Nasdaq at All Time High Again

It took just over 15 years for Nasdaq to finally exceed its previous peak reached in March 2000.  The only comparable event in U.S. stock market history is reclaiming pre-depression 1929 high — and it took Dow 25 years to do that.  So how does Nasdaq of today compare to 15 years ago?

The short answer is, there is nothing in common.  In 2000, internet exuberance affected valuations of most companies.  Even leaders of that era, like Microsoft and Cisco, sported tripe-digit PEs, and of course many dotcoms not only had no current earnings, but no prospects of getting any in the future.  Today, while there are a number of richly valued companies, most of them are solidly profitable with proven business models.  And today’s industry leaders like Google or Apple trade at reasonable forward PE in the teens.  Investor attitude also changed markedly.  In 2000, your taxi driver or your barber was ready to give you hot stock tips.  Today, more than half of U.S. population, burned by market crashes in 2000 and then again in 2008, eschews equities altogether (missing on the gains of this six year old bull market).

With earnings season underway, the results so far are similar to those of several prior quarters: about 70% of companies that reported so far exceeded earnings estimates.  These estimates were previously reduced, however, due to strong dollar and poor results by energy companies because of the fall of oil prices.  For the next couple of quarters, earnings are expected to stay flat or even decline, and that may make it difficult for the market to advance.  While there is no bubble to speak of, we may finally get that long-awaited 10% correction.

Or maybe not.  With no inflation in sight and strong dollar, there is little likelihood of Fed raising interest rates soon, and equities will continue to be the investors’ choice to generate reasonable returns.  But it is not useful to speculate on the direction of the overall market – instead, as always, it is much more productive and profitable to concentrate on the companies in your own portfolio.