Correlation between commodities and stocks falls in 2011 but remains historically high

Over the 10-year period ended Dec. 31, 2011, the correlation of weekly returns of the S&P GSCI Total Return index and the S&P 500 index was 0.298. Since 2008, however, diversification benefits have subsided as the asset class has become more accessible to investors. The correlation between commodities and equities rose to a high of 0.77 in 2010, falling slightly in 2011 to 0.59.