Machinery Stocks Feel Pain of Weak Orders

Even before the Commerce Department reported that machinery orders tumbled 26% in January from a year earlier, TheStreet.com Ratings' quantitative model graded capital-equipment companies as decidedly "risky."

Each of the firms in the accompanying table is marked in the "D" range -- on a scale from A-plus to E-minus -- for its respective "risk grade" from TheStreet.com Ratings.

Orders for capital goods shriveled 8.8% last month from December. Demand isn't likely to pick up soon, as U.S. industry is currently running at 72% of capacity, the weakest in 26 years. ...