Investor Mood No Longer ‘Apocalyptically Bearish’: Bank of America Survey

Bull markets are fueled by optimism and bear markets—which occur when stock prices fall 20 percent or more for a sustained period of time—are just the opposite. Benzinga

Investors are “no longer apocalyptically bearish,” says Bank of America’s (BofA) Chief Investment Strategist, Michael Hartnett, in the monthly survey of global fund managers on Aug. 17.

BofA polled 284 investors overseeing $836 billion in assets between Aug. 5–11, who said they had cut back a net underweight position in equities to minus 26 percent, a big rebound from the minus 44 percent in July, the lowest level recorded since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Global growth and profit expectations have rebounded from an all-time low in July.

At least 88 percent of participants in the survey now expect lower inflation in the next 12 months due to the latest inflation report, which saw rates slow to 8.5 percent in July from 9.1 in June.