A few weeks ago as the S&P 500 hit a new record, this reporter noted that the index virtually hit a landmark reading, a price to earnings ratio of 30. I actually cheated a bit, as I pointed out in the piece: The actual figure was around 29.85, close enough that I rounded it to 30. The point then was, this is a big, big number that you seldom see mentioned by Wall Street analysts or pundits, who’d rather cite a lower, more marketable multiple based on “next year’s” (always over-estimated) profits or “operating earnings” that exclude real charges as basic as interest expense.

But now it’s in the record books: At 2:35 PM on August 28, the S&P hit another fresh summit at 6501, and the real, not-rounded-up PE hit 30. That ratio’s based on what matters most, GAAP earnings posted over the last

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