双语财经新闻 第34期 股票市盈率不断下降(1)
As investors fixate on the global forces whipsawing the markets, one fundamental measure of stock-market value, the price/earnings ratio, is shrinking in size and importance. And the diminution might not stop for a while.
The P/E ratio, thrust into prominence during the 1930s by vaJue investors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, measures the amount of money investors are paying for a company’s earnings. Typically, companies that post strong earnings growth enjoy richer stock prices and fatter P/E ratios than those that don’t.
市盈率在20世纪30年代因价值投资者本杰明?格雷厄姆和戴维?多德而出名, 该指标衡量投资者为公司获利支付的资金。通常来说，获利强劲的企业股价和市盈 率高于获利较差的企业。
But while U.S. companies announced record profits during the second quarter, and beat forecasts by a comfortable 10% margin, on average, the stock market has dropped 5% this month.
尽管美国企业公布第二季度获利创下纪录,利润率平均较预估髙出10%，但本 月股市下跌5%。
The stock market’s average price/earnings ratio, meanwhile, is in free fall, having plunged about 35% during the past year, the largest 12-month decline since 2003. It now stands at about 14.9, compared with 23.1 last September, based on trailing 12-month earnings results. Basedon profit expectations over the next 12 months, the P/E ratio has fallen to 12.2 from about 14.5 in May.股市平均市盈率目前快速下滑，过去一年累计跌约35%，为2003年以来12个月 的最大跌幅。根据对12个月获利的追踪，目前股市平均市盈率约为14.9，去年9月时 92为23.1。基于对未来12个月的获利预估,市盈率已从5月时的14.5降至12.2。
So what explains the contraction? In short, economic uncertainty. A steady procession of bad news, from the European financial crisis to fears of deflation in the U.S., has prompted analysts to cut profit forecasts for 2011.那怎么解释这一矛盾呢？简单说，是经济的不确定性所致。从欧洲金融危机到 对美国通缩的担忧，坏消息纷至沓来，令分析师纷纷调低了对2011年的获利预估。
“The market is worrying not just about a slowdown, but worse,” said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist3 at Citigroup Global Markets in New York. “People want clarity before they make a decision with their money.”花旗环球金融驻纽约美国股市首席策略师莱乌科维奇说，市场不仅在担心经 济放缓，而且在担心更糟糕的事情，人们在对资金作出决定前，他们希望把情况弄明白。
