Average Stock Valuation Hits New Cycle High

One way to look at a cross section of stock valuations is to look at the percent of stocks that are trading above some trailing average valuation level. In the below chart we examine the percent of stocks trading above their trailing three year average price to sales ratio (the least manipulatable valuation ratio we have) and note that 77% of stocks in the MSCI World Index are valued above average now.



In the below chart we take the idea one step further and examine the percent of stocks trading within 25% of their three year maximum valuation level. Again, we are looking at the price to sales ratio and note that 75% of stocks in the MSCI World Index are trading near their 3 year peak valuation. We see the same general trend when examining the trailing five and seven year time periods as well. Stocks, on average, do not appear cheap by these measures.