Market PE's

From Chart of the Day:

Today's chart {shown below} illustrates how the recent rise in earnings as well as the recent stock market correction has impacted the current valuation of the stock market as measured by the price to earnings ratio (PE ratio). Generally speaking, when the PE ratio is high, stocks are considered to be expensive. When the PE ratio is low, stocks are considered to be inexpensive. From 1900 into the mid-1990s, the PE ratio tended to peak in the low to mid-20s (red line) and trough somewhere around seven (green line). The price investors were willing to pay for a dollar of earnings increased during the dot-com boom (late 1990s), surged even higher during the dot-com bust (early 2000s), and spiked to extraordinary levels during the financial crisis (late 2000s). As a result of the recent spike in corporate earnings as well as relatively lower stock prices (e.g. the S&P 500 currently trades 9% off its April 2010 highs) the PE ratio has dropped to a level that has not existed since the end of 1990.

 
*Long ETFs related to the S&P 500 in client and personal accounts.
 
Link:  Market PE's