As the economy reopens certain states are better positioned than others as it relates to capturing economic activity generated from live events and in-person transactions.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas hosted more than 73,000 people Saturday night for a boxing card. Texas is one of the more relaxed states as it relates to COVID restrictions and government regulation in general. Similarly, Florida has been aggressive as it relates to reopening the state economy. No wonder companies such as Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), IBM (IBM), Amazon (AMZN) and Oracle (ORCL), are investing heavily in the Austin, Texas area (it’s more than a function of reducing income taxes). Similarly, companies such as FIS (FIS), SS&C Technologies (SSNC) and many hedge funds have invested in or relocated to Florida. Look for other lower-cost, business-friendly states (South Carolina comes to mind), to capture business at the expense of high-cost, highly-regulated states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and California. Tech companies will lead the charge, especially those with people-intensive processes such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.