{"id":473693,"date":"2026-02-11T21:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/473693\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T21:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:55:09","slug":"bank-of-america-ceo-drops-surprising-view-on-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/473693\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank of America CEO drops surprising view on the economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bank of America (BAC<\/a>) CEO Brian Moynihan isn\u2019t buying into the “economic doom” narrative.<\/p>\n

In fact, in a CNBC interview<\/a>, he offered a surprisingly upbeat take on the U.S. economy, citing the bank\u2019s real-time data on January activity, which is up nearly 5% year over year.<\/p>\n

He feels those numbers align with a strong economic growth narrative, driven by rising consumer spending across low-, middle-, and high-income cohorts, just at different speeds.<\/p>\n

Moynihan\u2019s sharp take is a break from the bearish chatter about the economy, particularly the narrow growth drivers and recessionary fears that have dominated the conversation.<\/p>\n

Recently, I wrote about Ernst & Young\u2019s Gregory Daco<\/a> calling the economy a \u201cparadox,\u201d with headline figures masking underlying polarization, despite relatively healthy consumer spending.<\/p>\n

Also, the IMF issued a similar warning that U.S. economic growth is resting on a thin foundation, driven by heightened AI<\/a> capex, rising stock valuations, and affluent consumers leading the wealth effect.<\/p>\n

IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas<\/a> called out the incessant AI spending and nosebleed stock market valuations that continue obscuring broader weaknesses.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Moynihan\u2019s tone is more reassuring, despite his \u201cK-economy\u201d framing. Though risks remain and are as relevant as ever, his take contrasts with the \u201conly a few cylinders are firing\u201d narrative.<\/p>\n

\"Bank Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says January consumer activity rose 5%, signaling steady economic growth.Photo by Bloomberg on Getty Images \u00b7 Photo by Bloomberg on Getty Images <\/p>\n

July 2025: Sales $726.3 billion, +0.5% m\/m (advance)<\/p>\n

August 2025: Sales $732.0 billion, +0.6% m\/m (advance)<\/p>\n

September 2025: Sales $733.3 billion, +0.2% m\/m (advance)<\/p>\n

October 2025: Sales $732.6 billion, +0.0% m\/m (virtually unchanged, advance)<\/p>\n

November 2025: Sales $735.9 billion, +0.6% m\/m (advance)<\/p>\n

December 2025: Sales $735.0 billion, 0.0% m\/m (virtually unchanged, advance)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey<\/p>\n

Moynihan is making a broader point, telling CNBC<\/a> he feels the market is overreacting to a single data print that has come out soft.<\/p>\n

So instead of fixating on the relatively weak December retail sales<\/a> number, he points to what the bank sees right now.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s mid-February, he notes, and January activity among BofA\u2019s 68 million consumer customers is tracking above an encouraging 5% year over year, consistent with a robust economic environment.<\/p>\n

MoreEconomic Analysis:<\/p>\n

Though that\u2019s far from a boom economy, it\u2019s still a claim of stability.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there\u2019s still a split beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

Low-, middle-, and higher-income groups are \u201call growing,\u201d but at varying rates, underscoring an uneven K-shaped dynamic. So clearly, affordability pressures remain, but they haven\u2019t derailed spending.<\/p>\n

A K-shaped economy<\/a> is characterized by divergence in spending and balance-sheet health across income levels.<\/p>\n

Basically, some groups may perform exceptionally well, while others stall, largely because they fall into lower-income demographics.<\/p>\n

Related: IMF takes unexpected stance on U.S. dollar as sentiment shifts<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s naturally due to the wealth effect (assets held disproportionately by higher-income households), a jobs market that supports certain types of workers but leaves others anxious, and tighter affordability for essentials.<\/p>\n

For context, a recent Moody\u2019s Analytics breakdown cited by Axios<\/a> showed that the lion\u2019s share, at 59% of consumer spending, comes from the top 20% of earners, which makes growth a lot more dependent on the well-off.<\/p>\n

Moynihan feels the core insight is behavioral.<\/p>\n

Those comments suggest that people are employed and earning income, and that at this point, they seem to be adjusting, not retreating.<\/p>\n

Moynihan then broadened the horizon by arguing that banks \u201creflect the economy,\u201d and that if regulation offers a better balance, capital flows much more freely to support growth.<\/p>\n

Considering the U.S. real GDP<\/a> numbers of 2.5% in 2023 and 2.8% in 2024, the recent trends appear a lot sturdier than most expected.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the latest 2026 forecasts are essentially in the low- to mid-2% range, indicating a moderating pace.<\/p>\n

Related: Bank of America sends quiet warning to stock market investors<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by TheStreet<\/a> on Feb 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Economy<\/a> section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan isn\u2019t buying into the “economic doom” narrative. In fact, in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,8972,241536,99,21375,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-473693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bank-of-america","11":"tag-brian-moynihan","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-consumer-spending","14":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}