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There's a lingering hope out there that America's corporation will unleash their cash hoards and replace their aging equipment.
"The whole debate about the S&P is about when this turns back up again," said Deutsche Bank's David Bianco back in November.
"We forecast capital spending by S&P 500 companies will rise by 9% in 2014 to $700 billion following a modest 2% growth in 2013," said Goldman Sachs' David Kostin in a new note to clients.
Based on Kostin's reading of the recent earnings season conference calls, growth expectations are currently trending a bit below that 9% rate.
"S&P 500 companies that provided guidance plan to boost capex by 7% in 2014, slightly below our forecast," added Kostin. "171 S&P 500 companies provided capex guidance during recent quarterly earnings conference calls. These firms account for 50% of aggregate capex spending by the S&P 500. All sectors plan to increase capex in 2014 with the exception of Telecom Services, which guided flat."
For some context, Kostin provided this chart that breaks down how much each industry contributes to the capex story.
Goldman Sachs