Editor's Desk
Bulls Make It 10 Straight in Poll
David Morrow
12/18/06 - 01:31 PM EST
The bulls won their 10th straight TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer poll this week.
Bulls got 61% of the 664 votes cast. The bears got only 17%, while neutral came in at 22%.
In the sectors, integrated oil was tapped as most likely to rise. Homebuilding was seen as most likely to fall.
Stocks were mixed on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 9 points. The Nasdaq was down 12 points and the S&P 500 was down 2 points.
Despite the pullback, buyouts remained the story of the day.
One of the biggest involves casino operator Harrah's(HET Quote), which appears ready to take an offer worth nearly $17 billion. At the same time, Caremark(CMX Quote), which has a deal to merge with CVS(CVS Quote), is facing a $26 billion competing proposal from Express Scripts(ESRX Quote).
Meanwhile, Statoil(STO Quote) and Norsk Hydro(NHY Quote) were gearing up to combine the Norwegian companies' oil and gas operations. Statoil was off 1.4%, while Norsk Hydro was surging nearly 20%.
Last week the Dow added 138 points, or 1.1%, its second straight weekly gain. The S&P 500 was higher by 17 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq collected 20 points, or 0.8%, over the five sessions.
Energy futures were generally lower Monday, as crude oil slipped 56 cents to $62.87 a barrel in Nymex floor trading. Precious metals prices eased, including a $1.10 downtick for gold to $618 an ounce.
Treasuries edged ahead. The 10-year note was adding 1/32 in price to yield 4.59%, and the 30-year bond was up 2/32 and yielding 4.71%.
Earlier, the Commerce Department reported that the third-quarter current account deficit came in at $225.6 billion, up from $217.1 billion in the second quarter.
Below are the complete poll results.
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| Date | Bullish | Bearish | Neutral | Week Ending S&P % Change |
Bullish Sector |
Bearish Sector |
| Dec. 18 | 405 (61%) | 114 (17%) | 145 (22%) |  |
Integrated Oil | Homebuilding |
| Dec. 12 | 874 (54%) | 307 (19%) | 438 (27%) | + 1.2% | Investment Bankers and Brokers | Homebuilding |
| Dec. 4 | 1101 (42%) | 815 (31%) | 717 (27%) | + 0.9% | Precious Metals | Automobiles |
| Nov. 27 | 408 (45%) | 253 (28%) | 235 (26%) | -0.3% | Precious Metals | Homebuilding |
| Sector | Total Votes | Percentage |
| Aerospace and Defense | 16 | 2% |
| Airlines | 21 | 3% |
| Automobiles | 6 | 1% |
| Beverages and Food Products | 9 | 1% |
| Biotechnology | 18 | 3% |
| Commercial Banks | 47 | 7% |
| Computers and Peripherals | 23 | 3% |
| Consumer Nondurables | 13 | 2% |
| Energy Equipment & Services | 63 | 9% |
| HMOs and Hospitals | 5 | 1% |
| Homebuilding | 36 | 5% |
| Insurance | 9 | 1% |
| Integrated Oil | 83 | 12% |
| Internet, Software Services | 42 | 6% |
| Investment Bankers and Brokers | 56 | 8% |
| Media | 8 | 1% |
| Multiline Retail | 42 | 6% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 19 | 3% |
| Precious Metals | 39 | 6% |
| Semis, Semi Equipment | 37 | 6% |
| Telecom Equipment | 23 | 3% |
| Tobacco and Alcohol | 13 | 2% |
| Utilities | 23 | 3% |
| Wireless Communications | 9 | 1% |
| Source: RealMoney.com | ||
| Sector | Total Votes | Percentage |
| Aerospace and Defense | 12 | 2% |
| Airlines | 32 | 5% |
| Automobiles | 59 | 9% |
| Beverages and Food Products | 12 | 2% |
| Biotechnology | 13 | 2% |
| Commercial Banks | 12 | 2% |
| Computers and Peripherals | 8 | 1% |
| Consumer Nondurables | 7 | 1% |
| Energy Equipment & Services | 22 | 3% |
| HMOs and Hospitals | 16 | 2% |
| Homebuilding | 100 | 15% |
| Insurance | 4 | 1% |
| Integrated Oil | 60 | 9% |
| Internet, Software Services | 4 | 1% |
| Investment Bankers and Brokers | 19 | 3% |
| Media | 15 | 2% |
| Multiline Retail | 30 | 5% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 41 | 6% |
| Precious Metals | 96 | 14% |
| Semis, Semi Equipment | 46 | 7% |
| Telecom Equipment | 10 | 2% |
| Tobacco and Alcohol | 10 | 2% |
| Utilities | 19 | 3% |
| Wireless Communications | 12 | 2% |
| Source: RealMoney.com | ||