The Anti-Stock Market Paranoia That Could Fuel The Rally For A Long Time To Come

Investors are still far more afraid of losing money in a market downturn, than they are of missing out on an upturn, according to a survey that Dorsey Wright Money Management conducted of 63 financial advisors. The survey asked advisors to answer based on what their clients felt.

While there's a growing sense that "everyone is bullish" the survey results show just the opposite. There's still a ton of anti-stock paranoia out there, which really represents bull-fuel waiting to be poured.

However, the spread between the two is narrowing, as investors have an increasing appetite for risk. This is good news for the stock market—when investors become more open to risk, the S&P 500, and other indexes tend to rise.

According to the survey, fear of a market downturn fell from 83% to 75%, while those afraid of missing out on an upturn increased from 17% to 25%.

Here is chart that contrasts the level of the two types of fear with the S&P 500:

Here's another chart from the same survey that charts out investors' appetite for risk:

(Via Kevin Depew)