by Calculated Risk on 2/13/2009 12:52:00 PM

"This ... will be the first quarter ever of negative earnings"
Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst, at Standard & Poor's.

From MarketWatch: S&P heads to first quarter ever of negative earnings

[N]early 400 of the S&P's 500 companies have weighed in and reported a collective loss -- even excluding financials.
...
A sixth quarter of negative growth ties the prior record set when Harry Truman was president, and ran from the first quarter of 1951 to the second quarter of 1952.

"And next quarter we're expected a new record of seven quarters of negative growth," Silverblatt said.

As of the close of business Thursday, Silverblatt calculates S&P earnings-per-share, on a reported basis, at a loss of $10.44 for the quarter. If financials were taken out of the equation, that EPS deficit would drop to $2.35.

What is the P/E for that?