Which Markets Are Cheap

Global markets—particularly emerging ones—have been looking increasingly uncertain of late. But turmoil can mean opportunity. Now that the Fed finally seems committed to winding down its multiyear liquidity binge, how does the world look for investors? The graphic below offers a snapshot of stock market values by country over the past decade. It’s based on the PEG ratio: the price/earnings ratio of a stock divided by the company’s expected profit growth. We applied it to each country’s major stock index. The PEG ratio was the favorite metric of legendary money manager Peter Lynch, who delivered epic returns at Fidelity’s Magellan Fund. It essentially reveals how much investors are paying for growth.

Fortune Magazine, April 2014