The Bullish Sentiment index contains weekly series of positions and attitudes of major professional brokerage firms and advisors as interpreted and recorded by Consensus, Inc.

The data, bullish sentiments as a percentage of the total, concern commodities, currencies, and financial instruments.

Information provided:
The index is intended to provide indication of potential market directions through application of the theory of contrarian opinion. This theory holds that when a predominant number of market analysts are bullish, it is quite likely that the market is approaching an overbought condition, and that a reversal in trend may be imminent.

By the same reasoning, when a predominant number of market analysts are bearish, it is quite likely that the market is approaching an oversold condition, and that a reversal in trend may be forthcoming.

Consensus identifies the 75 percent level as the overbought level and 25 percent as oversold. These points should however be interpreted not as absolute reversal points, but rather as approximate levels of potential market shifts. It is also important to note the trends in the data to get a fuller sense of possible market directions indicated.

To compile the index, Consensus draws from a mix of both brokerage house analysts and independent advisory services, from both contributors and non-contributors, to provide a strong data base. The data covers a broad spectrum of approaches to the market, including the fundamental, technical, and cyclical.

All recorded data is given on Fridays, as most representative of when market letters are issued. Only opinions which have been committed to publication and therefore have an influence on the trading public are considered.

Data examples :
Commodities: Metals, petroleum products
Currencies: EUR, GBP, JPY, USD
Financial instruments: Stock indices, treasury bonds