10 Defense Stocks to Sell

With government spending being a big issue on Capitol Hill, big defense
contracts are clearly in the cross-hairs. Ramped-up rhetoric about reducing U.S.
military expenses and the troop presence in Afghanistan and elsewhere means
publicly traded defense companies have a tough road ahead of them. I watch more
than 5,000 publicly traded companies with my Portfolio Grader tool, ranking
companies by a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Today, I have 10
defense stocks to sell. Each one of these stocks gets a "D" or "F"
according to my research, meaning it is a "sell" or "strong sell." Elbit
Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT ) is an international defense electronics company involved
with a wide range of programs across the globe. ESLT has performed poorly in
2011, down 24% year to date. DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI ) provides high-resolution
Earth imagery product and services for homeland security applications, mapping
and analysis, environmental monitoring and other fields. DGI has instilled worry
in the hearts of its shareholders all year, dropping nearly 38% year to date.
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD ) is known for providing a variety of products and
services in business aviation. GD has done anything but soar, however, and is
down nearly 19% since January. Raytheon (NYSE: RTN ) specializes in defense,
homeland security and other government markets. Down more than 13% year to date,
RTN has shareholders wishing they ditched this defense stock before the start of
2011. ITT (NYSE: ITT ) is a global engineering and manufacturing organization
that operates in more than 60 countries. Despite a worldwide presence, ITT is
down 17% year to date. L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE: LLL ) contracts
Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
(C3ISR) systems and is engaged with a variety of other activities. LLL is down
12%