Expensive Habits

But the cough is significant, because the numbers are… well, they’re showing off. The Shiller P/E ratio, or CAPE, as the professionals call it—a name that sounds suspiciously like a type of outerwear—is hovering around 39.2. That’s nearing 2000 levels, which, if you recall, was a time when people were convinced pets.com was a viable business model. It’s a ratio that looks at ten years of earnings, smoothing out the bumps, and right now, it’s screaming “expensive.” My father used to say anything over 20 was a fool’s game, but he also wore socks with sandals, so…








