Saturday, April 21, 2012

When Are Stocks Really Cheap?

The financial media from time to time reports when they feel stocks are cheap or not, based on a comparison with bonds.

They're usually confused because the bonds in this comparison are always Treasurys and not corporate, which have higher yields and contain an element of risk that Treasury bonds never have. So the comparison is skewed.

Their actual comparison is made with the earnings yield on stocks and the earnings yield on Treasurys. The comparison is on a relative basis over the years. Trying to determine whether this strategy is the key to success is a problem, however, when you look at results of its past use. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)










No comments:

Post a Comment