Bulls Take Poll Again

The bulls kept control of TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer, but it was a bit of a dogfight.

Of the 1,511 votes cast, the bulls got 577, or 39%. The bears notched 451, or 30%, and neutral came in at 463, or 31%.

In the sectors, as it has been for the past three weeks, precious metals was seen as most likely to rise, and homebuilding was picked as most likely to fall.

Integrated oil and energy equipment and services were the second and third sectors, respectively, tapped as most likely to rise, probably due to the recent rebound in the price of oil. Commercial banks and airlines followed homebuilding as bearish sectors.

In company news, the top deal of the day will see Texas-based utility TXU(TXU) go private through what will be the largest leveraged buyout in history.

A group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific will pay $69.25 a share for the company; including assumed debt, the transaction is worth $45 billion.

Elsewhere, Station Casinos (STN) accepted a buyout offer worth $8.8 billion, including $3.4 billion in debt that will be assumed.

The arrangement will see Station acquired by Fertitta Colony Partners, a firm started by the company's founding family.

The major stock averages were trading lower on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at 12,616.96, off 31 points; the Nasdaq Composite was at 2495.61, down 19 points; and the S&P 500 was at 1446.48, down about 5 points.

Light, sweet crude futures were trading slightly higher on the Nymex recently, up 7 cents to $61.23 a barrel.

Stock-buying interest was dampened Monday by comments from former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said during a business conference in Hong Kong that the U.S. economy could face a recession.

Below are the complete poll results.

Date	Bullish	Bearish	Neutral	Week Ending S&P % Change	Bullish Sector	Bearish Sector
Feb. 26	577 (39%)	451 (30%)	463 (31%)		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
Feb. 5	781 (54%)	272 (19%)	389 (27%)	- 0.6%	Energy Equipment and Services	Homebuilding

Sector	Total Votes	Percentage
Aerospace and Defense	42	3%
Airlines	20	1%
Automobiles	17	1%
Beverages and Food Products	28	2%
Biotechnology	71	5%
Commercial Banks	35	2%
Computers and Peripherals	24	2%
Consumer Nondurables	22	1%
Energy Equipment and Services	205	14%
HMOs and Hospitals	18	1%
Homebuilding	30	2%
Insurance	20	1%
Integrated Oil	258	17%
Internet, Software Services	33	2%
Investment Bankers and Brokers	38	3%
Media	22	1%
Multiline Retail	25	2%
Pharmaceuticals	37	2%
Precious Metals	292	20%
Semis, Semi Equipment	71	5%
Telecom Equipment	37	2%
Tobacco and Alcohol	35	2%
Utilities	74	5%
Wireless Communications	29	2%
Source: RealMoney.com

Sector	Total Votes	Percentage
Aerospace and Defense	10	1%
Airlines	135	9%
Automobiles	97	7%
Beverages and Food Products	16	1%
Biotechnology	30	2%
Commercial Banks	140	9%
Computers and Peripherals	42	3%
Consumer Nondurables	24	2%
Energy Equipment and Services	23	2%
HMOs and Hospitals	17	1%
Homebuilding	402	27%
Insurance	9	1%
Integrated Oil	77	5%
Internet, Software Services	35	2%
Investment Bankers and Brokers	62	4%
Media	25	2%
Multiline Retail	57	4%
Pharmaceuticals	56	4%
Precious Metals	52	4%
Semis, Semi Equipment	67	5%
Telecom Equipment	26	2%
Tobacco and Alcohol	25	2%
Utilities	27	2%
Wireless Communications	24	2%
Source: RealMoney.com