As many individual investors have taken a cue from professional and institutional money managers, alternative investments have gone mainstream – and commodities lead the trend. Interest in this asset class has exploded as individual retail investors have discovered commodities’ vast benefits, like low correlation to equities and bonds, inflation-fighting capabilities and their ability to profit from some of the world’s fastest-growing emerging markets. These benefits have made funds like the  PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC) popular holdings in many portfolios [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].