dancingdiva

Manitowoc Offers Investors Growth at a Discount

And I am saying growth is a hindsight phenomena. Take a look at past cyclical downturns and how far earnings could fall and then tell me debt doesn't matter. Recent world statistics have been showing a major slowdown in most regions of the world, and since the inflation and high interest rates felt by most economies are a relatively recent phenomena, the statistics have yet to catch up to how slow the economies may get.

Putting money into this sector, whether it's Manitowoc, Terex, Caterpillar, etc may be the smartest move in the world if economic conditions don't deteriorate further, but everything I see tells me caution is warranted. This reminds me of the debate on how cheap housing stocks looked after they began their descent, when prices peaked a full year ahead of revenues.

And taking on a high debt load at what may be the top of the cycle leaves them in a more precarious position and unable to take advantage of the bargains which may emerge.

Whether prices move even lower and all negative news is priced in is debatable; but I've caught a "falling knife" in the past only to see earnings deteriorate and prices move even lower. I don't think there is anyone who hasn't fallen victim to that phenomena at least once. So perhaps I'm overly cautious.