brokers	301	12%
Media	25	1%
Multiline Retail	97	4%
Pharmaceuticals	43	2%
Precious Metals	194	7%
Semis, Semi Equipment	154	6%
Telecom Equipment	47	2%
Tobacco and Alcohol	19	1%
Utilities	44	2%
Wireless Communications	34	1%
Source: RealMoney.com