Bulls Won't Relent in Poll

Participants in TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer survey are finding no reason to temper their bullishness, as bullish sentiment won out for the 17th straight week.

The bulls captured 781, or 54%, of the 1,442 votes cast. The bears had 272 votes, or 19%. Neutral tallied 389 votes, or 27%, a conistently high showing.

In the sectors, energy equipment and services was seen as most likely to rise this week. Homebuilding was picked as most likely to fall.

The second place bullish sector was integrated oil. The second-most bearish sector was automobiles.

The stock market was mixed on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at 12,674, up about 21 points; the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.5 points to 2474, and the S&P 500 was trading at 1448, up just under a half-point

M&A activity was at the forefront Monday.

Several merger deals were making headlines, including a plan by State Street (STT Quote) to acquire Investors Financial(IFIN Quote) for roughly $4.5 billion.

Another agreement will see Triad Hospitals(TRI Quote) taken private by affiliates of CCMP Capital Advisors and GS Capital Partners in a $4.7 billion acquisition.

Elsewhere, Simon Property(SPG Quote) and Farallon Capital have bid $24 a share for Mills(MLS Quote), exceeding by $3 a share the price of a deal with Brookfield Asset Management(BAM Quote).

Natural gas futures soared on Monday, up 6% before falling back, as a brutal cold snap covered much of the U.S. Natural gas for March delivery was last up 21 cents to $7.69 per British thermal unit, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The high for the day was $8.03.

Light, sweet crude oil was recently trading down 5 cents a barrel from Friday, to $58.97, after hitting a high of $59.95 earlier in the session.

Below are the complete poll results.

Date	Bullish	Bearish	Neutral	Week Ending S&P % Change	Bullish Sector	Bearish Sector
Feb. 5	781 (54%)	272 (19%)	389 (27%)		Energy Equipment & Services	Homebuilding
Jan. 29	901 (43%)	440 (21%)	737 (35%)	+ 1.8%	Integrated Oil	Homebuilding
Jan. 22	582 (40%)	357 (24%)	520 (36%)	- 0.6%	Energy Equipment & Services	Semis, Semi Equipment
Jan. 16	767 (64%)	193 (16%)	240 (20%)	- 0.03%	Integrated Oil	Integrated Oil
Jan. 8	953 (46%)	549 (26%)	569 (27%)	+ 1.5%	Biotechnology	Integrated Oil

Sector	Total Votes	Percentage
Aerospace and Defense	88	6%
Airlines	29	2%
Automobiles	10	1%
Beverages and Food Products	25	2%
Biotechnology	55	4%
Commercial Banks	55	4%
Computers and Peripherals	46	3%
Consumer Nondurables	19	1%
Energy Equipment & Services	238	16%
HMOs and Hospitals	15	1%
Homebuilding	80	6%
Insurance	24	2%
Integrated Oil	223	15%
Internet, Software Services	70	5%
Investment Bankers and Brokers	74	5%
Media	21	1%
Multiline Retail	12	1%
Pharmaceuticals	46	3%
Precious Metals	82	6%
Semis, Semi Equipment	50	3%
Telecom Equipment	71	5%
Tobacco and Alcohol	30	2%
Utilities	35	2%
Wireless Communications	34	2%
Source: RealMoney.com

Sector	Total Votes	Percentage
Aerospace and Defense	19	1%
Airlines	171	12%
Automobiles	175	12%
Beverages and Food Products	20	1%
Biotechnology	24	2%
Commercial Banks	21	1%
Computers and Peripherals	68	5%
Consumer Nondurables	36	2%
Energy Equipment & Services	36	2%
HMOs and Hospitals	16	1%
Homebuilding	183	13%
Insurance	24	2%
Integrated Oil	120	8%
Internet, Software Services	46	3%
Investment Bankers and Brokers	30	2%
Media	25	2%
Multiline Retail	42	3%
Pharmaceuticals	62	4%
Precious Metals	109	8%
Semis, Semi Equipment	62	4%
Telecom Equipment	37	3%
Tobacco and Alcohol	28	2%
Utilities	46	3%
Wireless Communications	28	2%
Source: RealMoney.com