Eoin Treacy's view A couple of months ago we highlighted the fact that a relatively large number of blue chip US stocks were outperforming the 10yr bond on a yield basis. This situation demonstrated the value present in globally competitive consumer shares and the comparative overvaluation of Treasury bonds following an accelerated advance to test the 2008 highs.

On a superficial level, the Australian market appears to run counter to this trend with the RBA rate of 4.75% comparing with a yield of 4.17% on the ASX 200. However, on a closer inspection this comparatively low yield relative to the cash rate is explained by the rather meager dividends offered by the two largest shares on the Index; BHP Billiton (3.03%) and Rio Tinto (1.65%). The next four largest companies, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (8.48%), Westpac (12.75%), ANZ (6.41%) and National Australia Bank (8.07%) offer a considerably more attractive gross payout.

(Please note: All data quoted above originates in Bloomberg. We realise that some of the data displayed is inaccurate for some indices, particularly where ADRs are included. However, I have endeavoured to remove those indices which were most problematic. We continue to publish these tables because the data is generally accurate and going forward we will continue to weed-out the less reliable data sets as subscribers highlight them for us. I have also deleted the FTSE AIM Index from the list because it does not seem to have very reliable figures. The P/Es quoted by Bloomberg are exclusively based on operating earnings.)