Wheels make the economy go ‘round; transports and the case for rails

Transports would ride the cycle but modes matter

Transport metrics had been in an extended downturn for around 18 months. Demand was depressed, inventory levels were high and end demand for goods had faded from COVID highs. But more recently there are signs of stabilization in some of the data tracked by BofA Global Research, partly because trucking supply has been removed. And some purchasing managers indices, or PMIs, have shown modest improvement. Ken Hoexter discusses what this improvement means for different modes of transportation and when those modes would stand to benefit. And within transports, rails have a long track record of outperforming the S&P, but since the start of 2023, the group has underperformed. Ken discusses why performance had weakened, what's changed for the better more recently and the structural changes that could benefit the rail group.

 

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