Bulls Have Little Fear of Fed

Updated from 7 a.m. EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The bulls hold the sentiment edge in a week filled with data, light on earnings and a decision from the Federal Reserve on interest rates.

Depending on who you ask, the Fed meeting is either important or a non-event since it's likely the Fed will keep the fed funds rate at close to zero.

And since the Fed is expected to hold ready steady, what the central bank says after it announces its rate decision on Tuesday afternoon will be monitored closely.

A strengthening economy means the Fed eventually will have to raise rates. But a potential rate hike isn't on the minds of many participants in the TheStreet.com's RealMoney Barometer Poll as a new trading week begins.

As of 10:00 a.m. EDT Monday, participants in the poll who were bullish tallied 473 votes, or 45.8% of the 1,032 votes cast in the poll. Bearish votes tallied 371, or 35.9%, while poll-takers who were neutral came in at 188 votes, or 18.2%.

Commercial banks was widely viewed as the sector most likely to rise this week. It led precious metals as the sectors seen declining this week as well, but by a slimmer margin.

Earnings this week are expected from FedEx (FDX), Palm(PALM) and Nike(NKE).

Last week, U.S. stocks rose with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.6%, the S&P 500 gaining 1% and Nasdaq closing to the upside by 1.8%.

Stocks on Wall Street opened lower on Monday.

In corporate news Monday, Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) is reportedly nearing a deal to acquire clothing company Tommy Hilfiger for roughly $3 billion.

> > Bull or Bear? Vote in Our Poll

The poll closed at 10:00 a.m.