5 Stocks to Sell Amid Drooping Consumer Confidence

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tdp2664 InvestorPlace With the consumer confidence index hitting a bleak 44.5% in August, it seems that the only people not aware that we're sinking back into a recession are politicians, economists and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. That's bad news for stocks that are closely tied to consumer spending. The latest economic forecasts are grim, with zero new jobs created in August and the unemployment rate stuck at 9.1%. The National Association for Business Economics on Monday revised its economic growth prediction for this year to 1.7%, down from 2.8%. What's worse, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index tanked last month, plummeting to 44.5 — nearly 15 points lower than in July. Here are five stocks to sell as the economy weakens and consumer confidence plummets: Hewlett-Packard The computer market is characterized by cutthroat competition, and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ) has been getting hammered as buyers switch to tablets. HP shares have dropped 30% in the past month on merger rumors and a restructuring that would spin off its PC operations. The stock will fare worse if jittery consumers pull back on their purchases. At $22.58, HPQ is trading more than 54% below its 52-week high of $49.39 in February. With a market cap of $46.32 billion, the stock has a price/earnings-to-growth ratio of 0.62, which indicates the stock is undervalued. HP's debt position isn't good, with total debt of $25.7 billion to total cash of $12.95 billion. Bank of America Since its government bailout, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) has staggered back to the point of needing a second bailout — one that certainly will not happen 14 months before a presidential election. If more consumers lose their jobs and can't pay their mortgages, loans and credit card bills, BAC will be left holding a lot more debt than it's struggling with today. And the company's Project New BAC, which plans to cut 6,000 more jobs this year and 30,000 between now and 2013, is more likely to add weight to an already staggering economy than fix BAC's problems. At $7.05, BAC is trading nearly 54% below its 52-week high of $15.31 in January. With a market cap of $71.45 billion, the stock has a PEG ratio of -1.75, a cautionary sign that points to an expected decline in earnings. BAC has total debt of $771.97 billion and total cash of $638.54 billion.