AAII_BEARISH
Retail bearish sentiment — weekly AAII survey
Official name: AAII Bearish %
Latest value
42.9864
as of 2026-04-09
All-time percentile
87th
1-year change
-30.6%
Time series
Showing 260 of 260 data points
About this series
Percentage of AAII survey respondents who are bearish on the stock market over the next 6 months. Same survey as AAII Bullish, opposite side.
Why it matters: Same contrarian logic as bullish readings but mirrored. When AAII bears dominate, historical precedent suggests stocks are more often bottoming than topping. Extreme bearish readings have often coincided with multi-year lows (e.g., March 2009, October 2022).
How to read it: Historical average bearishness is about 31%. Above 50% is extreme pessimism (rare, usually at bottoms). Below 20% suggests complacency. Like bullishness, it's an input not a timing signal — use alongside other indicators.
Caveats: See AAII Bullish caveats. Bearish extremes seem slightly more reliable than bullish extremes as contrarian signals, but the sample size of extreme readings is small.