Market turmoil makes it easy, perhaps too easy, to justify selling a stock these days. And while making off-the-cuff decisions isn't going to help your portfolio, it's still a good idea to play devil's advocate with investments.

Consider business-development company American Capital (Nasdaq: ACAS). Although the company has survived the financial storm to date, you'll find that a few of the 2,024 Motley Fool CAPSmembers weighing in on the company offer reasons to be bearish.

Here at The Motley Fool, we like to consider both the good and bad sides of an investment. Here, I've highlighted three of the main bearish arguments on American Capital. Be sure to read the bullish side as well, and then weigh in with your own comments below or rate American Capital in CAPS.                                               

1. Debt woes
It didn't reach CIT Group 's (NYSE: CIT) level of desperationor need an AIG -style (NYSE: AIG) bailout, but American Capital has given investors plenty of reason to run from its shares. It's swimming in debt, enough to earn a going-concern warning from auditors and a slashed credit rating from Standard & Poor's. S&P said it expects the cleanup of American Capital's balance sheet to take a long time, and the company's been trying to keep creditors at bay by entering into forbearance agreements on nearly $400 million in privately placed notes.

2. Losses catching up

While peer Apollo Investment (Nasdaq: AINV) posted a profit in the second quarter, American Capital sat with Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) in the loser's column. The company reported a $547 million loss which added to its losing streak that's been going strong for several quarters -- a trend that doesn't sit well with many investors.

3. Follow the tape
Shares in some other companies, such as TD AMERITRADE (Nasdaq: AMTD) and American Capital Agency (Nasdaq: AGNC), have already edged their way higher than the market over the past year, but American Capital has lagged the S&P 500 by a massive margin. With all the baggage and risks the company faces, some CAPS members see a slim chance that it will catch upand prefer to look elsewhere instead.

To see details of what CAPS members are saying nowabout American Capital, just head on over to Motley Fool CAPSand have a look -- or add your own thoughts directly to this story in the comments box below.

This article was originally published as 3 Reasons to Sell American Capital Todayon Fool.com

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