Will Stock Prices Keep Falling? Look Again at the P/E Ratio

Many analysts argue that despite the carnage on Wall Street over the past year, stock prices are still high by historical standards. Is that true? Could stocks fall some more before they reach bottom? Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel, author of Stocks for the Long Run, suggests that benchmarks such as the price-to-earnings ratio present a more hopeful picture than many market observers believe.