In dotcom bubble time, it's still only 1997 for US equities

New York

TERRIFIED that rallies in Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Google portend a millennial catastrophe along the lines of the dotcom bust? Relax. Going by one doomsday clock, it's only 1997 in bubble years.

So says Leuthold Group LLC in a study that plots today's valuations against the salad days of Internet mania. Based on its model, which measures the S&P 500 Index by six factors including earnings, dividends and cash flow, the Minneapolis-based firm found that stocks currently trade at the multiple they first reached 20 years ago.