Module 02 · Race

M2 vs S&P 500 — and four other lines

Has the stock market just been tracking M2 expansion? Pick a normalize date and watch the lines diverge.

Indexed race · 2026-05-03

1020501002005001k2k5k10k20k1995200020052010201520202025Indexed · Jan 01, 2000 = 100
2026-05-03
Jan 1995May 2026
Six series weekly-resampled and indexed to 100 at the chosen normalize date (default 1 Jan 2000). Lines that don’t exist on that date start at 100 from their first available week. As of Apr 2026.
Data table (for screen readers and reference)

Showing the most recent 200 rows of 1,636 total. See the methodology page for the full underlying series.

M2 vs S&P 500 — weekly readings as of 2026-04-27.M2 and WALCL in $T; SP500 index level; DGS10 in %. BTC and Gold are available in the interactive scrubber.
Week endingM2 ($T)WALCL ($T)S&P 50010y (%)
2022-07-108.8923899.383.09
2022-07-178.8963863.162.93
2022-07-248.8993961.632.77
2022-07-318.8904130.292.67
2022-08-0721.6388.8754145.192.83
2022-08-148.8794280.152.84
2022-08-218.8504228.482.98
2022-08-288.8514057.663.04
2022-09-0421.5378.8263924.263.20
2022-09-118.8224067.363.33
2022-09-188.8333873.333.45
2022-09-258.8173693.233.69
2022-10-0221.4628.7963585.623.83
2022-10-098.7593639.663.89
2022-10-168.7593583.074.00
2022-10-238.7443752.754.21
2022-10-308.7233901.064.02
2022-11-0621.4078.6773770.554.17
2022-11-138.6793992.933.82
2022-11-208.6263965.343.82
2022-11-278.6214026.123.68
2022-12-0421.2918.5854071.703.51
2022-12-118.5833934.383.57
2022-12-188.5833852.363.48
2022-12-258.5643844.823.75
2023-01-0121.2808.5513839.503.88
2023-01-088.5073895.083.55
2023-01-158.5093999.093.49
2023-01-228.4893972.613.48
2023-01-298.4714070.563.52
2023-02-0521.2448.4344136.483.53
2023-02-128.4354090.463.74
2023-02-198.3854079.093.82
2023-02-268.3823970.043.95
2023-03-0520.9478.3404045.643.97
2023-03-128.3423861.593.70
2023-03-198.6393916.643.39
2023-03-268.7343970.993.38
2023-04-0220.7618.7064109.313.48
2023-04-098.6324105.023.39
2023-04-168.6154137.643.52
2023-04-238.5934133.523.57
2023-04-308.5634169.483.44
2023-05-0720.8308.5044136.253.44
2023-05-148.5034124.083.46
2023-05-218.4574191.983.70
2023-05-288.4364205.453.80
2023-06-0420.7998.3864282.373.69
2023-06-118.3894298.863.75
2023-06-188.3884409.593.77
2023-06-258.3624348.333.74
2023-07-0220.7918.3414450.383.81
2023-07-098.2984398.954.06
2023-07-168.2974505.423.83
2023-07-238.2754536.343.84
2023-07-308.2434582.233.96
2023-08-0620.7778.2074478.034.05
2023-08-138.2084464.054.16
2023-08-208.1464369.714.26
2023-08-278.1394405.714.25
2023-09-0320.7488.1214515.774.18
2023-09-108.1014457.494.26
2023-09-178.0994450.324.33
2023-09-248.0244320.064.44
2023-10-0120.7338.0024288.054.59
2023-10-087.9564308.504.78
2023-10-157.9524327.784.63
2023-10-227.9334224.164.93
2023-10-297.9084117.374.84
2023-11-0520.7467.8674358.344.57
2023-11-127.8614415.244.61
2023-11-197.8154514.024.44
2023-11-267.8114559.344.47
2023-12-0320.7787.7964594.634.22
2023-12-107.7374604.374.23
2023-12-177.7404719.193.91
2023-12-247.7244754.633.90
2023-12-317.7134769.833.88
2024-01-0720.8447.6814697.244.05
2024-01-147.6874783.833.96
2024-01-217.6744839.814.15
2024-01-287.6774890.974.15
2024-02-0420.9277.6304958.614.03
2024-02-117.6315026.614.17
2024-02-187.6345005.574.30
2024-02-257.5825088.804.26
2024-03-0320.9737.5685137.084.19
2024-03-107.5395123.694.09
2024-03-177.5425117.094.31
2024-03-247.5145234.184.22
2024-03-317.4855254.354.20
2024-04-0720.9597.4405204.344.39
2024-04-147.4385123.414.50
2024-04-217.4064967.234.62
2024-04-287.4025099.964.67
2024-05-0521.0207.3625127.794.50
2024-05-127.3535222.684.50
2024-05-197.3045303.274.42
2024-05-267.3005304.724.46
2024-06-0221.0687.2845277.514.51
2024-06-097.2565346.994.43
2024-06-167.2595431.604.20
2024-06-237.2535464.624.25
2024-06-307.2315460.484.36
2024-07-0721.0947.2225567.194.28
2024-07-147.2245615.354.18
2024-07-217.2085505.004.25
2024-07-287.2055459.104.20
2024-08-0421.1867.1785346.563.80
2024-08-117.1755344.163.94
2024-08-187.1785554.253.89
2024-08-257.1405634.613.81
2024-09-0121.2697.1235648.403.91
2024-09-087.1135408.423.72
2024-09-157.1155626.023.66
2024-09-227.1095702.553.73
2024-09-297.0805738.173.75
2024-10-0621.3317.0475751.073.98
2024-10-137.0475815.034.08
2024-10-207.0395864.674.08
2024-10-277.0295808.124.25
2024-11-0321.4527.0135728.804.37
2024-11-106.9945995.544.30
2024-11-176.9675870.624.43
2024-11-246.9245969.344.41
2024-12-0121.4856.9056032.384.18
2024-12-086.8966090.274.15
2024-12-156.8976051.094.40
2024-12-226.8895930.854.52
2024-12-296.8865970.844.62
2025-01-0521.5486.8525942.474.60
2025-01-126.8545827.044.77
2025-01-196.8345996.664.61
2025-01-266.8326101.244.63
2025-02-0221.6136.8186040.534.58
2025-02-096.8116025.994.49
2025-02-166.8146114.634.47
2025-02-236.7826013.134.42
2025-03-0221.6946.7665954.504.24
2025-03-096.7575770.204.32
2025-03-166.7605638.944.31
2025-03-236.7565667.564.25
2025-03-306.7405580.944.27
2025-04-0621.7766.7235074.084.01
2025-04-136.7275363.364.48
2025-04-206.7275282.704.34
2025-04-276.7275525.214.29
2025-05-0421.8346.7095686.674.33
2025-05-116.7115659.914.37
2025-05-186.7135958.384.43
2025-05-256.6895802.824.51
2025-06-0121.9396.6735911.694.41
2025-06-086.6736000.364.51
2025-06-156.6775976.974.41
2025-06-226.6815967.844.38
2025-06-296.6626173.074.29
2025-07-0622.0206.6606279.354.35
2025-07-136.6626259.754.43
2025-07-206.6596296.794.44
2025-07-276.6586388.644.40
2025-08-0322.0876.6436238.014.23
2025-08-106.6416389.454.27
2025-08-176.6446449.804.33
2025-08-246.6186466.914.26
2025-08-316.6036460.264.23
2025-09-0722.1706.6026481.504.10
2025-09-146.6066584.294.06
2025-09-216.6096664.364.14
2025-09-286.6086643.704.20
2025-10-0522.2506.5876715.794.13
2025-10-126.5916552.514.05
2025-10-196.5966664.014.02
2025-10-266.5906791.694.02
2025-11-0222.2976.5876840.204.11
2025-11-096.5736728.804.11
2025-11-166.5806734.114.14
2025-11-236.5556602.994.06
2025-11-306.5526849.094.02
2025-12-0722.3876.5366870.404.14
2025-12-146.5396827.414.19
2025-12-216.5576834.504.16
2025-12-286.5816929.944.14
2026-01-0422.4696.6416858.474.19
2026-01-116.5746966.284.18
2026-01-186.5826940.014.24
2026-01-256.5856915.614.24
2026-02-0122.6676.5886939.034.26
2026-02-086.6066932.304.22
2026-02-156.6226836.174.04
2026-02-226.6136909.514.08
2026-03-016.6146878.883.97
2026-03-086.6296740.024.15
2026-03-156.6466632.194.28
2026-03-226.6566506.484.39
2026-03-296.6576368.854.44
2026-04-056.6756582.694.35
2026-04-126.6946816.894.31
2026-04-196.7067126.064.26
2026-04-266.7077165.084.34
2026-05-03

How to read this

Every line is rebased to 100 on the normalize date (default: 1 January 2000). When two lines diverge, the steeper one has compounded faster from that base — that’s what "race"means. Drag the scrubber or press play to redraw the lines from the left in chronological order; pause anywhere; hover to read the indexed value and the raw value for every series at that week. Toggle the y-axis between linear (best for the first decade) and log (best for fitting Bitcoin and a flat 10-year yield on the same canvas). Pick a different normalize date to ask different questions: rebase to 2009 and watch the post-QE bull market start at zero; rebase to 2020-03-23 and ask whether the COVID rally did anything more than catch up to M2.

What this is showing right now

As of Apr 2026 · indexed to Jan 2000 = 100

Since Jan 2000, M2 money supply has multiplied 4.86× (486 on a 100 base) while the S&P 500 has multiplied 3.47× (347 on a 100 base, indexed from May 2016). Bitcoin sits at 17,407 (indexed from May 2016); gold at 366, WALCL at 932, 10Y yield at 67.

  • Bitcoin17407
  • Fed Total Assets932
  • M2 Money Stock486
  • Gold366
  • S&P 500347
  • 10-Year Treasury67

Historical context

In January 2000, the Nasdaq was three months from peaking, M2 was $4.6 trillion, and the Fed’s balance sheet was a sleepy $700 billion. Then dot-com unwound, 9/11 forced an emergency cycle of cuts, and Greenspan parked the policy rate at 1% for most of 2003–2004. Money supply quietly compounded.

QE1 (Nov 2008) is the place the M2 and SP500 lines visibly decouple from boring linear growth. QE2, Operation Twist, QE3 — each one widens the gap between "what the central bank holds"(WALCL) and "what the broad money supply is doing" (M2). The S&P drafts off both. Then COVID: in nine months from March 2020 the Fed nearly doubled WALCL and M2 jumped ~25% in a year — the biggest single peacetime expansion of US money on this chart.

From mid-2022 the Fed runs QT and M2 contracts year-over-year for the first time since the 1930s; WALCL falls but stays well above its pre-COVID level. The S&P briefly tracks the decline, then races ahead again on AI capex narratives. Bitcoin, indexed from its July-2010 Mt.Gox-era starting point, runs a fundamentally different race — closer to early-stage equity than to a currency, and on a log axis its ~10⁶× rebase reading tells you why. Gold, the "other money," runs a third race: slow, steady, tilted upward into geopolitical fractures. The 10-year yield is the metronome — when it spikes, every other line stutters.

The default 2000-baseline frame is the "did the market just track money supply?" question. Pick a different rebase date and you’re asking a different question entirely. That’s the point.

Sources & methodology

  • FRED · M2SLM2 Money Stock (loaded as M2SL)
  • FRED · WALCLFed Total Assets (loaded as WALCL)
  • FRED · SP500S&P 500 (loaded as SP500)
  • Coin Metrics · BTC PriceUSD (daily reference rate)Bitcoin (loaded as btcusd)
  • LBMA · Gold Price PM Fix (USD/oz)Gold (loaded as gc_f)
  • FRED · DGS1010-Year Treasury (loaded as DGS10)

All series are resampled to weekly (Sunday-end) by taking the last observation in each ISO week, then indexed to 100 at the user-selected normalize date. Series whose first observation post-dates the normalize date are indexed from their first available week; the line simply doesn’t exist before that point on the chart. Gold is sourced from the LBMA Gold Price PM Fix (USD/oz, full daily history back to 1968) — the same auction that FRED’s discontinued GOLDAMGBD228NLBM mirrored before it was retired. Bitcoin is sourced from Coin Metrics’ community-tier PriceUSD reference rate (daily, full history back to 2010-07-18 — the first full UTC day after Mt.Gox opened on 2010-07-17), which replaces the ~April 2016 floor imposed by Stooq/Yahoo’s 10-year window so the Bitcoin line begins alongside M2 and Gold instead of jumping in mid-2016. Stooq remains a fallback. Indexing is unit-agnostic — a ratio is a ratio — so the y-axis label is the same for all six lines.

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