The ratio has been so stable over time that it appears to be the natural order of things.

ECONOMIST: Gendercide

In order to value a stock, the first statistic many investors look at is the price to earnings ratio.

FORBES: Is A Low P/E Ratio Always A Steal?

Still, serious caution is in order--in the real estate slump of 1990, Hovnanian's price-to-book ratio dropped as far as 0.3.

FORBES: Magazine Article

For example, you didn't mention that the recent interest-rate rise on January 31st followed both an unexpected increase in the cash reserve ratio by the central bank and cuts to import duty on several items by the government in order to check inflation.

ECONOMIST: Is India still shining?

In order for China to be on par with the U.S., in terms of gold reserves to currency ratio, China would have to nearly quadruple its gold reserves.

FORBES: Year of the Golden Rabbit

"With its high leverage ratio to tangible common equity, we believe Lehman needs to raise substantial capital regardless of market conditions in order to take its needed write-downs, " Einhorn said in an email Tuesday.

FORBES: Lehman Doesn't Need The Money