Metals In Favor as Bulls Set to Make Some Noise

Updated from 6:48 a.m. EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In what is expected to be a quiet week, the bulls are ready to make some noise, according to TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer Survey.

Prior to a trading week that will include the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. on Thursday and an abbreviated stock market session on Friday, poll participants who were bullish racked up 520 votes, or 48.6% of the 1071 total votes, while the bears had 379, or 35.4%, of the votes cast. Neutral tallied 172 votes, or 16.1%.

Poll participants continue to believe, as they have for almost a month now, that the precious metals sector will lead the way. The sector has snagged 21% of the votes, with commercial banks placing a distant second.

The sentiment is largely driven by the meteoric rise in the price of gold, which rose close to $1,165 an an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday. Gold for December delivery recently was being bought for $1,164.50 an ounce, an increase of $17.70.

Homebuilding was seen as the sector most likely to see declines this week. Stocks of homebuilders fell Friday after D.R. Horton (DHI Quote) reported a quarterly loss of 73 cents a share, much wider that what the Street was expecting. The numbers erased any of the good feelings felt two weeks ago earlier when preliminary fourth-quarter and year-end results from luxury builder Toll Brothers(TOL Quote) lifted the spirits of investors in the sector.

Adding to the woes of the homebuilders was last weeks' report on housing starts which fell 10.6% in October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 529,000, the lowest level since April.

Investors will get further reads on the sector as the week kicks off with figures on September home sales from the National Association of Realtors. On Tuesday, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index on home prices for September and the third quarter is scheduled for release.

Monday also will see the release of earnings from technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) after the market closes.