Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! Sell Ford

Yum Brands (YUM Quote) is a terrific way to play the rise of Mexican restaurants, Jim Cramer said Wednesday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.

Cramer said the owner of the Taco Bell chain has been up in recent days in spite of an E. coli outbreak that caused some of its restaurants to be shuttered briefly in New York and New Jersey. Cramer said Yum deserves to be up, though, because the chain is well run and it's poised to cash in on Americans' embrace of Mexican food.

"Mexican is the new pizza," Cramer said. He noted that Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG Quote) is "on fire" and says he also likes Jack in the Box (JBX Quote), which has recovered from the effects of an E. coli outbreak in the Northwest years ago.

Cramer lamented that Halliburton (HAL Quote) remains "the most hated stock on earth" even as rival oil services names from Core Labs (CLB Quote) to Baker Hughes (BHI Quote) enjoy a sharp rally. Cramer said he believes that divergence has to come to an end some time.

Cramer said he would sell Ford (F Quote) common shares into a big convertible offering. He says the terms of the convert should push the common stock down to $6.50 from a recent $7.40. "I'm giving the common stock an F," Cramer said, playing principal for moment.

He also warned investors away from common shares of bankrupt auto-parts maker Delphi (DPHIQ Quote), saying he fears holders of those securities won't participate in any success of the company's turnaround efforts. He said if there is an actual revival in the auto-parts business, rivals Johnson Controls (JCI Quote) and Lear (LEA Quote) are better bets.