Freeport (NYSE:FCX), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) All Increasing Capex

Increasing capital expenditures is a growing theme among major companies such as Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), according to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

Goldman's chief U.S. investment strategist, David Kostin, wrote in a note to clients, “Companies expressed more willingness to invest in activities that drive growth compared with prior periods. New capital expenditures in energy, marketing and client services initiatives in financials, hiring engineers in information technology, R&D spending in health care, and re-starting capacity in materials were cited by executives as examples of growth initiatives intended to boost revenues.”

While we can only take anything communicated by executives with a grain of salt, if this is indeed the practice of the companies going forward, it signals they've pretty much cut costs as much as they can, and are now looking at expansion, even in an ongoing weak economic environment.

The good news is the companies do have room for some trial and error in regard to capex, as they are flush with cash after operating in defensive positions for several years.

All of this shouldn't be taken as a blanket reality for most companies though, as some sectors are still struggling, and it's highly unlikely they're going to start splurging in spending at this time.

Companies with strong exposure to commodities, and probably industrials are the major sectors where capex will be strongest, although exceptions in tech, like mentioned above with Google and Intel will be part of company operations in 2011.

Each sector could have a company or two ready for an increase in capex, but overall, those above seem most likely.