This document shows that bearish sentiment among individual investors as measured by the American Association of Individual Investors was near its highest level in 21 years in March 2009. However, the S&P 500 rose in the subsequent 6 months after high bearish readings in 2002, 2004, and 2005. The JSCO Pain Index, which measures investor pessimism, was also at its lowest level since June 2007 in March 2009.