First it was the strategists lowering their recommended equity allocation down to the lowest levels since March 2009.  Now, individual investors are at their most bearish levels in nearly two years.  According to the weekly survey of individual investor sentiment from the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), bullish sentiment came in at it 23.6%, which is the lowest weekly reading since August 2010.

Below is a chart of the Bloomberg World index's change in market cap since the start of 2011.  Stocks worldwide have a total market cap of roughly $37 trillion at the moment.  As shown, this is down $3.1 trillion since the start of 2011 and down $4.1 trillion over the past two months.  Since the start of May, the world has lost roughly $3 trillion in market cap.

Some of the more popular charts across a variety of markets.  These are weekly charts.  The black and red dots are key pivot points, which represent the best areas of support (buying) and resistance (selling).  The general consensus: if you were a bull 3 weeks ago, then you are likely underwater in your positions and [...]

A RARE slip-up by lawyers has helped shed some light on a high-profile legal battle, the details of which some of the largest Wall Street firms have been fighting to keep under wraps. The case concerns allegations of illegal “naked” short selling, where the rules have been tightened several times over the past seven years.In 2007 Overstock sued 11 brokers, alleging that they had caused its share price to fall by helping their clients to naked-short the Utah-based retailer. In a normal short sale, shares are borrowed (or at least “located”) with a broker’s help before being sold.