Update: dictionary.com says twice a year... it continues with the definition with every two years: Biennial. In Britain, it seems, it might mean both... but in the U.S. biannual means twice a year.
We're talking about the price-to-earnings, or P/E, ratio. The current 12-month forward P/E ratio is 16.8, FactSet's John Butters said on Friday. This P/E ratio is above the 5-year average (13.8) and the 10-year average (14.1).. But just because stocks are expensive relative to their long-term average is no guarantee that prices are doomed to fall immediately.
Price-earnings ratio, also known as P/E ratio, is a tool that is used by investors to help decide whether they should buy a stock. Essentially, the P/E ratio tells potential investors how much they have to pay for every $1 of earnings. A low P/E ratio is attractive in the sense that one pays less for every $1 of earnings.