Earnings

Bespoke published this chart and commentary yesterday.  {Note we have been using a year end earnings number of $93-95 and a year end price target of 1350-1400.}  Below is Bespoke's  commentary.

"{Published above} is a table highlighting the year-end 2011 S&P 500 price targets of major Wall Street strategists from Bloomberg's weekly survey. We also provide where the targets stood at the start of the year when the slate was clean. As shown, the average year-end price target is currently 1,383, which would be a gain of 16.2% from current levels. Price targets that are highlighted in green have been increased versus the start of the year, while targets highlighted in red have been lowered versus the start of the year. As shown, five firms have increased their targets while two have lowered them. The increases were done earlier in the year when the market was still in positive territory. It will be interesting to see how much these targets drop now that the market has turned decidedly negative.

We also provide the strategists' estimates for 2011 S&P 500 earnings. Just like the year-end price target, the average estimate is currently higher than it was versus the start of the year ($96.46 vs. $92.33). The average year-end price target and 2011 EPS estimate gives the S&P a P/E ratio of 14.34. At the moment, the S&P 500's P/E is just over 13.


It's going to be tough for the index to live up to strategist expectations at this point, but hey, stranger things have happened."

Link:  Bespoke: Year End Earnings.

*Long ETFs related to the S&P 500 in client and personal accounts.