Making sense of volatile markets

Shares slide: The US Dow Jones share index fell by 391 points or 2.4 per cent on Friday. Volatile markets: In Australia over the past year there have been 85 daily moves on the ASX 200 index of more or less than 1 per cent – a 3½-year high using annual rolling averages. Expensive US stocks: The over-priced US sharemarket is contributing to the unsettled times. The US sharemarket is over-valued by around 10 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is reasonably valued based on historic averages.