GLOBAL equity markets were thrown into turmoil last week after US Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen said interest rate rises would begin about six months after quantitative easing ended in the United States.
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The Federal Reserve policy statement indicated the benchmark federal-funds rate will remain near zero for a "considerable time" after its asset-purchase program ends.
Ms Yellen attempted to clarify her statement, saying it was "hard to define" but "probably means something on the order of about six months".
As expected the US central bank has decided to cut its monthly asset bond purchase program by another $10 billion to $55b a month.
This means "the Fed" will cut bond purchases by $10b to $55b/month and it also dropped its 6.5 per cent jobless rate threshold.
The positive aspect from this news is these moves should be interpreted as further evidence the central bank sees an improvement in US economic conditions.
In the shorter term, however, markets are nervous because long bond yields are rising causing volatility in bond markets and potentially sucking cash out of the stock market.
Continuing with an equity market yield theme, Australian investors are among the world's most demanding when it comes to expecting yields from their shares.
One stock with a high yield and offering diversity away from financial sector shares is resources company Woodside Petroleum (WPL).
Its recent net profit after tax (NPAT) was slightly ahead of consensus, but the quality of the beat was low due to less than expected depreciation and amortisation.
The first full year of WPL's Pluto liquid natural gas (LNG) production off the northern West Australian coast has delivered volume gains despite unplanned outages.
The new pricing regime for Pluto will provide a boost to earnings, so WPL's decision to continue the high payout ratio (80pc) is encouraging for shareholders.
The real focus of the market has been Woodside's LNG reserves.
Market expectations are for WPL to push ahead with projects such as Leviathan and/or Browse, or deploy more funds into exploration.
The current dividend policy of 80pc payout is expected to be maintained for the foreseeable future.
I am cautious about using WPL's forward price/earnings ratio, as earnings will be in decline for a few years, but the estimated 2014-15 dividend yield of 5.4pc is heartening.
Christopher Hindmarsh is executive director at JBWere Private Wealth, email:
Christopher.Hindmarsh@jbwere.com or telephone, (02) 9325 2639.