"Rising demand and constrained supplies are a recipe for higher agricultural prices," notes Elliott Gue.

The contributing editor to Personal Finance explains, "The big winners are commercial farmers and companies whose products enhance crop yields. And one company equipped for growth in this market is Deere & Co. (DE), a new addition to the our model Growth Portfolio.

"For nearly 175 years, Deere has manufactured a wide range agricultural equipment, including tractors, combines, harvesters and sprayers.

"Commodity prices are surging. But rather than recommending a pure commodity play, I'm intrigued by Deere & Co. (DE), the world's largest manufacturer of lawn and farm equipment," says Dr. Melvin Pasternak.

The editor of Trade of the Week explains, "The stock not only benefits from strong commodity prices, but also more profits for farmers. And with farmers seeing fatter profits from their crops, many are taking the money and putting it into new farm equipment.

"According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, September sales of row-crop tractors increased by +46.9% from August, while four-wheel drive tractor sales rose +20.5%.

"Technically, Deere & Co. (DE) is in a 17-week flat base; the stock has now pushed toward the top of the base as in position to breakout at any time; with earnings growth to accelerate the next two quarters, we have has high expectations for a breakout," says Leo Fasciocco.

The technical "breakout" specialist and editor of The Ticker Tape Digest explains, "The company makes farm and turf equipment, and related service parts. The construction and forestry sells machines and parts used in construction, earthmoving, material handling and timber harvesting.

"DE's long-term chart shows the stock climbing from 28 in 2005 to a peak of 94 during that bull market phase. The stock then made the round trip during the following bear market.

Shares of farm equipment maker Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) received a kick in the teeth last week when JPMorgan Chase & Compnay (NYSE: JPM) reduced its rating on the company to neutral from overweight. JPMorgan was, in part, reacting to a U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast that corn inventories will increase even as demand falls off substantially.

Morgan thus predicted that corn prices are poised to fall, which will in turn threaten farmers' purchasing power. Farm equipment sales appear to have already peaked, the financial firm said.

The shares didn't exactly crash the day of the downgrade, but have steadily slipped and given up the rather impressive gains made during the first full week of trading this year.

Leo Fasciocco is a technical expert who focuses exclusively on finding breakout candidates. In his Ticker Tape Digest, he looks to agriculture equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE).

"Deere, with annual revenues of $24.8 billion, makes agricultural, industrial, forestry, and lawn-care equipment. DE is benefiting from the strong demand for its products in the farm sector. The company is also expanding aggressively in Russia.

"DE has broken out from a 13-week flat base. Its long-term chart shows DE soaring from 20 in 2003 - the start of the prior bull market - to 92. It has been a big winner in the big cap sector. The stock has gained 65% in the past 12 months versus a 5% drop in the S&P 500 index.

"The stock is in a base bracketed between roughly 78 on the downside and 91 on the upside. The breakpoint was set at the key upside resistance of the base. Deere has plowed through that resistance on increasing volume.