U.S. Treasury Report Rips Market Valuations, Cites "Quicksilver Markets"

Stock market investors are generally accepting a much lower risk premium paid as a multiple of earnings, and this generally high stock valuation raises financial stability issues, a report from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Research reveals.

Market valuations: Volatility spikes foreshadow more turbulent times

Warning that “the volatility spikes in late 2014 and early 2015 may foreshadow more turbulent times ahead,” the government report on financial stability quickly drew upon a risk disclosure. “Although no one can predict the timing of market shocks,” the most difficult of all market events to exactly predict, the report said “we can identify periods when asset prices appear abnormally high,...