Main Street Hates Wall Street

At the top of this post is an image of the cover of the current issue of Time Magazine. The sentiment it conveys should be no surprise. But ask yourself: is it likely that stock prices will begin a new bear market and drop substantially from current levels when the public hates Wall Street and the stock market so much?

The Newseek cover you see above is from the March 30, 2009 issue. On that date the S&P was trading near 780 versus its current level of 1080. While I don't expect another 300 point rally from here over the next six months, I do think that the still bearish condition of investor sentiment is telling us that the trend during that time, and through all of 2010, will be upward.