Too Many Funds Correlated to S&P 500

Mutual funds that invest in a wide array of investment styles are increasingly moving in tandem with the S&P 500, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a report from Merrill Lynch.

Small stocks are now 94% correlated to the S&P 500, up from 62% in 2000, and emerging-markets stocks are 96% correlated, up from 32% in 2000. Even commodities, which traditionally have moved in the opposite direction of stocks, are today 33% correlated, a big difference from a negative correlation of 14% six years ago.