U.S. retail investors remain bearish for the fourth consecutive week, yet the stock market may now have room for a rebound. U.S. retail investor sentiment continues to deteriorate. According to the AAII Investor Sentiment Survey released on November 5, the gap between optimism and pessimism stood at -14.3 percentage points. This represents a 10.7 percentage point worsening from the prior week and marks the fourth straight week of pessimism dominating. However, I don’t see these numbers as purely negative. The stock market is peculiar. When everyone is optimistic, risk often rises; conversely, as pessimism deepens, the potential for a rebound can grow. If many investors are already bracing for further declines, the market’s sensitivity to additional negative news may gradually diminish. That said, it’s hard to interpret this reading as extreme fear. In 2025, the gap between optimism and pessimism once fell below -40 percentage points. Moreover, this survey closed on Wednesday night and did not reflect Thursday’s sharp drop. Actual investor sentiment may now be even worse than these figures suggest. I believe two distinctions are crucial here. While growing pessimism may create a more favorable environment for a rebound, it alone does not confirm that the market has hit its bottom. What truly matters is not how bad sentiment has become, but whether prices stop falling despite negative news. Only then can pessimism itself become fuel for an upward move. Prices remain unstable, yet the level of concern has already reached record highs.