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S&P 500 Stocks Are 45% Cheaper Than When Index Last Hit Record
By Michael Patterson

May 31, 2007 00:07 EDT

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index may still be a bargain after the benchmark for U.S. equities surpassed its 2000 record.

The index's 500 members are 45 percent less expensive relative to historical profits than when the index last peaked, and 30 percent cheaper than when it fell to a decade low in October 2002. Price-to-earnings ratios declined after companies reported 14 straight quarters of 10 percent-plus profit growth, the longest streak since 1950.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to 1530.23 yesterday, eclipsing its previous high of 1527.46 set March 24, 2000, led by Exxon Mobil Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Apple Inc. The gauge, whose members have a median market value of $14 billion, rallied 7.9 percent this year after first-quarter earnings climbed three times more than analysts' estimates.

``The market is definitely much more fairly priced than it was back in 2000,'' said Michael Mullaney, who helps manage $10 billion at Fiduciary Trust Co. in Boston. ``It's on a much more solid fundamental footing -- we're in pretty good standing for at least the remaining part of the year.''

Investors plowed $199 billion into mutual funds dedicated to U.S. equities during the 10-month stretch leading up to the 2000 record, including $36.5 billion in February of that year, the biggest increase in any month during the past nine years, according to data compiled by TrimTabs Investment Research in Sausalito, California.

Price-Earnings

The flood of money into the U.S. stock market helped boost the average price-earnings multiple for S&P 500 shares to 32.8 in March 2000. That compares with a 25.7 average earnings multiple when the market fell to a low in October 2002 and an 18 multiple today.

The S&P 500 plunged 49 percent between March 2000 and Oct. 9, 2002, dragged down by an 82 percent decline in computer- related shares. Those stocks had surged more than 12-fold during the 1990s and led the S&P 500's record-breaking rally.

The index climbed 26 percent in 2003 as the Federal Reserve trimmed interest rates to the lowest since 1958. The so-called federal funds target remained at 1 percent for a year before policy makers raised it 17 straight times.

Other U.S. equity benchmarks have performed better than the S&P 500 since March 2000. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 23 percent during the period, while the Russell 2000 Index, consisting of companies with a median market value of $664 million, has gained 47 percent.

Asia, Europe

Shares in Asia and so-called emerging markets have also outperformed the S&P 500 since 2000. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index has jumped 26 percent since 2000 and is valued at 19.2 times historical profits. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has soared 94 percent and trades for 15.2 times past earnings.

The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, has a price-earnings multiple of 13.9 after it declined 17 percent.

The Nasdaq Composite Index, which gets more than two-fifths of its value from computer-related shares, is still 49 percent below its March 10, 2000, peak.

Energy and utilities shares led the S&P 500's rally, climbing about threefold since October 2002.