Investors hate stocks-- again.

Amid a six-year bull market that’s notable mainly for how little conviction there is in it, equity sentiment is plunging at a historic rate, falling by some measures at the fastest pace since Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker had just finished pushing up interest rates in the 1980s. The cost to hedge against stock losses is soaring, valuations are contracting, and bearishness among professional stock handicappers is rising the most in three decades.

Fret not. All of this is good news for bulls, if history is any guide. Since 1963, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has advanced an average 11 percent in the year after newsletter writers surveyed by Investors Intelligence were as pessimistic as they are now, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with an annualized return of 8.3 percent.

Skepticism is one thing the rally since 2009 hasn’t lacked -- and it may be the best thing stocks have going for them as corporate profits fall, concerns deepen over China’s travails, oil and commodities plunge and the Fed turns more pessimistic on global growth. Some traders even say they see bargains after S&P 500 posted its first 10 percent retreat in four years.

David Fuller's view

There is more historic perspective in this article than any other that I have seen for quite a while.  Does this mean that it is correct?

On average, stock markets underperform during the May through October period, as I have mentioned on many occasions.  Moreover, October produces some of the biggest shocks.  Will this be repeated in 2015?

It could, but the odds are probably against another major slide anytime soon, given the climactic selling that we saw on 24^th August.  Moreover, monetary policy is generally accommodative.  Monetary tightening usually precedes the biggest bear moves, including 2000 and 2008.  

I expect most stock markets to be higher at yearend and also through 1Q 2016.