Equity valuation: Where’s the bottom?

The endless series of new index lows has repeatedly confounded investors who see equities as having become cheap again. The rally at the end of last year has raised hopes once more that valuations might have found a bottom. However, for some leading strategists, what looks like cheap today may not be cheap enough.

Despite the last week of November offering the best week for stocks for about 75 years, the bear market rally has struggled to gain traction.

“Sure equities are cheap compared with where they were a year ago when people were already saying that they were cheap enough to withstand a recession but equities are a lot cheaper now,” says Albert Edwards, chief investment strategist at SG CIB. “The problem, however, especially for the US, is that we had a valuation bubble that peaked in 2000 and which has been structurally de-rating since.

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