Seven Largest Sell-Rated Manufacturing Stocks

If the stock market bottomed in October, then liquidating your portfolio in November would seem ill-advised. However, for fully-invested individuals, it may be necessary to rotate out of stocks with poor prospects in order to raise funds to buy good companies with better chances to appreciate.

Below are the seven largest manufacturing companies, by market capitalization, rated as sell by TheStreet.com Ratings' stock model. Each has an overall grade of D+ or lower. If you own any of these stocks, be aware your funds may be better invested elsewhere.

With a D rating, Hitachi (HIT Quote) is the largest manufacturer with a sell rating from TheStreet.com Ratings. The shares have lost about one-third of their value so far this year, but with a market capitalization of $16.3 billion there is still value to protect. The company recently lowered profit forecasts. A worldwide recession may further limit corporate spending and weaken demand for Hitachi's consumer electronics.

With a market cap of $12.5 billion, Boston Scientific (BSX Quote) is the second largest sell-rated stock among the manufacturing group. Its stock has declined 28.7% so far in 2008. It remains to be seen how the incoming Obama administration will attempt to squeeze costs out of the health-care system and what effect, if any, this would have on the margins for Boston Scientific medical devices. For October, Boston Scientific shares saw extremely heavy corporate insider sales, with a total of 42.7 million shares sold for $351.7 million.

The third largest stock in the bunch, with a market cap of $10.5 billion, is Motorola (MOT Quote). These shares have sunk 71.2% year to date and are rated D+. Apple's (AAPL Quote) iPhone 3G has knocked off Motorola's Razr as the most popular handset. Meanwhile, according to the NPD Group, total U.S. consumer purchases of handsets are down 15% to 32 million units.