A friend of mine (who trades big money in commods) shared this with me yesterday.
"Today, I've been getting messages and emails (>15) from friends who are worried about the stock market. They are afraid that it is getting hammered and going down. My friends are what one would consider to be the general public and not in the investment, trading or banking or any financial business. I mention that the S&P is only 0.77% off the all time high and any obituaries are a bit premature. The market has had a helluva run as of late and the past 3 days is not even a bump in the road."
Now, this does NOT preclude a correction (in fact, I'm looking for one), but this mentality suggests that there's a remarkably high level of pessimism about the market (and probably the economy).
The prospect for a Bear Market looks about as slim as it can be, currently.
Mark