S&P 500 Believers See Light Forming in the Market
- Profit estimates on shaky ground with Fed targeting inflation
- Bear-market drops rarely stop with shares at average P/E
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Have stocks stopped being expensive? Among bulls, hope is coalescing around valuation metrics that could support that view, though with so many caveats they require a big dose of courage to heed.
After falling 15% this year, the S&P 500 is trading around 4,000. According to analysts tracked by Bloomberg, its members will earn a combined $248 a share next year. Divide price by earnings, and the result is a forward multiple of 16 -- roughly in line with the three-decade average. So not dirt cheap, but perhaps reasonably priced.