Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: New Spartan Logic

Click here for an archive of Cramer's "Mad Money" recaps.

---

"I am constantly amazed at how wired into the market kids are these days," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Thursday. Students, he said, are "savvy" and often know about stocks that "fly under the radar."

On Wednesday Cramer visited the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University as part of the show's "Back to School" tour. It was there that a student pitched him Spartan Motors (SPAR Quote).

Frankly, Cramer said, he barely thought the stock was worth his attention. He thought it was levered solely to recreational vehicles, which he said nobody should want with oil prices going up as they are, and to Iraq, a "battleground in the stock market."

But then after doing some homework, Cramer realized the Indiana student was right about Spartan. Now he believes Spartan is indeed a buy and an "idea worth stealing." However, Cramer warned that the speculative small-cap name might not be right for everyone.

The company manufactures emergency vehicles, he said. Nearly 55% of the fire trucks in the U.S. are 15 years old and a huge liability for municipalities. That's a plus for shares of Spartan, which is levered to their liabilities, Cramer said. Spartan makes products that prevent lawsuits, he said.

In addition, Spartan's military motor segment makes vehicles covered with half an inch of steel. And now that the U.S. military is spending money to protect soldiers against road-side bombs, Spartan recently secured the second largest military chassis contract in its history, Cramer said.

Not only does its military division have "strong growth," but Spartan's RV business is also doing well because for some reason baby boomers, which make up a significant part of the population, like RVs.

He said he believes Spartan is worth buying on a pullback.