Forum Archive Index - September 1999

["Mark Hubbard" <mhubbard@es.co.nz>]

To accept a particular PE ratio just because other companies in that
industry have similar ratios, seem non-sensical to myself (this, I suspect,
is part of the reason the US stock market has become so overvalued. Some
sort of herd instinct). A share's valuation has to be viewed, in my opinion,
individually and on its own merits. As Brent has said, having to wait over
76 years for FCB to pay the purchase price of the share back out of its
earnings is crazy stuff, unless you believe that is going to have a very
'dramatic' increase in earnings - which I do not believe is the case.

PE is only one aspect that I look at when valuing a share (for myself), but
it is important, and high PE's make me think doubly hard about buying a
share.

You might have guessed I have no US shares (indeed, I have just sold
completely out of every US managed fund that I have been in).


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