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.
Cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio. The cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio, commonly known as CAPE, Shiller P/E, or P/E 10 ratio, is a valuation measure usually applied to the US S&P 500 equity market. It is defined as price divided by the average of ten years of earnings (moving average), adjusted for inflation.