That looks improbable. The return from equities comprises the dividend yield, plus dividend growth, plus or minus any change in the rating (the price-dividend ratio).

And shares that look cheap on conventional measures (asset value, dividend yield, price-earnings ratio) also tend to deliver above-average returns, but belong to firms that are likelier to go bust.

Another big plus: Stocks are dirt-cheap, whether you consider price-to-cash flow, price-to-book value, price-to-sales ratio or dividend yield.