Precious Metals
High frequency data show a strong rebound
High frequency data show a strong rebound

Apple has compiled data from millions of user’s iPhones all over the world to show that people are getting out of their homes and engaging in more driving, walking, and travel (see Chart #1). In the US, shown here, the low point in driving activity was Easter Sunday, April 12th. Since then, and using a 7-day moving average of the data (there is a distinct weekly pattern to the data, with the weekly low always falling on Sunday), there has been a substantial rebound of over 50% in the number of requests for driving directions. Not bad!
Chart #2 uses weekly data (last datapoint being May 8th) to show that the amount of motor gasoline supplied to the US market has increased 46% in the past four weeks. From that we can infer a significant increase in miles driven by individuals. Impressive!
Chart #3 uses data from TSA to show that the number of passengers processed at US airport security checkpoints has almost doubled since the mid-April low (again, I’m using a 7-day moving average to eliminate weekly patterns). Of course, that is still more than 90% below the level of activity from a year ago, when 2.34 million people passed through TSA checkpoints every day on average. But the longest journey begins with a first step!
Chart #4 is my favorite for tracking how the level of market fear and panic influence the stock market. Things have definitely improved since prices hit bottom almost two months ago, but there is still a lot of caution in today’s prices. Will the rebound we’ve seen so far continue? Will there be a new, sudden wave of infections? Another shutdown? How fast can businesses respond to the lifting of lockdowns? I would be worried if the market weren’t worried about these sorts of things. There are so many variables in play that no one can confidently predict how things will evolve. My main guidepost is an intuitive trust in the resilience of the US economy, the resourcefulness of America’s entrepreneurs, and the desire of the average person to work hard and enjoy life.
Chart #5 shows an index of key financial market indicators, compiled daily by Bloomberg. Here again we see a sharp rebound/improvement. This is extremely important, since healthy financial markets are essential to an eventual economic recovery. We’re not out of the woods yet, but we have without question pulled back from the edge of the abyss that was looming in late March.
Chart #7 compares the level of 10-yr Treasury yields (red) with the ratio of copper to gold prices (blue). Both of these indicators have shown a tendency to respond to changes in the global economic outlook. Both are still distressingly low, unfortunately, but neither one has deteriorated further since late March.
Chart #8 shows the level of the M2 measure of the US money supply. It’s plotted using a semi-log scale on the y axis. Note how for the past 25 years M2 has risen at a fairly steady 6.2% annualized pace. Until recently, that is, when the Federal Reserve pulled out all the stops in an attempt to satisfy the world’s sudden and gargantuan demand for money, money equivalents, and safe, liquid assets.
Chart #9 shows the year over year growth of M2. The recent surge, which began in mid-March, is without precedent in US monetary history.
Chart #10 shows the composition of M2. Bank savings deposits account of over 60% of M2, and they have increased by $930 billion since mid-March. This is strong evidence that the demand for safe money has soared as a result of the Covid crisis. Savings deposits pay little or no interest, so people hold them only if they value their safety and liquidity far more than their yield. Demand deposits and checking accounts, close cousins to savings accounts, have increased over $800 billion. Together, the increase in these three components account for almost all of the $1.9 trillion increase in M2 since mid-March. The Fed facilitated this increase by purchasing notes and bonds in exchange for bank reserves (see Chart #11, which is equivalent to transmogrifying notes and bonds into T-bill substitutes. (I’ve explained this process numerous times in the past.) But this is not the same as “printing money.”
UPDATE (May 22): Here’s an updated version of the TSA Throughput data (Chart #3 above). On a 7-day moving average basis, TSA screening activity is up 150% compared to the low of April 17th. From this we can infer a significant recovery in air passenger traffic in the past 5 weeks.

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