Goldman: Stocks too expensive for buybacks

Goldman Sachs thinks US stocks are expensive and that now is not the time for companies to buy back their own stock. From Bloomberg:

Goldman has published a note recommending companies stop spending their cash on buying back their overpriced shares and instead use those overpriced shares to buy other companies' equity. As the bank puts it, "U.S. equity valuations look expensive on most metrics," with the typical stock in the S&P 500 now trading at a price equal to more than 18 times forward earnings.

Goldman also noted that the last time buybacks were this high was in 2007, right before equities crashed during the financial crisis.