"Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria. The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell." -- Sir John Templeton

Just as it makes sense to research the stocks attracting top investors, it's equally important to figure out why smart money is leaving other investments. Using Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's 125,000-member-strong investing community, we can see which stocks are losing support from CAPS All-Star players.

A sudden decrease in interest from top-rated investors could signal that the stock is losing steam, which might make it an awful stock to avoid for now. At the very least, such drops should signal that further research is in order.

Here are seven stocks receiving less support from CAPS All-Stars over the past month:

Company

Industry

% Change in
All-Star Bulls From 11/24 to 12/24

CAPS Rating
(5 stars max.)

CAPS Research

Bank of Montreal
(NYSE:BMO)

Commercial Banks

-21%

 3 Stars BMO

Gorman-Rupp
(AMEX:GRC)

Machinery

-18%

 4 Stars GRC

Washington Post
(NYSE:WPO)

Media

-14%

 2 Stars WPO

Vonage
(NYSE:VG)

Diversified Telecommunication Services

-11%

 1 Stars VG

Royal Bank of Canada
(NYSE:RY)

Commercial Banks

-11%

 4 Stars RY

Permian Basin Royalty Trust
(NYSE:PBT)

Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels

-11%

 5 Stars PBT

Panasonic
(NYSE:PC)

Household Durables

-11%

 3 Stars PC

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Dec. 24, 2008.

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