Contrary-minded investors might find some reassurance from the fact that the VIX, the sentiment surveys, and the overall action in the options market suggest that bearishness and pessimism has reached levels considerably higher than at the market bottom following the 49 percent decline in the S&P 500 from March 24, 2000 to October 9, 2002.

TradingMarkets.com wanted to note all the reactions they usually see at near term lows are being put in place. I did not say bear market bottom... and nothing is 100%. First off they have a great image of the TIME MAGAZINE cover.

Investor Sentiment as applied to bloggers feautured in the Ticker Sense Blogger Sentiment Poll.

There is no shortage of investor sentiment surveys out there. But this one by Ronald Domingues returns a 65% success rate.

Bloggers are calling for a bottom; but can we have one without fear?

Bespoke Investment Group regularly track a variety of sentiment and confidence indicators to get read on what other investors are thinking. To no real surprise their has been a large downward trend in the Bullish sentiment. I can't embed their charts, so check them out at their site, but when sentiment goes too far to one extreme, it is time to look for a move in the opposite direction.