According to the recent TIM (Trade Ideas Monitor) report for the week of October 16-22, 2009, increased profit taking resulted in drops in market sentiment in the U.S., with the TIM Sentiment Index (TSI) was down 8.32 points in North America to a significantly lower, but still bullish 51.01 (see last week's post and the youDevise website for additional information on the TIM report, a reading above 50 is bullish). The TSI Worldwide Index was down 5.57 points, falling into bearish territory at 48.03. Eight sectors were in bearish territory, with two bullish. Total new long ideas as a percentage of all new ideas sent to investment managers by way of the TIM decreased 5.81 points to 65.41%.

As for individual securities in the U.S. and North America, Ingersoll-Rand (IR), Terex Corp (TEX), and Freeport McMoRan (FCX) were stocks with long broker sentiment, while Research In Motion (RIMM), Wyeth (WYE), and St. Jude Medical (STJ) had short broker sentiment. In general, the utilities and consumer staples sectors had long broker sentiment, while the information technology, health care, and energy sectors had short broker sentiment.

According to the recent TIM (Trade Ideas Monitor) report, over the last five trading days, institutional brokers are continuing to becoming more bearish (see note below, previous post, or the youDevise website for additional information on the TIM report). For the five trading days ending June 4, the number of short ideas as a percentage of new ideas sent to investment managers increased 41.35%, compared to 35.88% just a week ago. The TIM reflects which direction brokers are expecting a stock to move over the next 1-3 weeks. The TIM Long-Short Index, measuring the total number of long ideas compared to the total number of short ideas sent to clients, decreased 35.4%, further highlighting negativity and bearishness from brokers. As for individual securities, Palm (PALM), Freeport McMoran (FCX), and Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) were the stocks most recommended as shorts by institutional brokers.

Note: The Trade Idea Monitor (TIM) is an application for measuring "ideas from authors (mainly brokers) to recipients (mainly buy-side clients)" (see youDevise website). It is used by institutional brokers to send long and short equity and ETF trade ideas to clients. The TIM Report is based on the number of real-time equity trading ideas sent to over 4,300 equity sales people, sales traders, and analysts at over 300 institutional brokerage firms to more than 100 hedge funds, quant funds, and investment managers.