Investor Sentiment Check

The markets remain in the red, and are testing their January lows. As for investor sentiment, it remains at very high (bearish) levels. While sentiment alone can't make the market bottom, the market is getting very oversold, and the bearish sentiment should help make for a stronger bounce at some point.

Here are what some of the indicators are showing:

• The volatility index (VIX) is up +5% at 29
• The ARMS Index has been above 1.30 all day, indicative of heavy selling pressure
• The CBOE put/call hit an elevated level of 1.41 today
• The ISEE is extremely low at 74, which is the put/call equivalent of 1.35
• The 10-day ISEE made an all-time low on Friday, since this index's inception

The technicals seem totally in charge here, and the market continues to go down on bad news. But there are also plenty of brightspots in the bullish argument. I will try to expand on some of them later.