Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

What Is the Correlation Coefficient? The correlation coefficient is a metric that measures the strength and direction of a relationship between two securities or variables, such as a stock and a ...

Correlation coefficients range from -1 to +1, indicating the strength of relationships between variables. Investors use correlation coefficients for portfolio diversification to reduce risk.

Investopedia contributors come from a range of backgrounds, and over 25 years there have been thousands of expert writers and editors who have contributed. Thomas J Catalano is a CFP and Registered ...

A correlation tells you how two financial variables move together. Financial variables can be assets like stock prices, and bond yields or economic indicators like interest rates. The direction in ...