View: Cyclical P/E Ratio

After dropping to 13.3 in March 2009, the P/E10 rebounded to an interim high of 23.5 in February of last year and is now at 20.5. The next chart gives us a historical context for these numbers. The ratio in this chart is doubly smoothed (10-year average of earnings and monthly averages of daily closing prices). Thus the fluctuations during the month aren't especially relevant (e.g., the difference between the monthly average and monthly close P/E10).