Bearishness among individual investors—measured by the percentage who expect stock prices to fall over the next six months—reached 47.3% for the week ended Feb. 12, according to the latest survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. That is the highest level since November 2023.

The unabashed bullishness that marked much of the past two years has been muddied by trade-war threats, regulatory upheaval, stubborn inflation and the dwindling expectations for additional interest-rate cuts.