sen∙ti∙ment (noun)

The mood of the market. The attitude of investors towards the near-term prospects for a particular index, asset class, or security. Some investment managers view market sentiment as a valuable contrarian indicator. That is, when the bulk of investors are sour on the prospects for the market, it is often a good time to buy, as much of the bad news is already reflected in prices and the downside risk is limited. Conversely, when an asset class can seemingly do no wrong and investors are piling in, it’s often a good time to trim back.

The above term is taken from The Steadyhand Dictionary, which is designed to help you sift through and make sense of the investment industry's dialect. Think of it as the little black book of investing.