As equities worldwide surged in October, correlations collapsed from their elevated highs of September; this month we report correlations at normal or below-normal levels for most of our indices.
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The correlation among S&P Emerging BMI equities remains indicative of concern; the continued significance of trends in the U.S. dollar and global central bank stimulus provide the likely culprits. Correlation in the S&P China BMI remains unusually high, albeit also down from September.
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October should have been a great month for skilful (or lucky) “stock pickers” as dispersion rose in most markets, particularly in China and Canada. U.S. small and mid-cap dispersion now reads well above average, large-cap dispersion slightly so.