Bears Show a Pulse in Poll

They say that sentiment is often a contrary indicator, but in TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer it seems to reflect the prevailing trend.

Perhaps alarmed by Friday's stock market selloff driven by problems in subprime-mortgage lending, investors took a bearish outlook in our weekly poll. It was the first time the poll was bearish since Oct. 9.

Of the 1,389 votes cast, the bears recorded a convincing 618, or 44%. The bulls came in at 25% with 348 votes. Neutral continued its consistent showing with 423 votes, or 30%.

In the sectors, likely due to gold's recent rise, precious metals was seen as the sector most likely to rise. Homebuilding, faced with more signs of a persistent slowdown, was tapped as the sector most likely to fall this week. ...