Lead Dog Buy Alert: Manitowoc at $38.55

Yesterday, Lead Dog bought global crane maker Manitowoc for $38.55, in hopes that the stock doesn't tumble as fast as some of its recent cranes (actually, I do not know if Manitowoc cranes were involved in New York and Seattle crashes, just my attempt at black humor). 

Seeing that the U.S. real estate market is in the early innings of a rout, this doesn't seem like such a smart move since you would think all cranes will be mothballed once there are empty offices and condos throughout the land.  But, since I am a slave to my system and necessarily throw any emotions or gut feelings to the wind, I proceeded with the purchase.  You can now buy MTW for less than $38 so my crane foray has begun inauspiciously.

And now for the bright side.  First, MTW is a global player in the crane business and thus they are hedged against any construction carnage in the U.S.  Second, MTW has ancillary businesses such as ship building and, lastly the numbers on this company are universally excellent.  Five year growth rates for sales are 24% and for income are 52%.  Earnings estimates are growing (not sure for how long), very low debt (.17 debt to equity) and it's relatively cheap in terms of all of its price ratios.