Using the RPF Model to Translate Punditry 127 After Tuesday's big rally, the ratio was just a shade below 16, or almost equal to its long-run average. This is a little difficult to swallow, I realize. Stocks are down 40 percent since last October, and every experience from the last 25 years suggests they now have to bounce back. 9 While Leonhardt was right and stocks had a long way to fall, the fall was not due to the relative P/E 10 ratio, but due to the fact that earnings fell off a cliff. They dropped 39 percent over the next four quarters. THE WRONG DISCUSSION Nearly every day you can hear market sentiments on CNBC. While CNBC has a lot of great guests and commentary, some of it is of little value. For example, on the morning of November 30, 2010, the following comments were reported by one of the guests, who I will leave unnamed: "Although the market is a little weak, it's in a bottoming-out process technically," and "We'll get a bounce up to 1,250 before we really have the big decline that we've been expecting for some time."