Commodity prices are the primary source of input cost inflation. When these costs are low, typically this means that there is more margin for a company to pay interest and retain earnings. Therefore, stocks and bonds are most sensitive to rising and falling commodity prices. Within a portfolio context, having assets with low or inverse linear relationships is the key to diversification.
Can an allocation in commodities improve diversification efforts within a portfolio? Professional investors can expect to gain an insight into correlations between traditional assets and certain commodities in order to enhance diversfication benefits, while simultaneously obtaining an understanding of the relationship between commodities and traditional asset valuations.