One common trait of individual investors during the equity bull market run since November is restraint. Based on the American Association of Individual Investors sentiment survey, investor bullish sentiment fell over six percentage points to 29.47% for the weekly period ending June 6th. This follows a thirteen point decline in the prior week after moving up by over ten points during the week of May 23rd. This two week decline in bullish sentiment occurred during a period when the S&P 500 Index experienced a 5% correction on an intraday price basis.
Equity prices began turning higher at the end of the day on Thursday once the market (S&P 500) hit the technically important 1,598 level. The positive momentum carried through to Friday following the nonfarm payroll report. It seems the individual investor is anything but "all in" with their equity exposure.
