Bank of America strategist reveals the stock market recently did something that's quite similar to the 2000 dot-com bubble

Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett also agrees, and he’s got some evidence to back up the claim. As proof that the market is headed down an eerily similar path as the dot-com bubble from 26 years ago, Hartnett points to one of the most popular stock market indexes: the S&P 500.

Why Hartnett is concerned

On May 29, the final trading day of the month, the S&P 500 closed at a record of 7,580.06.

On that same date, 20 of the S&P 500’s stocks also managed to close at a record high — and of those 20 companies, only seven have no direct ties to AI. As CNBC reports, Hartnett observed in a research note after closing that, at the top of the dot-com bubble in March 2000, just 20 stocks had hit new all-time highs as well.

Hartnett did admit that “speculative price action” around AI is likely to continue, but this occurrence is another eerie sign that a dot-com bubble-type crash could be on the horizon.

The U.S. stock market saw incredible growth in May, a month in which numerous records were set as investors remained bullish on AI, as well as memory chip makers like SK Hynix, Micron Technology, Samsung and Advanced Micro Devices, CNBC reported. Micron Technology soared 88%, SK Hynix by 81%, AMD (46%) and Samsung (44%).

Such investing activity allowed the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index to jump 25% in April and May, its most successful two-month stretch in more than 20 years.