Stock Valuations Jumped Again in December

By almost any measure stocks are pricey relative to history. We'll save the theoretical debate about whether such high valuations are justified for another post, and will instead illustrate with charts just how far valuations have come over the last five years.

The Shiller P/E just made a new cycle high in December of 27.1x. The Shiller P/E has only been higher on a few occasions including 1929, the run up to the dot com bubble, and for a brief period in 2007. The Shiller P/E was about 13x at the nadir in 2009.  



The forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500 remains at a cycle high and near its peak over the last ten years. This measure was sub 9x at its low in 2008.



The median stock in North America, Europe and EMs just hit a new record Price/Cash Flow multiple. These latest readings are about double their levels in 2008-2009.