The Stock Market

The Cult of Equity. A historical perspective of the stock market – as provided by US economics professor Robert Shiller – shows just how much more stocks have been valued in recent years in relation to corporate earnings. Robert Shiller’s 10-yr real adjusted P/E ratio on the S&P500, which uses ten year smoothed earnings, sits at 20; at the TOP of its range if the pre-first great depression spike in 1929 and Nasdaq 2000 spike are taken out. Equities will look cheap at P/E ratio of 6-8 on this metric.

But for all the talk of historical valuations, the S&P 500 simply tracks initial jobless claims.

US initial jobless claims vs S&P 500

Picture 1 of 5