Just 17.8% of individual investors expect the market to be higher in six months…
That’s the second-worst weekly reading since 1992 in the American Association of Individual Investors (“AAII”) survey.
Think about this for a second. We’re talking about more than 1,200 weeks since 1992… more than 1,200 data points… and this is the second-worst number ever.
[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]What that tells me is that EVERYONE is fearful about the market now… and NOBODY is interested in stocks…
Was something wrong with this survey?
Was it like an election poll, where sometimes one poll shows one thing, while another conducted at the same time says the opposite?
No.
Another survey showed the same conclusion.
In the latest survey of 3,000 American households conducted by The Conference Board research firm, more consumers expect to see a falling stock market over the next year than folks who expect to see a rising stock market! (Thanks to Jason Goepfert of SentimenTrader.com for pointing this out.)
To me, these surveys are a massive “contrarian investing” signal… They tell me that we have massive upside potential ahead in stocks.
“So,” you might be wondering, “if everyone hates stocks, why is there upside potential?”
That’s a good question. But think about it… You don’t want to buy an investment after everyone has already bought. That’s like buying real estate at the top in 2008 – when everyone was greedy. If you bought then, you would have missed the upside.
Instead, you want to follow the advice of Warren Buffett, one of the greatest investors of all time. As he famously said, “Be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy.”
These surveys show us that investors are incredibly fearful right now about the stock market…
So what should you do? You should buy stocks! Go do it!
Good investing,
Steve
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Source: Daily Wealth