Stocks have never been so correlated. The specifics of each company’s profit and loss account have become secondary to the broader factors of the market.
The figures demonstrate this beyond argument. In October last year, for example, the one-month correlation between individual S&P 500 stocks reached 90 per cent. The average since 1990 has been 30 per cent. Similarly, the correlation of different geographical indices has increased steadily. Twenty years ago, emerging markets offered great diversification from the developed world, with a correlation of almost zero. Now, that correlation is close to 80 per cent, according to MSCI indices. Read more
James Mackintosh is the Financial Times' Investment Editor, writing and presenting the daily Short View column and video. In 16 years at the FT his posts have included comment editor, motor industry editor and hedge funds correspondent, as well as spells in the Parliamentary lobby and Paris. He was the first reporter hired for FT.com, joining two weeks before it launched.
John Authers is the Financial Times' Senior Investment Columnist, writing the Saturday Long View and a regular Monday column. In a 22-year career at the FT, his previous posts have included global head of the Lex column, investment editor, US markets editor, Mexico City bureau chief and US banking correspondent. His latest book is The Fearful Rise of Markets. 