Construction spending, excluding housing, is running at a rate of about $1-$1.2 billion annually, near record levels. Much of this spend is driven by recently passed legislative acts, according to Mike Feniger. But reshoring and AI are also having significant positive impact and the annualized capex for big tech has increased from $138 billion to $229 billion in just a year. Still, despite the headline strength, there are areas of construction which are weak, including warehouses, retail shopping centers and private office. The number of mega projects is slowing. Rate cuts and election certainty could be a catalyst for some of these lagging areas. Typically, housing benefits from rate cuts first and commercial construction sees a boost 1-2 years later but a lack of overcapacity in commercial construction could mean that there's less of a lag this time. Mike believes that large equipment rental companies are likely to benefit from this improvement, a view he discusses within.

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Alkesh Shah views Generative AI (GenAI) as the beginning of the third major tech cycle of the past 50 years. Over the past 10 years, development of more powerful chips and a new neural network architecture has raised the upper bounds of storage and computation exponentially, consequently reducing the time and cost to train increasingly large models powering apps like ChatGPT. Alkesh expects GenAI to catalyze a revolution in corporate efficiency and productivity that will occur far more rapidly than past disruptive technologies, which investors anticipate. Alkesh surveyed 157 equity analysts and macro strategists on AI's financial and economic disruption. Survey responses indicate that enterprise AI implementation could boost S&P operating margins by 200bps over the next five years. AI beneficiaries will likely expand from Semis and Cloud Service Providers in the first wave; Tech Hardware, Software and Capital Goods in the second wave; and ultimately touch every sector globally.

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"Bank of America" and “BofA Securities” are the marketing names for the global banking businesses and global markets businesses (which includes BofA Global Research) of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Securities, trading, research, strategic advisory, and other investment banking and markets activities are performed globally by affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including, in the United States, BofA Securities, Inc. a registered broker-dealer and Member of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities.

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Discretionary services grew unusually quickly as the economy reopened and savings buffers were high. In 2023, spending received another boost in the form of the Social Security cost of living adjustment, which contributed to rapid 4% GDP growth in the second half of the year. But now, things are slowing to a more normal, trend-like pace of 2%. And there's evidence to suggest that after outsized strength, spend on travel and other services is easing too. One of the positives that comes with this change is that it better balances supply and demand and slowing inflation can help boost real incomes. Another potential positive is that the Fed is close to cutting rates, and while it may take some time for that to help housing markets, Aditya sees benefits for other parts of the economy and for certain consumer segments. Labor markets are key to the outlook, but the recent loosening in these markets has more to do with slower hiring than with layoffs.

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"Bank of America" and “BofA Securities” are the marketing names for the global banking businesses and global markets businesses (which includes BofA Global Research) of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Securities, trading, research, strategic advisory, and other investment banking and markets activities are performed globally by affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including, in the United States, BofA Securities, Inc. a registered broker-dealer and Member of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities.

©2024 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.