Goldman Sachs - "U.S. equity valuations look expensive on most metrics"

Goldman Sachs say U.S. equity valuations look expensive on most metrics and urge companies to stop buying back their own stock at such high prices

Say that:

• The current price to earnings (P/E) expansion phase has lasted 43 months
• Will likely end when the Fed starts raising interest rates (GS expects this to start in September)

GS go on:

• The last time buybacks were this high was in 2007
• Just before stocks plummeted during the financial crisis

So, on buybacks, GS says to just say no:

Exhibiting poor market timing, buybacks peaked in 2007 (34% of cash spent) and troughed in 2009 (13%). Firms should focus on M&A rather than pursue buybacks at a time when P/E multiples are so high.