Bear market near an end, local stock broker says:
Several indicators suggest the bear market in stocks is over and greener pastures lie ahead, an Indianapolis broker says. Kevin Schmidt, executive vice president of the private client group at City Securities Corp., said most of the bad news has emerged from the housing, airline and finance debacles, which suggests investor sentiment will begin to turn positive. “Psychologically, we are in a funk,” Schmidt said. “It’s not as bad as everybody thinks. The overreaction to the negative has happened.” Schmidt…